Work however you make the best work.

I caught myself telling a colleague “work however you want”, in regard to flexible hours, working from home, and that kind of thing.

But man, thinking about it now, that’s a risky statement. I should be clearer with my words.

Because I embedded a huge assumption. See, I assume that if you do a creative job, then the thing you want most is to make the best work. But I’m definitely wrong.

To be clear, I’d wager that 94.2% of creatives say that’s their ambition. That ever-better work is their goal. But ignoring their self-report and just judging by their behaviour, I know that’s not true. Deep down, most people are satisfied. And just hoping no one notices.

The thing about ambition is that you don’t have to tell people you have it. If you’re on a mission to make the best creative work, I’ll notice. Everyone will.

If you really believe it, I’ll see it in your behaviour.

“How should I work?” Before COVID, that question was rare. But the years since have been an unprecedented experiment in ways of working. We’ve all had a chance to reset, recalibrate and rebalance. Now is the time to design the work life that works for you.

But please be careful. Be careful not to just choose the way you want to work, or the way you like to work. Be very intentional and choose the way you make the best work.

So can you work from home? Or from Portugal? Or from the hours of 2-11am? Absolutely. Go for it. Give it a shot.

But don’t tell me it’ll help you make the best work. Show me.

Be so productive, creative and effective from home that I’ll beg you not to come to the office anymore. Create work that’s so good from Portugal that I’ll question why I still live in Amsterdam. Make work at 4am that’s so surprising and impressive that I’ll send a company-wide email forbidding anyone from bothering you outside those hours.

Work however you make the best work. But make the best work.

Because a year from now, if you’ve prioritised the way you work at the expense of the work itself, then there will be no question what your ambition is, no matter what you say.

Then, the challenge won’t be making work; it’ll be finding work.