Dirtying the page: don’t wait to get started.

16 May

Which job is easier: designing something, or critiquing something?

In my experience, critiquing work that someone else has done is way easier than taking the first step on a complex problem or idea.

That’s why one of the most powerful ways I help people is by doing the hard bit first — by dirtying the page for them. Starting something. Sketching a first idea. Writing the rough outline. Giving form to swirling thoughts.

Once there’s something on paper, even if it’s imperfect, we can get ourselves unstuck. We can discuss it. Improve it. Critique it. Iterate. All of a sudden, we’re making rapid progress in our thinking.

The paralysis of a blank page

I work with some bloody brilliant people. But brilliance doesn’t always translate into movement. Sometimes they’re momentarily stuck — not because it’s beyond them to solve a particular problem, but because carving out time for deep thinking is hard. Particularly when you're buried in meetings, firefighting, and the general noise of organisational life.

You’ve likely been there too. A big, messy problem lives in your head. It loops. It swirls. It sits in conversation, but never quite lands anywhere concretely. And while I’m a big believer in sleeping on things, I’m an even bigger believer in writing it down.

Because until your thoughts exist outside of your mind, they’re just potential energy. They can’t be tested, challenged, built upon, or acted on.

Starting feels risky and too damn hard. Do it anyway.

Starting is hard. Sharing early thinking is confronting. Being critiqued feels exposing. And let’s be honest — it takes real effort and vulnerability to put your ideas out there before they’re perfect.

But everything worth doing is hard…and you should get going and share your early thinking with others anyway! Because done with care, starting and then sharing unlocks clarity, alignment, and collective momentum.

How to move beyond the paralysing mess in your mind

Here’s how to make it safer and more productive to share your early thoughts with people you’re working with (yes, even your boss!):

Frame it: Make it clear that it’s a draft, not a final solution. “It’s not quite right, and I’m still working it through — I’d really value your input.” Be candid about the aspects you are still contemplating, what’s bothering you, and where you think it’s not quite right.
Welcome it: Signal that collaboration is a deliberate part of your process. That other perspectives are wanted.
Incorporate it: Make the work better and do it while it’s fresh in your mind. Keep the next iteration moving.
Expect it: Don’t get too attached. Hold your work lightly. You may need to kill your favourite parts to make the whole thing work…it’s ok.
Own it: If you can conceptualise ideas and invite others in, you have a superpower. Use it generously. Use it often.

The payoff

Every time I take the risk to go first — to dirty the page — I’m reminded of something important: Getting started isn’t about being right. It’s about making it easier for everyone to get to better.

That’s how change happens. Not in the perfect first draft, but in the shared act of building something that works.

So go ahead. Dirty the page, and then share it with someone.

Hi, I’m Kristine Posthumus.

I’m an advisor, facilitator, coach, and doer with a background in strategic change in large organisations.

I’m also a recovering bureaucrat who writes about my experiences of unsquiggling complex business problems, with people in mind.

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