A System for Making Systems
The Moon Man’s Field Guide to Being a Happy Creative #003:
If you’ve set a creative goal for yourself, then you’re going to have to create a roadmap to help you reach it.
Creating a system is the act of outlining each step you take on your journey towards a creative goal. It’s producing a set of directions, so that you can easily return to your creative destination again and again without getting lost. You’re also strengthening and reinforcing those neural connections that are involved in each step of the process, so that you’re less mentally taxed when trying to accomplish the task again.
This evaluation and savoring of each step is how you build mastery, and the path to creative mastery is the path to happiness.
The first step towards effective system building is to ask what Yale SOM professor Zoe Chance has dubbed The Magic Question, “What would it take?”
In this instance, we’re asking “What would it take to reach my creative goal?” The first time you embark on the journey towards a creative goal, you’re going to need to make an educated guess about what steps are needed and make a list. Systems building is effectively list building. It can be bullet points, outlines, checklists, gantt charts–the important thing is that you get granular, and give this list building process the attention it needs.
Ask what steps will you breeze through? What steps might cause friction? Outline these obstacles as if you were drawing a map. In fact, if you’re inclined I urge you to literally draw a map, as illustrating out your project planning can help you see new perspectives, and better reinforce the information.
Transfer this document to a physical folder or notebook. This notebook is your book of systems. As you work though a creative project update these systems as needed. Look back and consider how parts of this project could be templatized, so that you needn’t expend as much energy on it the next time though.
You could hoard your secret system and bury it in the backyard when you die, but I would urge you to share your creative systems far and wide. Teaching further reinforces information you’ve learned, and the practice of other-centeredness, or sharing with others in a way that’s void of ego, conceit, or humblebrags, is a sure path to happiness.
Using well-defined systems is a great way to get repeatable results, and to help out others trying to accomplish the same tasks.
What’s best is that if you implement a system, you’ll spend less time getting lost on strange backroads, while the missus is yelling at you to turn off at the gas station and ask the sketchy man behind the counter for directions, because instead, you had the foresight to think ahead and bring a map.
So spend the time to build out your systems, today!
As they say, happy wife, happy life!
A System for Making Systems
After you’ve set a creative goal, ask yourself the magic question, “What would it take?”
Make a comprehensive list of the steps you need to take to achieve a goal. Identify which steps might create a point of friction.
Use helpful visual aids to help support understanding of each step. Why, a picture is said to be worth over one million words (number of words per picture may vary)!
Start a notebook of creative systems and revise your systems as you work through your creative journey.
Having a system mean you don’t have to reinvent the wheel each time you try to accomplish a repeatable task. Try automating part of the process by creating templates.
When you have the system down, share it. Make this version visually attractive and as detailed as it needs to be.
Module #003 Challenge. Write down the steps you assume will be involved in meeting your creative goal.
*A Note from Wild Moon Productions owner, Ryan Taggart
How do systems help me in my business?
As a solo operator of a business, there are a lot of hats to wear and a lot of things to keep straight.
To help me do this, I’ve created a book of systems that guides me through every step of a project, including the before and after. The book, which I’ve titled the Wild Moon Man’s Super Secret Business binder contains helpful templates, checklists, processes, and governing philosophies.
Secret Business Binder Table of Contents:
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• Marketing Plan
• CRM
• Blog Outline
• Email Templates
• Branding Guide
• Customer Personas
• Values Statement
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• Client Questionnaire
• Brief Template
• Proposal & SOW Templates
• Contract
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Customizable Gantt Chart
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Customizable Gantt Chart
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• Evaluation Form
• Client Marketing Tips Template
• Invoice Template
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Customizable Case Study Template
Having all of this written down in one place relieves the stress of having to start from scratch with each new client project. These systems represent a culmination of 15 years of learning and refining. This knowledge is something I bring to the table with every engagement, but the best part is knowing that every new client has something new to teach me, so my systems are constantly evolving.