Creativity Squared: Embracing the Willingness to Fail Forward with Nick E Finn

Nick is the co-founder and chief creative officer of The Goondocks full service creative agency. Nick’s credits span dozens of plays, commercials, and short films including Nick’s poetic one-man-show ‘The Last Hipster in Brooklyn’ (2016-2019). Nick currently lives in Ridgewood, Queens with his wife Mairys Joaquin. 

Person

Creatively, I embrace the willingness to fail forward. Talent, skill, creativity, it all has to be nurtured. I believe in dedication, inspiration, and the humility of process. It takes time, patience and a boat load of work to really master a creative craft. I’m still working on my 10,000 hours. But you gotta fail forward, learn from the experience, and push through to grow. 

Like, for example, “writer's block.” Maybe we need to come up with another term for it because the word “block” doesn’t do it for me. Let’s reframe it as: “writer in need of inspiration.” So I’ll read a book. Watch a movie. Do some research. The idea will present itself. Routine can be helpful but it's also a double edged sword. When in doubt, turn to the greats. Nothing lights a fire under my ass like a piece of writing or an idea that makes me go, “Damn! I wish I thought of that!”

Product 

Art and creativity are pretty subjective. People like different things. But therein lies the beauty. Everyone strives to create something they consider "good," but what does "good" mean? Is it satisfying yourself, your peers, the experts, or the critics? Personally, I have a straightforward criterion for evaluating creativity: Is it fun?

Of course “fun” can come in a lot of different ways. Fun doesn’t always mean funny. To me, fun means something that I want to watch. Even the art in question is addressing a serious theme or subject matter, if it has my attention, and I’m invested, then it’s fun. The notion that “good art” should be like eating your vegetables ain’t for me. I want art that feels like dessert. At The Goondocks, that’s the kind of work we try to make - dessert. 

Process

Process is everything in my book. Rushing to the finish line is counterintuitive. I have to let ideas soak. Like a piece of meat in marinade - it won’t taste good after just five minutes. Like growing a flower - you plant the seed, water it everyday, nurture it, and sure enough, eventually it will bloom. 

When I’m given a brief, I’ll do everything I can to let myself live in that world. Researching, reading, watching Youtube, etc. I’ll brainstorm a thousand ideas, just to find one that MIGHT be right. I love bouncing ideas off trusted friends and Goondocks colleagues. I’ll clock their reactions, take them back to the lab, and workshop the ideas some more. I’m always trying to push myself to be better. For my ideas to be better. Now that I think about it, deadlines are the only reality which forces me to leave something alone. I work well under pressure because it forces me to invest early in the process. 

Press

I’ve been fortunate enough to work professionally in different artistic mediums. My background as a playwright, filmmaker, poet, and actor gives me a skill set as a creative in advertising that allows me to add a unique flavour to projects. 

Ironically, it’s really hard to make a living in a lot of creative fields - like say poetry or theatre. Advertising is one of the few creative fields where it’s possible to pay the bills. I’ll always be a multi-hyphenate artist, but the economics of creativity are no joke, so that’s definitely one of those external factors that shape my decision making. Trust me - I’ve done it - there’s no glory in being a starving artist. 

Overall, I try not to get too high or low on external validations or criticisms of my work. Compliments are nice, sure, but I won’t have fun if I’m doing it for the wrong reasons. Did I get paid? Did I have fun? Do the people I respect also think it's fun? That’s all that really matters.