Do We Need Struggle to Find Value?

Where do we find value in an era where execution feels effortless?

In creative work, the projects that test our limits tend to be the ones we remember. The hours of banging your head against the wall, hoping for inspiration to pour out, then when it finally does, there is a euphoric feeling of surpassing your perceived limits. Struggle feels like proof that the result was earned.

And yet, when things come too easily, we often feel unsettled. Effort has been a defining measure of success up to this point, but now we must find a new way to find pride in a changing creative industry.

The Spark That Changed My Trajectory

Early in my career, I joined a small design team as their first junior hire. I was self-taught, and up to that point, I’d had very little interaction with other designers at my level. I was studying the icons of the industry, but I was essentially working in a bubble. I thought I was doing fine, but I had no real benchmark to measure myself against.

That changed when the company brought on another junior designer. Suddenly, I was face-to-face with someone in the same role who seemed miles ahead of me. I can still remember the first day when he was asked to illustrate a fighter jet to demonstrate his capabilities. I was shocked. I had assumed we’d be on the same footing, but he was operating at a level I hadn’t even considered possible for a junior.

That moment was a catalyst that altered my mindset. It was the spark that pushed me to work harder, stay later, and take on things I wasn’t yet comfortable with. It wasn’t just competition - it was a wake-up call that there was another gear I hadn’t yet discovered in myself.

From then on, I embraced discomfort as a way of knowing I was aiming higher. I worked nights and weekends to upskill. I forced myself to take on projects and programs that were unfamiliar to me, even when I felt completely underqualified. Each time, my lack of confidence was the fuel that drove me toward growth.

The Unease of Ease

Now, with AI entering the creative pipeline, I find myself in a new kind of tension.

To say that AI is a “Magic button” is a stretch, but it is removing several of the pain points that defined our profession, and your ability to problem-solve around them was where your value could lie. Tasks that once demanded patience and persistence are suddenly frictionless. Entire workflows that used to require years of practice can be compressed into prompts. And rather than feeling liberated, I sometimes feel uneasy.

If part of the process feels too easy, where does my sense of satisfaction come from? Where is the struggle that validates the outcome?

This unease isn’t unique to me; it lies at the heart of how the creative industry is responding to AI.

Shifting Where Value Lives

My new role at Adobe has reshaped my perspective on creative tools. They’re no longer just a means of executing a vision - they’re part of a broader conversation about how the creative community can expand its capabilities across the entire production pipeline.

Where certain facets of the process once felt beyond our scope, they’re now within reach. The challenge is to educate ourselves on what makes those capabilities appealing and valuable to the audience when they become integrated into the bigger puzzle.

The truth is, AI hasn’t removed struggle. It has simply relocated it.

• Challenges still exist, but they’ve moved upstream - into strategy, vision, and orchestration.

• Many of us once focused on a narrow slice of the pipeline, but to stay competitive, we may need to expand our vision beyond what feels comfortable.

• Ease is a reminder of progress - that our tools, skills, and experience have compounded to make some paths smoother.

  
  

The lesson I learned as a junior designer still holds true: discomfort sparks growth. But maybe the discomfort now isn’t about competing with another designer’s craft. Perhaps it’s about redefining where I find meaning in the process.

Redefining Satisfaction

So the question I wrestle with today is the same one I asked myself back then, but in a new context: how do I make peace with this new landscape, and still feel a sense of pride in the obstacles I overcome?

Maybe the answer is to embrace both sides. Challenges will always be part of the journey; they won’t always look the same. They might show up in shaping ideas, in storytelling, in orchestrating complex workflows, or in daring to push design into uncharted territory.

Ease doesn’t have to cheapen the work. It can free us to seek out the kinds of challenges that truly matter.

The Question to Leave You With

We will always need struggle. It keeps us sharp, it teaches us patience, and it reminds us why the work matters. But struggle doesn’t always have to live in the grind of execution.

The future of creativity might be one where ease and struggle coexist: ease in the tasks that don’t define us, and struggle in the ones that challenge us to push us further.

What is your perspective on finding satisfaction in overcoming challenges in the age of AI?