The State of Yellow Alert

With start-ups, or any creative environment with a sense of immediacy, we get going on something and then the light changes. I like to say we’re always in the state of yellow alert, as a traffic light ready to change. Often, marketing and product development are happening at the same time, and requirements may change in the middle of a project.

Alan Watts once described that our philosophy falls into one of two groups. The first group, the pricklies, form opinions based on data and facts, things that can be measured in black and white, right or wrong. The other group, the gooeys, have a less concrete view of the world, where there are grey areas, possibilities beyond our current understanding that can’t be put into exactness. He then goes on to compare the roots of western thought, the pricklies, and eastern thought, the gooeys and how the world is becoming more “western”, though this may be up for debate.

The grey area may be where creativity exists. Even when all the data is in, there are still choices to be made. Being in a constant state of yellow alert allows us to be more conscious of our actions throughout the creative processes, and prepares us to be ready for change.