11 Stage Four: Verification and Evaluation

And after that euphoria of Illumination and the inspiration that gave rise to a feverish phase of active work on the creative problem, eventually the momentum slows down and the work becomes a grind again. Perhaps even a slog. That’s okay!

Along the way there will be more and more mini-Illuminations that will keep the creative mind going and getting the project to a completed state. But just because we’ve got a complete version of the idea done, it doesn’t mean the creative process is done. Far from it. This first go-through of the process after Illumination and Action results in a project that is indeed complete, but it’s usually not great yet. These are our first drafts, our beta-tests, our prototypes, our trial runs. It’s the first stab at the problem, and almost always the project is going to need more work.

How do we know if it needs more work, or what kind of work it needs? That happens with the next stage of the creative process: Verification.

Quite honestly, Verification is the stage where many creative projects die. It’s the point where the creative problem’s solution you’ve come up with (whether it be the novel draft, the finished symphony, test-driving the go-cart, your financial plan on how you can totally move to Italy) has to be shared with someone else. Some stakeholder whose opinion matters.

Many creative people fear Verification and therefore never confront it. They keep their novels in desk drawers, or never move to Italy.

But without this last stage, the creative process is incomplete and never gets to come to fruition!

Verification is necessary because creative ideas and solutions need to be shared, and they need external feedback to be refined, so they can be put to use.

Types of Verification

In this phase, individuals who are invested in the outcome of the project critically evaluate and validate the creative idea or solution that has surfaced. It involves testing the idea against logical and practical considerations, refining it, and ensuring its feasibility. Good, thorough Verification can take many different angles in looking at the creative solution. Here are four main ways that are very helpful in Verification of the creative idea:

Critical Examination: Verification entails subjecting the creative concept to rigorous scrutiny. This involves assessing its coherence, consistency, and compatibility with the problem at hand.

Practical Considerations: During Verification, practical aspects are taken into account. Is the idea implementable? Does it align with available resources and constraints? These questions help ensure the viability of the creative solution.

Feedback and Iteration: Seeking feedback from peers or mentors is an integral part of the Verification stage. Constructive criticism and alternative perspectives can enhance the idea, leading to further refinement and iteration.

Refinement: Based on feedback and critical analysis, the initial idea undergoes refinement. This iterative process continues until a robust and well-validated solution emerges.

Intellectual and Emotional Distance

Often, it’s important to take a break from the completed work before diving into Verification (like another Incubation, but of a different sort). This distance allows the mind to experience the creative solution more clearly, “with fresh eyes,” we might say.

This is key for seeing your creative work clearly, because the high emotions involved with creation can settle and even out from their great height. Sometimes we can be so sick of the thing we’re working on that we think it’s terrible and worthless, but with a little time away, we can come back more even-keeled and see that it’s actually pretty decent. Or, in another way, we can feel like our work is pure genius, and come back later to see that, ugh, it needs work.

The amount of time away is usually proportional to the size of the project. Novelists often talk about putting drafts away for six weeks or more, for example. Smaller projects may get clarity with just a good night’s rest or a day doing something with another part of the brain.

The first two types of Verification can often be done by the creative thinker directly, especially with this little bit of distance to see the idea more clearly.

The Importance of Stakeholders

For Feedback and Iteration, it’s important to acknowledge that Verification must be done with others who are actively engaged and have a stake in the creative solution. If a dancer just shows her newly-learned dance sequence to, say, her dear loving grandmother, she perhaps will only get overwhelmingly positive, effusive, wonderstruck feedback. And this comes from a loving heart, so there’s nothing wrong with it, but it doesn’t provide feedback that verifies the success of the creative act. The grandmother’s stake is in the granddaughter, not in the creativity of the dance, in this example. Her grandmother will love anything she shows her.

So this dancer needs to seek other feedback to test the ideas and creativity of the dance more fully. She should get Verification from other dancers, dance teachers, choreographers, and the like. Not just to find people to tear her down, but who can objectively note strengths and weaknesses of the piece. Otherwise, how will she know if her new dance is as innovative and emotionally on-point as she hopes it is?

Iteration and Refinement

Verification is the creative process’s fork in the road. Depending on the stakeholder feedback, the process may need to cycle through again–you may need to go back and do more Preparation. It’s quite literally where we get the phrase, “Back to the drawing board!”

In fact, you usually will have to go back through the cycle again when doing creative work. That’s why we use language like first draft or beta test or prototype so often in the creative process. The notion that you’ll get it right the first time is actually a hindrance because it’s a defeating feeling when you inevitably don’t get it right.