I’ve just reached post 25 of the originally intended 100. I am now officially one-quarter of the way through this personal little project of mine.

My original intention was to bang out 100 posts consecutively. At the beginning the shotgun method seemed to be the best approach. Best laid plans, however, never seem to go exactly as you hope they will. I’ve had a few things come up in the past few weeks that kept me from writing a few days, so I had to amend my original plan. The goal now is to produce 100 posts I’m comfortable with. That’s adaptation at it’s best.

A willingness to adapt and course correct when circumstances change is important. As a designer, change will be a constant. Clients, art directors, bosses, collaborators, heck, even ourselves from time to time—we all want change. And it’s our job to accommodate where we can.

The misconception that many young designers subscribe to is that design is a singular activity. In reality, that’s just not the case.

Sometimes being open to change can be tough, especially when we become too emotionally invested in the work. That’s not to say you shouldn’t put some emotion into everything you create—you should. That’s what makes good design stand out. Being flexible, though, can take design from good to great.

The misconception that many young designers subscribe to is that design is a singular activity. In reality, that’s just not the case. The majority of the projects we will work on during our careers will be collaborative. The fact is that effective, meaningful design arises out of solid partnerships. Partnerships between team members, partnerships between teams and clients, partnerships between ourselves and collaborators. The concept of partnership has flexibility at its core. The more willing to course correct or change direction when needed gets the team closer to a positive outcome.

I had a professor tell me once, “Never get so precious about your work that you aren’t willing to tear it down and rebuild if the need arises.” I laughed at the time, but he was speaking truth. Flexibility should be at the core of everything we do. When we can change direction and remain completely fluid in our thinking, our work becomes stronger, and the stronger the work the more meaningful it will be to others.