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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nThe creative workplace is a peculiar place. In some ways its very different than other parts of the working world, and in some fundamental ways it\u2019s not. Creatives (I know we hate this term<\/em>) come from all angles. Some study at four-year colleges, others are self-taught and everything in between. There is a vein of meritocracy that is refreshing: if you do good work you will be rewarded. This is the ideal and as we all know, in this world, ideals are rarely met.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Creative output is hard to measure. You can apply some metrics: revenue, awards, press, pats on the back from your boss\u2013but most of the time it is completely subjective. One person might view your project as a runaway hit and the next person might hate the color blue and thinks your solution is a personal attack on their senses. You knew they hated blue you passive aggressive bastard.<\/em> In other fields the metrics are clear cut. Your marketing plan generated a positive ROI. You got called to a house to fix a toilet and when you left everything worked again. The stock you picked went up 136.78% and you made us all more money than most designers see in a lifetime.<\/p>\n\n\n These are facts that every designer learns to live with\u2013aside from the money thing<\/em>. We learn to manage the subjective feelings and we find ways to explain our \u201cprocess\u201d to make those around us feel like they sort of understand what we do. There are many days at work where I feel like the aforementioned plumber. \u201cWe have this big mess here. Can you design us some way out of this horrible situation we created? Thanks.\u201d Shit rolls downhill.<\/strong> We\u2019ve all been a part of this scenario. We put on our gloves (mouse\/tablet) and hardhat (headphones) and we get to work. Some hours later we\u2019ve got a few ideas about how to \u201cput lipstick on a pig\u201d and solve the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m not here to talk about the problem solvers. I want to address Noel Constant. You\u2019ve all worked with him (or her). If you haven\u2019t it\u2019s just a matter of time so thank me now for the warning. Noel Constant is a fictional character from Kurt Vonnegut\u2019s \u2018Sirens of Titan\u2019<\/em>. I call him the luckiest man on earth, while that moniker was often attributed to his son, Malachi Constant, in the novel. He generated a massive fortune by speculating on the stock market. His fail-proof system was simple: write out sentences from the Gideon Bible and use the characters as stock ticker letter pairs. When the stock doubled he would sell it and buy the next one, and so on. He made tons of money this way. Noel Constant was not a genius. He stumbled into something that worked and didn\u2019t fuck it up. He was just smart enough to realize this and stayed true to that method.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Years ago, I worked at a company that was worth many millions of dollars. In less than ten years the company had grown to be a major player in their space and had (as rumors told) turned down a $300 million dollar buyout offer from a larger competitor. This was all before my time there. I came in pretty late in the game, the tables had turned and the competition was on the attack. Sales were fading. The founders, had a bit of Noel Constant in them. Through some dumb luck and some smarts they found a product niche that no one saw and they took full advantage. They could do no wrong\u2013until the ground beneath changed. Then no one looked as smart. The company was sold for (again, rumored) $7 million.<\/p>\n\n\n I lived though a very similar story a few years later. The scale was different but what seemed like a major company quickly faded into non-existence because Noel Constant\u2019s luck ran out. Factors outside the company walls changed, and the leaders weren\u2019t able or weren\u2019t willing, to change to meet the new reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the real world, luck is a major element that determines the outcome. We don\u2019t like to admit this fact. We make up stupid slogans like, \u201cMake your own luck\u201d or \u201cThe harder I work, the luckier I get\u201d. This is called denial: a way to keep yourself going. It can help some people. The multitude of these slogans all over the internet proves this fact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Noel Constant is everywhere. He\u2019s the guy who worked for X brand (that everyone loves at your company) and can do no wrong. That is until he does wrong, then he\u2019s suddenly the biggest idiot and is unceremoniously shown the door. It\u2019s not really Mr. Constant\u2019s fault.<\/strong> We all want to be around the luck. We want to draft off that success and bask in the glow. The problem is that none of this is real. It\u2019s totally imaginary and not based on expertise or actual accomplishments. Noel Constant uses this to his advantage. He speaks well and is able to ride the myth to the bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve come to realize that I do not have the luck. I\u2019ve come up with many ideas that could have been valuable if the timing had been different. I store these wins (if you can call them that) in my back pocket to keep my spirits up. My bank account will tell you another story. I\u2019ve seen two companies I worked for fall into obscurity. I\u2019ve had several personal ventures fail (and a few succeed in some minor way). Is my confidence shaken? Sure, a little bit. But that\u2019s not my real issue, I will keep making stuff no matter what, this is just how I\u2019m wired. My real problem is that Noel Constant keeps on winning. Jealousy? Yeah, there is some of that\u2013I\u2019d love to be in that position. I just wish that world could see what I see.\u00a0Noel Constant is not a genius, he never was.<\/strong>\u00a0He is not a dummy. Don\u2019t be persuaded by tales of glory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m more interested in what have you actually made this week?<\/p>\n\n\n\n What did you, yourself, imagine and bring to life with your own hands?<\/p>\n\n\n\n What personal projects are you emotionally invested in?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Working in the creative field for over 15 years has taken me many places, paid my bills (mostly) and taught me a lot. To be honest, it\u2019s hard sometimes to keep it up. Noel Constant is killing me.<\/strong> I can\u2019t work with him and he\u2019s fucking everywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At least the character, Noel Constant from the Vonnegut stories, had the good sense to lock himself in a hotel room.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/johnfreeborn.com\/words\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Vonegut-connection-drawing.jpg?resize=343%2C420&ssl=1\")
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