The Art of the Call

Ever stared down a project while your brain begged for one more option, one more draft, one more “thinking walk”? We’ve been there—on an opera stage with eighty Vikings, in ad studios racing against dawn, and inside a passion project that ballooned into overwhelm. Today we pull those threads together to show how decisive action turns chaos into creative momentum.

We start with the high-stakes story: a dress rehearsal, an expectant cast, and a conductor waiting. That pressure cooker reveals a quiet truth about the creative process—every piece advances one choice at a time. From the writer’s room in New York to production pits and pitch decks, we unpack why “writer’s block” is often decision block, and how simplifying low-stakes calls preserves energy for the art. Wardrobe shortcuts, default tools, and tight constraints aren’t boring; they’re safeguards for your best ideas.

When a month of fundraising, casting, and platform choices for Song in Space tipped into noise, we chose an intentional pause: a road trip across Appalachia, history-soaked detours, and fresh air that reset the compass. Distance wasn’t avoidance; it was a decision to restore flow. Back at the desk, a cleaner pitch and a realistic plan snapped into place. We lay out the three-step framework that made it possible: recognize the decision point, define the choices—including the “impossible” one—and make the call. Along the way, we challenge the perfection myth and share a Miles Davis insight on turning a “wrong note” into the right one through commitment.

If you’re stuck cycling options or fearing the imperfect, this conversation offers practical tools, sharp language, and a friendly push to move. The universe doesn’t respond to maybe—it responds to motion. Hit play, then tell us the choice you’re making today. And if this resonated, subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review to help more creatives make the call.

Thanks for listening.

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Picture this
fur and chain mail, swordsdrawn, breath steaming under the
lights.
They're waiting.
The conductor's baton hovers,and in the middle of the stage
stands one man, our hero,frozen.
That man is Chris McHale.
No, really, this isn't ametaphor.
It's Tuesday in production land.

(00:22):
Welcome to Creativity GGG andtoday's episode, The Art of the
Call.
Because when sweaty Vikings arestaring you down, indecision
isn't philosophy.
It's life-threatening.

SPEAKER_01 (00:39):
Okay, Rita, taking us into this.
And yes, that uh Viking thingactually happened.
And when uh a whole bunch ofViking people are standing
around you waiting for you to tomake a decision, you know, you
take it seriously.
I d I did a bunch of operas uhback in Boston and uh I love

(01:05):
doing opera and I I learned uhsomething about life and being
creative and creativity and theimportance of decision making in
the creative process.
I mean it's like a core creativeskill, that's the way I see it.

(01:29):
But back when I worked as awriter in New York, three days
were a lifetime to get a piecedone.
Um I mean, a lot of the timethey would they would call you
at like six and say they neededsomething by ten the next
morning, and you know the rightanswer was do you need it

(01:53):
earlier?
I mean, that's that's kind oflike how we we hustled back
there in New York.
And you didn't have time tophilosophy.
You had to make a call, forbetter or worse, and move.
That's what I'm talking abouthere on creativity J Gigi, the
art and the importance ofdecision-making in the creative

(02:16):
process.
In New York, in my writing days,three days was a lifetime to
finish a piece.
And if you missed the deadline,your client would assume that
you joined a cult or taken uppottery.
I mean, you had to choose.
You had to choose in yourprocess.
This word and not that word,this idea, not that idea, this
angle, not the other angle.

(02:39):
You just had to kind of pony upa choice in the process.
No time for writer's block,that's for sure.
I mean, look, I've alwaysthought writer's block is just
another way of saying uh thewriter can't make a decision.

(03:01):
I mean, I think that's what itis.
It's like I've got writer'sblock.
Well, just decide you don't.
I mean, the words are there.
Uh you just haven't chosen whichones belong.
That's the way I think writer'sblock is.
It's like decision block.
Maybe with better PR.

(03:23):
The words are there, you justcan't decide which ones get to
live and which ones get todelete.
I'll be honest with you, um, I'mnot that great at decisions.
I mean, in my real life IRL, I'mI'm not that great at it.
Um my default mode isprocrastination, so I simplify.

(03:47):
That's what I've learned in mylife.
I mean, if my taxes are due, I'mgonna pay them at uh 1145 before
midnight.
Uh if I go into a restaurant, Ijust have learned uh to pick the
first thing I see on the menu.
Because if I start going throughthe menu in detail, I may never
pick.
And I'll probably pick the wrongthing, and I'll uh, you know,

(04:10):
the chef will be closing out ofthe kitchen and I'm trying to
decide what to eat.
So I simplify.
I simplify my choices.
That's the first thing I've doneto kind of, you know, work
through my bad decision makingin life.
You know, anybody who knows mewill tell you, like, uh, you
know, Chris is not that great atdecisions, but you know, you you

(04:32):
have to kind of grow up and bean adult, so you gotta figure
out how to make it work.
I went on this shoot to Europe,and um, I packed in my suitcase
uh four white shirts and uh fourblack jeans and four white
socks.
And um that was it.

