Who Told You to Stay in Your Lane?

Sometimes the lane is the problem.

I still remember being told to stay in mine.

I had seen an opportunity. I developed the idea, built the plan, and helped create the early momentum around a project I believed mattered.

There was just one problem.

It wasn't technically my department.

My supervisor made it clear that because the project didn't fall within our direct scope, my role was to support quietly or step away.

In other words:

Stay in your lane.

So I did.

I stepped back and watched other people take the project forward. I watched something I had helped create continue without me. I watched others receive recognition on a foundation I had helped build.

I've thought about that experience many times since.

Not simply because of what happened to the project.

Because of what those four little words can do to a creative person.

Stay in your lane.

Sometimes That's Good Advice

Let's be fair.

There are reasons we have lanes.

Expertise matters.

Responsibilities matter.

Boundaries matter.

If I'm on an airplane, I don't want someone from seat 14B wandering into the cockpit because they've always been fascinated by aviation and have some exciting ideas about landing.

Some lanes exist for very good reasons.

Creative leadership isn't an invitation to ignore expertise, disrespect other people's responsibilities, or charge into every situation because we believe we have the best idea.

But there is another kind of lane.

The one that exists primarily because:

That's how we've always done it.

That's where things get interesting.

Because problems don't always stay neatly inside departments.

Opportunities don't.

Ideas certainly don't.

Vision doesn't always check the organizational chart before showing up.

Sometimes the person who recognizes an opportunity isn't the person whose job description says they're supposed to recognize it.

So what happens then?

Who Painted the Lines?

I think that's a question creative leaders need to learn to ask.

Not every boundary should be broken.

But every boundary can be understood.

Who created this?

Why?

What is it protecting?

Does that reason still exist?

Does this boundary help us accomplish what we're trying to accomplish, or does it simply preserve the way we've always accomplished it?

There is an enormous difference between a boundary that protects something important and one that protects familiarity.

The first deserves respect.

The second may deserve examination.

That's not rebellion.

That's curiosity.

And curiosity is one of the creative leader's most useful tools.

Sometimes We Build Our Own Lanes

There is another version of stay in your lane that may be even more powerful.

Nobody has to say it to us.

We say it to ourselves.

I'm a writer. I'm not a producer.

I'm an artist. I'm not a businessperson.

I'm creative. I'm terrible with strategy.

I've never done anything like that before.

I don't have the right degree.

I'm too old to start now.

Nobody asked me.

That's not what people know me for.

Who am I to do this?

We can become remarkably efficient at policing our own boundaries.

And sometimes those boundaries were handed to us years ago.

A teacher told us what we weren't good at.

A supervisor decided what our role should be.

A parent imagined a particular future for us.

An industry created an accepted path.

A failure convinced us we shouldn't try again.

Eventually, we stop noticing the lines were painted by someone else.

We simply stay between them.

But Where Are You Going?

This is where I come back to something I talk about often in The Creative Leader's Edge:

You have to know the destination.

If you know where you are trying to go, you can begin evaluating whether the road you're traveling can actually take you there.

Sometimes it can.

Stay on it.

Learn.

Develop your craft.

Build experience.

Keep moving.

But sometimes you look at the GPS and realize something uncomfortable.

This road doesn't go there.

Now you have a decision to make.

You can stay in the lane because it's familiar.

You can stay because someone told you this is where you belong.

You can stay because changing roads is frightening.

Or you can begin looking for another route.

Maybe that means learning something new.

Maybe it means collaborating with someone whose expertise complements yours.

Maybe it means going back to school.

Maybe it means creating something yourself.

Maybe it means allowing your identity to become bigger than the title you've been carrying.

And sometimes it means admitting:

I've outgrown this lane.

Creative People Are Often Multi-Lane People

Creative people can be difficult to fit neatly into boxes.

We write and produce.

We design and strategize.

We teach and create.

We build businesses around art.

We tell stories and lead teams.

We develop one skill because another creative curiosity led us there.

One road connects to another.

Then another.

Before long, the career we are building doesn't resemble the tidy path we imagined when we started.

That's not necessarily confusion.

It may be evolution.

The important thing is knowing why you're crossing lanes.

Are you chasing every shiny object that appears?

Or is there a destination connecting these choices?

That's where personal leadership comes in.

Creativity gives us possibilities.

Leadership helps us choose among them.

Stay in Your Lane?

Today, I don't think my response to stay in your lane would be to immediately jump the curb.

I've learned too much to believe every boundary is an enemy.

But I would look around.

I would ask who painted the lines.

I would ask why they're there.

I would ask what they're protecting.

I would ask whether they still serve the destination.

And I would ask myself one more question:

Is this actually my lane, or is it simply the lane someone else assigned me?

Because sometimes staying in your lane is discipline.

Sometimes it's wisdom.

Sometimes it's respect.

And sometimes?

The lane is the problem.

If you know who you're becoming and you know where you're trying to go, don't be afraid to check the GPS.

The road you're on may be exactly right.

Or it may be time to find another route.

Thank you for spending a little time at The Creative Leader’s Edge.

I believe creativity is more than something we make. It is part of how we think, how we lead, and how we imagine what comes next.

What did this idea bring up for you? I welcome your thoughts, experiences, and perspectives. If something here resonated, please follow, subscribe, and share it with another creative spirit finding their way forward.

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— Dr. AY Heath (Angel)

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