Getting to great work: The 5 Rs process

Great work often feels inevitable to the audience once it's been created. Whether you’re writing stories or strategies, the end result makes it seem as if all the pieces simply fell into place as naturally as the leaves growing back in spring. But underneath that final piece of work is layer upon layer of mulch. A mulch made up of a drawer full of bad ideas, days and weeks of dead-ends, ugly first drafts, clunky brainstorms, and heaps of uncertainty. 

The good news is that most people who experience your work never have to know about all the head scratching, hair pulling, and false dawns that come before the finished piece. For me though, knowing that the fuzziness is natural (and often essential) has helped me devise a process that keeps me moving, working, and believing that great work is just around the corner. 

It’s a process that makes space for the slowness of thought, the flash of inspiration, and the painstaking craft that I see as the essential tenets of great work. And I want to share this process with the hopes that there’s something in my thinking that works for you dear reader or inspires you to map your own path to great work.

Step One: Read

Reading is the start of everything — that’s been the most simple, consistent fact of my life to date. It’s where thoughts and ideas spring from, it’s how to stay informed and engaged, and it’s a path you can walk endlessly to new discoveries, perspectives, and beliefs. In this context Reading vs. reading (note the upper vs. lower case), simply means taking in the world with curiosity and attention. The Read step can mean reading novels, watching plays and movies, overhearing a conversation between strangers on the street, or paying extra attention to the lyrics of a song.  

Reading on the path to great work should fall into two categories: inspirational and directional. 

Inspirational Reading comes first. Before the direction of the work is clearly defined, the aim of inspirational Reading is to spark a thought or uncover something unknown that begins to point you in a direction. Don’t limit what and how you read at this stage, the aim is to let curiosity pull you forward and down uncharted paths. 

With the ideas and thoughts swirling from inspirational Reading, directional Reading is all about fact finding and stat hunting. It’s where you start to pursue deep, considered research on directions of interest moving your hunches forward and finding the facts that fortify the truth at the heart of your ideas.

Step Two: Run

Running often literally means running in my world (note the upper vs. lower case again). But in reality, Run can mean talking with other people, sketching out early thoughts in a notepad, or playing with a thought in your mind, pressure testing it against potential challenges, setbacks, or practical pressures. 

What the Run step is all about is “running with” the ideas you’ve begun to formulate as you Read. It’s not about having things perfectly worked out, it’s about giving an idea the freedom to stretch its legs and show what it could do and be. Sometimes that means Running headfirst into a dead-end or letting an idea evolve beyond all recognition of its origins. Ultimately, you’re looking to see if an idea has the stamina to grow in strength beyond the intensity of its original spark. Simply put: You want to know if an idea truly has legs.

Step Three: Write

This is the “doing the work” part of the process — and yes I know, it’s not technically an R-word. At this stage the only aim is bringing an idea to life with all the craft, honesty, and excellence that you can muster. 

To wRite is to have the courage to say “I have an idea that matters”. So be courageous. When all is said and done, it’s this courage that opens up the potential for great work to land in the world. And afterall, the work is always the point. The joy in the process belongs to you, the wRiter, but it's how you wRite and what you bring to life that matters. It’s the work that has the power to shape the world it lands in.

Step Four: Rest

The hardest of the five stages to do consistently and unapologetically, but it's also the most vital one for sustainably producing great work. 

In this step, Rest is Rest — whatever that looks like for you. It’s sitting in a park reading (not Reading), walking on a quiet beach, catching up with friends, spending time with loved ones, watching movies, or sipping coffee slowly while the world rolls by. 

Don’t let the busyness of the world take this step away! It’s the step that makes all the other steps possible in the long term, it’s what gives you the moments you need to slow down before you go again and without it an honest final R is impossible.

Step Five: Reflect

No piece of work is ever perfect. With the distance that Rest gives you, you will now have the time and space to Reflect. 

When you Reflect it’s important to look at the work through the lens of your own contribution, to Reflect on factors in your control — your reaction to setbacks, how you spent your time, the process you followed, and the choices you made as you were Writing. 

By embracing the honesty of true Reflection, you’ll be set up to create even greater work in the future. This step will give you the license to learn and grow, bringing new perspectives and a deeper understanding of your own strengths and weaknesses to the next problem you’re trying to solve.

The Encircling Principle: Play

This one isn’t even a fake R-word like wRite, but it’s the principle that encircles every step of the 5R process. Play is what makes the work of uncovering, exploring, refining, and bringing to life big ideas fun. In a world where much of my work and brain space centres on social and environmental issues at a local, national, and global scale, Play can feel paradoxical. 

But in reality, the attitude and energy that powers great work is the same attitude and energy that will live in the work. That means even serious work needs some silliness, lightness, and joy as it's being developed. Afterall, the serious work of improving the world is geared toward opening avenues to joy, and ensuring that everyone has the freedom to play and express themselves. Why not model that today and infuse it in the process of the work you’re doing? 

So I say, Play. Play as you Read. Play as you Run. Play as you wRite. Play as you Rest. Play as you Reflect. Play all the way to great work.