Hey Friend!
The best Architects aren’t afraid to suck at things they’re already good at.
I recently spoke at two very different events—a private Lunch & Learn about mental health for an Architecture firm’s “Wellness Wednesdays” series, and a lightning-fast 6-minute presentation for the Buffalo Architecture Foundation about one of my projects.
Despite having over a decade of public speaking experience, I deliberately tried new approaches for both talks that pushed me out of my comfort zone.
Why?
Because staying too comfortable with “mastered” skills is actually making us weaker, not stronger.
Today, we’re talking about why changing up your approach to familiar tasks is essential for building resilience:
- How comfort zones kill creativity and growth
- The hidden benefits that transfer to other professional skills
- Practical ways to experiment with tasks you think you’ve mastered
Let me share what I learned from intentionally making things harder for myself.
3 Ways To Build Resilience Through Familiar Tasks (Even If You Think You’ve Already Mastered Them)
To become a truly Resilient Architect, you need to embrace the discomfort of doing familiar things in unfamiliar ways.
Here’s how to turn your existing skills into opportunities for growth.
1. Deliberately Constrain Yourself
The most powerful growth happens when you add artificial limitations to tasks you’re comfortable with.
My 6-minute presentation at the Buffalo Architecture Foundation was a perfect example. I’m used to 30-60 minute presentations where I can build compelling arguments and share meaningful stories.
Suddenly having to cram a complex project into just 6 minutes forced me to think differently about narrative structure, visual storytelling, and audience engagement.
The constraint didn’t make the task easier—it made it better.
I had to identify what truly mattered and cut everything else. This skill of ruthless prioritization immediately improved how I run project meetings and client presentations.
When you artificially limit time, resources, or format in familiar tasks, you’re forced to innovate within those boundaries, which strengthens your problem-solving muscles in ways that comfortable repetition never could.
It's like willingly taking your mind to the gym for a few sets of artificial problem solving. You're in control of the exercise and the reps.
2. Rebuild From Scratch Instead of Tweaking
The biggest breakthroughs happen when you resist the urge to reuse what already works and force yourself to start fresh.
For the Wellness Wednesday Lunch & Learn, I had a perfectly good mental health presentation I’d given successfully many times before. The easy path would have been to make minor adjustments and call it done.
Instead, I chose to completely rebuild it from the ground up—new pacing, different structure, fresh content types, and updated graphics.
This wasn’t efficiency; it was intentional discomfort.
The tight timeline made it even more challenging, but that pressure forced me to think differently about every element.
- How could I make complex topics more accessible?
- What if I changed the entire flow of information?
- Could different visual approaches create better engagement?
This process of rebuilding rather than reusing pushed me to question assumptions I’d never examined before.
The result wasn’t just a better presentation—it was a deeper understanding of how to communicate effectively under pressure, how to innovate within constraints, and how to trust my instincts when familiar approaches aren’t available.
This skill of rebuilding from scratch has transformed how I approach project design, client proposals, and even internal processes that feel stale.
Sometimes you just need to let that creativity loose and see what happens.
3. Experiment With Different Methods
The method matters as much as the skill itself, and varying your approach keeps you engaged while building flexibility.
Over the years, I’ve experimented with everything from traditional PowerPoint presentations to storytelling without slides, from technical specifications talks to personal burnout narratives.
Each format change forced me to develop new muscles.
- Speaking without slides made me a better storyteller.
- Personal narratives taught me vulnerability and connection.
- Technical presentations sharpened my ability to make complex information digestible.
These weren’t just presentation skills—they were leadership skills, project management skills, and client relationship skills.
When you consciously vary how you approach familiar tasks, you’re building a toolkit of methods that you can deploy situationally.
The Architect who only knows one way to run a design meeting will struggle when that format doesn’t work for a particular client or project phase.
Final Thoughts
Resilience isn’t built by doing the same things perfectly—it’s built by doing familiar things differently and discovering new possibilities within existing skills.
Here’s what you learned today:
- Constraints force innovation and reveal new capabilities within familiar skills
- Changing context or audience expands the applications of skills you already have
- Experimenting with different methods builds flexibility and keeps you engaged
The most Resilient Architects aren’t those who perfect one approach—they’re those who can adapt their approach to meet whatever situation demands.