you’re fired up & you’re committed

As a creative person weather you’re an entrepreneur, an artist, an engineer, a chef, you name it, you’re fired up.

You’re committed.

You muster up all the energy you possibly have and expend it all in one go and aim to repeat this every time you get into your work.

You remind me of a teenager who sees the love of their life and pours themselves out on them.

But how do you find the ability to consistently “put in the work”? To lock into a schedule and get the work done? Especially when your endeavour is a creative practice and you’re just not feeling inspired, or motivated.

Attention creative people (this one’s for you, as it typically will be at The Throb…):

When this thought first popped in my head, I allowed it to percolate before truly understanding it. Stay open to what I’m about to say…

Creative people require systems.

Yes, that’s right. As creative people, we rely on systems, and we thrive when we have them.

I’m not talking about mere "tools," “process,” or "routine." I'm talking about a curated blend of these plus other systems such as goals/objectives, prioritization mapping, operational efficiencies, cultures of innovation, amoung many others. Some of these are invisible and difficult to pinpoint. Systems are constructed by various moving parts, the kind you set for yourself, the kind that are imposed on you, or the kind that come along with being a part of a team, a community, a group, etc..

Structure and systems are our friends, especially for the creative types.

You might be thinking… “I don’t like systems; I want to be free and creative on my own watch.” Well…

There’s a problem with this. In order to accomplish what we set out to do as creative professionals, we have to lock into certain ways of working – by utilizing tools, setting milestones, bounding ourselves to deadlines, and so on.

If it were up to us, we’d be content sitting in a field, staring at the sky for a solid hour without flinching. How does this fit into our “productivity first” kind of world? Well, it doesn’t, really. So, we either need to be pushed by some external pressure (university, a team, shared studio space, purpose, culture, etc.) or we need to build these systems for ourselves (time tracking apps, calendars, alarms, email notifications, etc.). Don’t get me wrong there’s a time and place for the sky staring…

Now, why do we need systems?

As creative people (and I would argue that everyone is creative), our minds tend to wander more. And because we have big, beautiful imaginations, we tend to get lost in time (Flow), think up massive ideas, and get carried away in the beauty of it all.

What incredible skills to have! But with great skill comes great responsibility. How do we harness the creative prowess of these big brains of ours (wow, there’s that ego brain…)? How do we hold ourselves accountable without going mad?

I recognize we are going up against nature here…and that it won’t always be pleasant …but how in the heck are you supposed to get anything done?! Here’s just one thought that I decided to go deeper on, rather than wide:

Work in a team environment.

Here are 2 reasons why this is a good idea:

• Reason #1) Working with a team can provide just enough external pressure to get things done.

Find yourself a team that can fill your skill gaps. This is where diversity comes in, and you should regularly check for it. You wouldn’t want too many of you around, or everyone would be staring at the walls, and nothing would get done (this is a joke).

• Reason #2) We make great additions to teams that require big thinking, new ideas, and critical thought.

These teams are usually working on complex problems and are unable to remove their bias from the details. As creative people, we come in with a fresh perspective and the ability to ask questions that make the team think differently and implement necessary changes.

Be Curious.

Working at art galleries for about seven years taught me that the signs that say, “do not touch the artwork” are predominantly put in place for creative/sensory people (artists). Why? Because artists are notorious for touching, inspecting, and analyzing the artwork more than anyone else entering the gallery. They are asking themselves: “how was this made?”, “what was it made with?”, “why was it made?”, “who made it?”, and “can I make something similar or steal some of these techniques?”. Some artists simply cannot help themselves when they see certain works of art. Their curiosity and obsession for color, texture, and sheen takes over, allowing all logic to fly out the window and all senses are activated.

It highlights a creative person's almost physical, psychological need to be curious and notice things that may go unnoticed. You get a creative person on your team, and you’ll start to see small improvements, even if they are only pointing them out.

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All in all, we need artists working in companies that have complex problems requiring creative solutions.

Okay, artists, this is where you come in. We need to broaden your scope. We need you to think outside of art materials, traditional mediums, building concepts, etc. And we need you to see information in place of these things (take a minute with this).

As I mentioned above, we are open-minded. Over the course of our lives, we have built in systems for ourselves out of necessity. School has suppressed our creativity to be “less intense”, “less disruptive”, and “less out there”. Although it’s good to find a balance of creativity and productivity, we have been taught to limit our creativity excessively. We need to get this back.

The required skills of 2023 are creative, collaborative, open-minded, adaptable, persevering, and curious.