“Good enough” is killing creativity.

I was genuinely pissed writing this because I keep seeing the same thing over and over again. There’s this weird perception in Ethiopia that creative work is a luxury. Something nice to have, but not something you actually need.

“If it exists, good enough.”

“If it doesn’t, who cares?”

And honestly, that mindset explains a lot.

Design isn’t just making things pretty. It solves problems. It communicates. It creates trust. It makes you feel something. It changes how you experience a product, a place, a story, even a simple piece of information.

You might not notice good design, but you definitely notice when it’s missing. And just because you don’t understand the value of something doesn’t mean it has no value. You see the same mindset in workplaces too. People stick to what has been done for years because it technically works. Why try something new? Why make it better? Why invest in it?

And then when there’s a chance to invest in something good, the first thing people want to cut is the creative part. You can see it everywhere. The cheapest design. The most generic ads. AI slop everywhere because “it’s good enough.”

But good enough isn’t always good.

And I’m not even talking about designers specifically. I mean creatives in general … artists, musicians, photographers, filmmakers, writers, people who make things.

We have such a weird relationship with creativity. We want the fruit, but we don’t want to water the tree. We want good brands, beautiful spaces, great music, memorable films, products that actually feel good to use, but somehow forget that those things come from people who spent years learning how to make them.

Creativity has existed with us since the beginning. It’s in our stories, our music, our clothes, our homes, our celebrations, the way we express ourselves.

It was never useless.

We just got too comfortable thinking that if something technically works, there’s no reason to make it better.