(04:54):
That was it.
Every day I looked the same,every day I dressed the same,
and every day the art directoron the chute had words with me
about it.
It seemed to get under her skin.
Well, I don't know if it reallygot under her skin, but uh, you
know, that's the way I washandling it.
I've I've learned to simplify mychoices.
You know, one less decision inthe morning between me and

(05:15):
getting to work.
All right.
Um, back to the stage and theVikings.
I'm better in production.
There's no doubt about it.
Deadlines taught medecisiveness.
You know, when 80 people and abunch of Vikings are standing
around you on an opera companystage waiting for your cue to

(05:36):
go, for your decision what togo, indecision's really not an
option.
I mean, it's it's not somethingthat you can say, like, well,
maybe I'll maybe I'll do it,maybe I don't.
And uh that's um when you're gotfour thousand people coming to

(05:57):
the opera, uh you don't havetime.
That's a luxury.
You've gotta make the call.
Decision making and creativityis a balance of choice and
momentum.
Right?
That's the way I see it.
It's like it's like you're on aseesaw, and choice is on one end

(06:20):
and momentum is on the other,and the decision making is in
the middle.
Creating the balance betweenthose two poles.
You've got to make a choice, andby making a choice you keep a
momentum, and that's why Ibelieve decision making is
important in creativity.
You slow up in creativity, youcould lose the whole project.

(06:44):
Uh, what should a character do?
Uh huh.
What's their name?
How do they feel?
Where do they live?
I mean, the options are endless,but endless options are also an
infinite ways to delay.
You know, uh, I'm not feelinggood, I'm not gonna, I'm not
going to uh write today, I'mgonna take a long walk.

(07:06):
Well, I mean, there's nothingwrong with a long walk, but are
you taking that walk because youdon't want to make a decision?
Or it's just become too hard?
Why am I talking about this?
Why am I going on about this onCreativity Jiji?
It's because I've just been in amonth-long decision-making

(07:29):
period with Song in Space.
Fundraising, production plans,collaborations, new actors, new
new musicians.
Where am I gonna do it?
Am I gonna do Kickstarter?
Am I gonna do Indiegogo?
I mean, I was driving myselfcrazy, which is something I'm
really, really good at, but uh Ifelt uh a push to decide a whole

(07:54):
bunch of things fast that Iwasn't ready to decide.
And um I started feelingoverwhelm, and uh, I believe
overwhelm is an indication thatyour creative process is
wackadoodle.
You know, something is wrong.
I mean, you really need to keepaway from overwhelm.
You're not gonna paint a greatcanvas or write a great song if

(08:18):
you're sitting down and you'relike, oh, I've got to do this.
I mean, it's look, any artistwill tell you that's what it is.
I used to be a jingle writer,and jingle writers were like,
here it is.
Uh, we need a song forBudweiser, or we need a song for
Kit Kat, or we need this, or weneed that, and uh we need it by
the end of the week, and it'sgotta be great.

(08:38):
I mean, tremendous amount ofpressure, but that's not art.
That's commercial work, andnobody expects it to be
world-changing.
It happens.
It happens.
I did some great, great work umwhere we put out music that that
shifted the world a little bit,and I was always kind of aware

(08:59):
of that, that my jingles weregonna be broadcast to millions
of people.
I was kind of aware of that, andI kind of felt a responsibility
for that.
But that is not art.
That is not art.
And these days, and on thisshow, Creativity J, I'm really
talking about art.
I'm talking about the artisticprocess, and I'm talking about

(09:22):
how decision making is soimportant in the artistic
process.
So with Song in Space, I wasfeeling overwhelmed.
Ah, that's wrong.
I was feeling pressure, uh,that's wrong.
I was feeling like I had to makeall these decisions, and I was
losing control of the project.
I wasn't even sure what I wasdoing, to be honest with you.
Uh, the flow was gone.

