For surface optimisers, the kind of designer who thrives on precision, refinement, and best practice, comparison is often mistaken for improvement. You see a pattern that works. You refine your own to match. You adapt. You adjust. You align.But here is the problem. When the work becomes too aligned to the visible norms, it loses touch with the real problem. You are not designing for the user anymore. You are designing to be validated by the system.The craft crisis shows up when originality is traded for acceptability. When every new design quietly asks, “Will this hold up against what others expect?” instead of “Does this hold up against what this user actually needs?”Comparison flattens ambition. You start with intention. You end with imitation.Designers stuck in comparison loops often do not realise it until their work starts to feel empty. Not wrong. Just lifeless. The polish is there. The system is followed. But the impact is hollow.This happens when critique becomes about matching standards instead of surfacing tension. When stakeholder feedback favours familiarity over exploration. When leadership unconsciously praises similarity because it feels safe.And here is where leadership matters. Design leaders set the rhythm of what gets valued. If your signals reward polish more than insight, your team will prioritise being impressive over being useful.The challenge is not to reject all standards. It is to recognise when the standard is holding back relevance.Some shifts to consider:        •        Run reviews that centre on clarity of problem, not just clarity of output        •        Ask what is missing before asking what looks wrong        •        Pause when something feels derivative, and trace where that impulse came fromEncourage your team to look laterally, not just vertically. To study across domains, not just up the product ladder. To design from context, not from what earned applause elsewhere.If someone shows you work that feels unfamiliar but aligned, lean in. It might be the first honest signal you have had all week.Comparison steals quiet confidence. It trains people to wait for permission. It builds teams of builders who execute flawlessly, but rarely surprise.As a leader, your job is to restore surprise. To make space for the kind of design that does not resemble anything else, because it is responding to something no one else has seen.If your team feels technically strong but emotionally flat, look for the grip of comparison. And start creating air gaps for people to breathe differently.