I think every creative feels the tension of the edge. Shy too far from it and you slip into obscurity, dance over it too much and you fall into irrelevance. The edge is where ideas are powerful.. beautiful… the edge allows you to cut through the noise of everything else. It’s a special place.

But if you journey to the edge in the wrong way, the damage to your creative soul will be hard to repair.

Are you pushed to the edge out of fear? A domineering boss, keeping up with relentless pace of output, comparison, insecure, afraid you won’t be valued if you don’t stay sharp? When you’re in that place, the edge is exhilarating, but it’s the kind of exhilaration that exists when you suspect there’s danger. The work you create can still be great work, but it leaves you, its creator, hollow. Always anxious, for the next edge experience, so your fears don’t become reality.

I’ve only recently experienced a new way of getting to the edge. At first, I was skeptical. The process of getting to the edge this way meant that the work was very average, for what felt like a long time. Everything I feared! But the edge has been getting closer again and the way it feels is so different. Before the edge was lonely, isolating, every man for himself. Now the edge is safe, enjoyable, the sun is shining.

The difference?

Team.

Now I don’t feel afraid of the edge. I know that I can confidently explore it, knowing that I have a team up top pulling me back if I get irrelevant. If I fall over the edge into la-la-land, the team is there, ready to catch me, and get back to balancing the tension. There are lots of us on the edge now. Lots of possibilities, more ideas, better ideas than before.

The secret is that the team isn’t afraid, they’ve spent the time, energy and done the emotional work to face the fear and live bigger together.

Team makes the living with the tension of the edge sustainable. Team makes it healthy. Team makes it worthwhile.