(09:44):
It was just something was off,you know?
And my instincts were like, hey,Chris, slow up.
Come on, give yourself a break.
You're never gonna find thegroove if you keep this pressure
on you.
So I uh decided, um, I went andsat by the lake for a while, and

(10:06):
I decided, you know what?
Screw it.
Um, and I went and I rented acar.
That was my decision to rent acar.
And we got in the car and wedrove uh down through Ohio,
where we stopped and visited agreat friend of mine.
And then we um we went into theAppalachian Mountains, into West

(10:27):
Virginia.
If you don't know West Virginia,it's highly recommended.
It's absolutely drop-deadgorgeous.
Uh, the Appalachia Mountainstate with tall peaks and deep
valleys and raging rivers andlakes and caves.
We visited this cave.
At least my wife visited thecave, but I I couldn't get down

(10:49):
there because I have troublewith stairs, but she went down
and said it was amazing.
We drove over the CumberlandGap, which I wanted to do
because I'm a history buff, andthat was sort of like one of the
main entrances to uh the West inthe old days, and uh the uh site
of the first national road.

(11:10):
I mean, there's a lot of historyalong there.
And we went to a family weddingin Maryland, and then we turned
around and came back.
And by the time I got back, uh Iwent into my studio and I had a
clear head, and I sat down and Iwrote a great new pitch for Song
and Space, and my producer whoI'm working with in LA said,

(11:34):
How'd you do that when you weredriving?
And I it's like, because I wasdriving, because I went into the
mountains, because I pushed backon the overwhelm and uh gave
myself room to think and uh roomto breathe.
I came up with uh a pretty gooduh new plan for Song and Space,

(11:55):
and uh it's a plan that'sreasonable, and it's a plan that
lays out some realities, andit's just gonna work better.
Alright.
So everything shifted.
Everything shifted because Imade a decision to pause.
I made a decision is theimportant part of that.

(12:18):
The secret the secret thatpeople don't tell you a lot is
that the universe doesn'trespond to indecision, it
responds to motion.
It responds to motion.
Uh go out into the middle of thedesert and say, like, I don't
know what I should do, and thestars will look at you like

(12:40):
you're nuts.
Go out into the middle of thedesert and say, like, I'm ready,
I'm open, I know what to do, andthe universe will respond.
So I'm gonna sum this wholething up and show you how I
handle it, because I broke itinto three steps.
Alright.
Step one, recognize the decisionpoint.

(13:05):
That point when you're reachingthe creative process where it's
like you have to make a choice.
It's also, if you're looking forthe indication, like you're at a
decision point, it's like you uhrealize you're not refining
anymore.
You're delaying, you're hiding,you're looping.
You open the fridge six timesand still haven't started

(13:25):
cooking.
I mean, that's the sign thatyou're at a decision point.
So recognize the decision point.
That's step one.
Step two, define the choices.
All right, that really helps mea lot.
Write them down.
Because when you make a list,it'll be like the obvious one
will often come to the fore.

(13:47):
And I'll give you a little protip here that I found from my
career is that when I make mylist of choices, I'll be like,
okay, that's a cool one.
Oh, that's okay, that's when,and then I'm like, you know,
there's this one, I can't dothat.
That's that's craziness rightthere.
I can't do that choice.
I can't make that choice.
But you know when I do, when Imake the crazy choice, that's

(14:08):
when things work better.
I mean, that's the one thatpeople like.
That's the one that you lookback on years later and go,
like, wow, that's cool.
I like that.
I like that choice.
Uh and then step three in theprocess is make the call.
It's obvious.
Listen, perfection is thebiggest con of all time in the

(14:34):
creativity world.
There's no such thing.
And uh, your job as an artist isto get it out there, and
perfection's not gonna help youdo that, so forget that.
Just make the call and make thebest call you can.
Uh I did some work with MilesDavis once when I was doing
lighting design, and Miles was aparticular kind of cat.

(14:57):
He lived his life a certain way.
And he once said, Um, if youplay an E flat, uh make it the
right E flat.
In other words, if you play thewrong note, make it the right
note.
Right?
Whatever way it comes out.
That's kind of like surrenderingto the creative spirit, right?
Oh, I I didn't mean to do that.

(15:18):
Oh, you know what?
I'm gonna make that work.
That's what he was saying.
That's what he was saying.
Perfection is a big con.
Don't even try.
Just decide.
Just decide.
Because movement beats paralysisevery single time.
Alright?
So recognize the decision point,define the choices, make the

(15:44):
call.
Alright.
The universe doesn't rewardindecision, it rewards motion.
And it's never, ever an optionnot to choose.
This has been Creativity Jijiji.
My name is Chris McHale, and uhI hope that this helps you a

(16:08):
little bit, and I'll get back towork.

SPEAKER_00 (16:13):
Well done, Maestro.
Eighty Vikings survived, nolawsuits filed, and you even got
dinner.
So, dear Audiononauts, you'veheard the sermon.
Now make a choice.
Subscribe to Creativity GGG,leave a review, or I'll send
those same Vikings to rehearseoutside your window.
This has been Creativity GGG.

(16:34):
Make the call.