A CREATIVE PRACTICE FOR BUSINESS
Thoughts from a Former Ballet Dancer and Recent MBA Graduate.
By Elyssa Dole
THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE OF CREATING transcends sector, industry or subject. Many of us think that only those who are innately creative have the ability to “make something,” but we often confuse the act of making with that of inspiration and this can prevent us from understanding what actually happens when artists create. In their book Creative Confidence, David Kelley and Tom Kelley, industry experts in the area of innovation for business and technology dismiss the popular misconception that creativity is a gift and belongs to those who work in exclusively in artistic fields. Interestingly, many leaders in the arts agree that there is a creativity myth. The same individuals who must must somehow find a way to turn what seems unreliable — our cognitive ability to imagine and feel inspired—into something that can be repeated and called upon when opportunity demands, often describe the experience of creating in quite unromantic ways. Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky has said “ We must always work, and a self-respecting artist must not fold his hands on the pretext that he is not in the mood.” Ballet choreographer Twyla Tharp has said in her book The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life that creativity “is the product of preparation and effort, and it’s within reach of everyone who wants to achieve it.”
As a business student and who grew up in an artistic profession — ballet, I noticed that artistic professionals were not necessarily creative. For those who did develop a creative practice, whether they were other dancers, choreographers, directors, or scenic designers, there seemed to be a craft to their work — not necessarily a strict process, but more often an approach and a mindset. While most people I worked with would never say that they could control and predict an outcome, these creative artists had a way of organizing the intake of information from their own and from others’ experience into something relevant and focused which could grow the thing they make; a continuous cycle of inquiry and action that identifies a goal, and then aims to create new pathways that reach toward that goal. A theater director does this for actors, but so does a project manager leading a team to a make new product.
This system of decision-making in so-called “white space,” does not so much refer to creativity, but a determination to find an opening, or an opportunity to build further. The creative process also includes logistics of execution, and a way to value and assess what’s in front of you. Maybe that’s why ballet choreographer George Balanchine compared his work to that of a carpenter.
When creative artists talk about how they work, they sometimes describe the experience as process of discoveries. In business we can think of this like a progressive series of mini-insights, (as opposed to a “eureka” or single “ah-ha” moment). By deciding to be mindful of one insight, an artist is led to her next discovery. Composer Brian Eno refers to two mental states during his process: “pushing and letting.” Wearing these two hats, an artist is first an explorer and then becomes an observer and analyst. Unexpected events or discoveries that occur in the artist’s creative process help to shape their artistic material. The process itself often helps them answer the questions, “What should I make, and what problem am I trying to solve?”
MAKING A DANCE IS LIKE RUNNING A STARTUP? In business, leaders such as Eric Ries, and Paul Graham have described the many ways that strategy does not always provide the necessary flexibility to change course and adapt, nor the agility required to achieve success in a highly competitive, fast moving environment. Similarly, artists might try to create the opportunity for the sort of spontaneous events that can lead to unexpected insights and to unforeseen solutions, but tend not to schedule them in advance.
In an interview with John Tusa Choreographer William Forsythe describes his process with his dance company:
“I start the idea…I say I believe that something could emerge from these conditions, and then I name the conditions, the algorithm to make the choreography…these instructions then give it a kind of result…I have to keep deriving other conditions which, let’s say like variations, on these results, until we arrive at something.”
The artist’s process of discovery, which incorporates changing and adapting, can be compared to that employed by a startup, what Eric Ries refers to in his book The Lean Startup as pivoting — “a special kind of structured change designed to test a new fundamental hypothesis about the product, business model, engine of growth.” If “a pivot requires we keep one foot on the ground, while making a fundamental change in strategy in order to seek even greater validated learning” then perhaps what is applicable to business is also a common approach in art-making.
ON FAILURE. In business “pivoting” is used as a way to recover after a failure — as an attempt to fix a given strategy that is not working out. Artists also accept and expect to see plenty of less than ideal outcomes along their way. The studio is a lab for testing and learning. Artists might say “that did or didn’t work” or “there was something in that last attempt, maybe if it was more like….” By constantly and actively seeking what doesn’t work, they achieve iteration; they learn to change directions nimbly and to move away from project failure sooner and more fluidly. If the path of a single pivot is a sharp angle, a path comprised of many small discoveries that continually correct a course might look from a distance more like a smooth curve.
ART AND PRACTICALITY. I have sensed a misconception about the arts in business, an assumption that creative people are not practical. But I have found that most composers, dancers, filmmakers and directors to be outcome-oriented people who work under constraints and need to see results — “the show must go on” is not far from the truth. Artists understand that how we get there determines where we ultimately end up — therefore there is a constant fascination with the creative process; a common question in interviews and post-performance talk-backs is “What was the process?”
I have often wondered why, in business, we are not encouraged to reflect and change course during a project, to adjust our end goal, in the search to find a path to true innovation. It might seem counter-intuitive, but discovery through a creative AND disciplined process of change and adaptation is not more risky. Instead:
Discovery is the proof that allows us to realize that not changing is actually the riskier choice.
