Why Creators Abandon Their Best Work: The Obvious Genius Trap

Creators do this thing with their ideas all the time:
They throw them away.

It doesn’t matter how much time, effort, or energy has already gone into the project—when that feeling kicks in, the work gets scrapped, and a new board is mounted. Just like that.

But what exactly is that feeling?

It’s hard to describe, but here’s an attempt:
It’s that inner voice that screams, “This is beneath me.”
Or whispers, “This is too basic for public consumption.”

It’s that self-imposed quality check where creators begin to undervalue their own work simply because it feels obvious to them.

The irony?
While you’re busy downplaying your ideas, someone else is somewhere shouting, “Genius!” or “Great idea!”

Sound familiar?

Chances are you’ve had moments where people were in awe of your thoughts, marveling at how you consistently come up with brilliant ideas—ideas that, to you, seemed almost effortless or “not that deep.”

If you’ve ever felt this way, you’re not alone.
In fact, it’s a common struggle among creators, as Derek Sivers—the founder of CD Baby—beautifully explains.

Here’s how he captured the experience:

“Any creator of anything knows this feeling:
You experience someone else’s innovative work. It’s beautiful, brilliant, breathtaking. Their ideas are unexpected and surprising, but perfect.
You think, ‘I never would have thought of that. How do they even come up with that? It’s genius!’
My ideas are so obvious. I’ll never be as inventive as that.”

“But I continue to do my work. I tell my little tales. I share my point of view. Nothing spectacular. Just my ordinary thoughts.
One day, someone emailed me and said, ‘I never would have thought of that. How did you even come up with that? It’s genius!’
Of course, I disagreed and explained why it was nothing special. But afterwards, I realized something surprisingly profound:
Everybody’s ideas seem obvious to them.”

Even legends like John Coltrane or Richard Feynman probably felt their work was "just obvious."

The lesson?
What feels ordinary to you might be extraordinary to someone else.

Hit songwriters often admit that their biggest hits were songs they almost didn’t record because they thought they were “too simple” or “too silly.” Turns out, we’re often terrible judges of our own work.

So instead of discarding your ideas too quickly, maybe you should just put them out there—and let the world decide.

Quote Credit: sive.rs/obvious