I know of no other community that is kinder, more giving, and more helpful than that of the creative community. I’m talking designers, developers, photographers, etc. If one of us is struggling and in need of advice – you can bet that there will be about fifty of us ready to give it. I think this is because not only do we genuinely care about others, we are also so full of creative ideas that if we attempt to keep them all to ourselves, our heads would explode. We are awesome at giving great advice.

Taking advice on the other hand… not so much. It is my personal belief that the expression “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink it.” was originally about an artist rather than a horse. Actually, had I been alive at the time the phrase was coined, I would even believe that they were talking about me specifically. But it’s a trait that I see in all of my surrounding community of colleagues. Although we are kind, and giving, and genuinely care – there is some grain of DNA in all of us that makes us unbelievably stubborn.

We want advice, we need advice, we ask for advice, but when the advice comes in, we will always put up an instant mental road block. We don’t mean for it to happen, it’s just a reflex. However, I think there is a simple explanation for this.

The mind of a creative is a funny thing. We are always full of ideas and most of the time they are big, sometimes even granddaddy whopper sized. It can get crowded inside of our heads and I think that’s why we are so ready to jump up with advice even if others don’t ask for it. We need to get our ideas out before they consume us. On the flip side – if new ideas are coming to us by way of another brain, all gears will come to a grinding halt because we are suddenly faced with the task of trying to make room for the new information. The more new information we receive, the more we will want to run screaming in the opposite direction.

Have you ever given advice to a creative friend only to have them give you a blank look at the time, but then come to you days, weeks, or even months later saying “You know that thing you were talking about? I’m ready to listen now.”

It wasn’t that your creative friend didn’t take your advice seriously, nor were they trying to blow you off. It’s just that they needed time to absorb, adjust, and figure out how to make the new idea fit inside their head in a way that they were comfortable with. We need to do things at our own pace, and in our own way – and what may come off as stubborn arrogance at the time, is really just a form of mental overload.

So, here is my advice for working with the creative mind. Go ahead and give your advice – but then just walk away.