These are two words that you probably wouldn’t naturally juxtapose, but I promise it makes sense.
I’ve talked about actions and habits before, about how important it is to focus on tangible actionable things in order to move forward and affect change. Well, creating vs reacting is another helpful way to think about action, more specifically, what drives action. Here goes.
We’ll start with reacting because for a lot of us it’s more familiar, also it’s the lesser of the two options. A reaction is usually a response to some sort of problem or threat, it’s negatively sourced, something bad has or could happen, and you need to react to prevent it. A common phrase in the knowledge working world is ‘putting out fires,’ meaning problems constantly arise and we’re constantly reacting to solve them. A reaction doesn’t really move things forward, its main goal is to keep the status quo, keep the business functioning, keep the customer happy, etc.
Creating, on the other hand, is much more exciting. Instead of arising out of a problem or threat, creativity is sourced from vision and purpose. Creating is about solving problems before they show up, about creating solutions and possibilities. It’s pro-active action instead of reactive action.
Here’s a quick example: let’s say you’re working for a customer-facing firm who provides financial coaching and investments. Clients have been semi-regularly frustrated by poor communication from the firm, and your job has often devolved into smoothing things over with disgruntled customers. You’re a reactor. But, dissatisfied with this type of work existence, you remember why you’re actually doing all this: to serve people well with the best financial and investment advice in the industry. So if that’s the purpose, reacting to communications problems is incongruous with that purpose. What would serve that purpose? A system of communication and education designed not only to clamp down on the ‘frustrated customer’ problem, but to help customers think differently about money and themselves!
Creating comes from a different place (vision and purpose) than reacting (fear and problems). See, juxtaposition!