The value of staying open
Ken Cato, on creativity and understanding:
When I tackle projects, the battle is not the creative thing; the battle is to keep the mind open until you fully understand the exercise. A lot of designers hear the brief and make very quick assumptions. I think the longer you can hold that open, the more chance outside influences and experiences will come into play.
The useful point here is that creativity is often framed as the hard part of design. Cato puts the difficulty earlier. The real discipline is resisting the urge to close the brief too quickly.
A fast assumption feels productive because it gives the project shape. It also narrows the field before the designer has properly understood what is in front of them. The longer the question stays open, the more room there is for useful outside influences to enter the work.
Understanding is part of the creative process. Usually, it is the part that decides whether the creative work has anywhere worth going.