The question we've all been asking is how to prosper in these tough financial times. The last two Sunday Salons featured artists who are facing challenges and finding success on their own terms. What are they doing that could be incorporated into resourceful creative thinking?
Because I'm so familiar with my own belief system, I don't always recognize options that might benefit me. It's a habit I want to break. So I went looking around the internet to discover the best ideas on creative resourcefulness I could find - and most came from the major business blogs.
Trying too hard to find the “right” answer
"One of the worst aspects of formal education is the focus on the correct answer to a particular question or problem. While this approach helps us function in society, it hurts creative thinking because real-life issues are ambiguous. There’s often more than one “correct” answer, and the second one you come up with might be better than the first."
CANI
"My hubby and life partner Andor and I have lived by this Japanese saying ever since we first met: Constant And Never-Ending Improvement. Extraordinarily successful entrepreneurs are always seeking to learn and grow.
They understand that if they are constantly nourishing their mind, they are automatically upgrading themselves and giving themselves a competitive edge. You know the saying “knowledge is power.” It’s true. It has been significant and inspiring for me to watch the rate of growth of close business colleagues who understand and embrace CANI."
Resourcefulness is the ability to find a way to achieve your goal or to make one
"Resourcefulness follows the first attribute, self-discipline. Self-Discipline is the ability to keep the commitments one makes to oneself and includes the ability to take actions that are in your long-term best interests. Self-discipline is not simply the ability to control one’s actions and behaviors; it is also the ability to control one’s beliefs. This includes the belief that you can find a way or that you can make one."
Redefine the Possible
"You must first start with an open mind. "Redefine the possible." This line is attributed to Nandan Nilekani, a co-founder of InfoSys, India's $2 billion IT services company. According to The Economist, Nilekani used this statement to encourage fellow Indians to realize how they could leverage their talents and resources to empower themselves to fulfill their goals. Being open minded about new possibilities is critical to putting resourcefulness into action. The leader who steps up and says "yes we can do this" is one who can push colleagues to do things that some might consider impractical."
Implement locally
"Since most small innovations are limited to a department or a function, put them into action as soon as possible. If the idea does not work as expected, don't abandon it immediately — see if you can tweak it. Implementation itself can be creative and sometimes it takes several tries to make innovative ideas work as expected, or beyond expectations."
During the Renaissance, there was a cultural expectation that the well-lived life was about exploring and exploiting these many selves.
"What started out as a quest to relieve my boredom, became much more than an amusement. Building a portfolio of profit centers was not only interesting, it also gave me flexibility, numerous options and was as good for my imagination as it was for my pocketbook.
The real reward of this portfolio approach became clearer when I came across a quote from James Dickey. He said, “There are so many selves in everybody and to explore and exploit just one is wrong, dead wrong, for the creative process.”
Sometimes a fresh look at information we've heard before can be the catylist we need to open our eyes to the possibilities around us. At the very least, its a good shot of optimism.
My thanks to the authors of the blogs quoted and linked to in this article for their insights and wisdom.
Patrick - Your point about art explores and chooses among all the possibilities is so pertinent right now. Thank you for the reminder and also your wonderful manifesto!
Bonnie - You are right, one of the biggest advantages of being an "Over Whatever" artist is that past history and the ability to see with a wider focus.
Posted by: sue smith | July 07, 2011 at 11:01 AM
As always, Sue, a thought provoking piece and a good lesson -- the theme running through your examples is about finding the answers within oneself, discovering your own strengths. Too many today seem to searching outside themselves for quick and easy strategies that will have guaranteed results. Right. Being an "over 60" artist and footprints on the long road behind me, I know about the "free lunch" thing! Lessons learned along the way.
Posted by: Bonnie Samuel | July 07, 2011 at 09:20 AM
Sue, Thanks for this post, I'll read the articles when I have more time.
I'm finding more encouragement and different thinking by reading the business section before I read the arts section of the NY Times....but it all relates to how I approach my own art making...there is NO one way to do things. Art explores and chooses among all the possibilities.
Posted by: Patrick Gracewood | July 06, 2011 at 10:01 AM