Everywhere around I see short termism, and it scares me.
The last week has made me think deeply about history. Mainly cultural history to be honest. The death of David Bowie and subsequently Alan Rickman made me think quite hard about the depth of career that makes a difference. I even wrote a little post about it, about how a lifetime of small but brilliant dents is the thing that makes a real dent in the universe.
Learning more about Bowie’s and Rickman’s life and you see an incredible parallel in origin story. Both were working class boys who went to art school /studied art in an era before fees and while grants still existed. It’s actually a fairly common story and one which talks of the long-termist strategy of the post-war period. There are even some small parallels with that messiah of Silicon Valley, Steve Jobs, although everyone always draws the wrong conclusion about why he was so brilliant.
Many of those who I hold as cultural icons from the 70s have a very similar origin story. Roxy Music was driven intellectually and culturally in the early days by Bryan Ferry (his father looked after pit ponies and he attended art school in Newcastle in the 60s, studying under Richard Hamilton) and Brian Eno (studied at Colchester Institute art school where he was influenced by minimalist painting). These individuals and many others, and importantly those they influenced, along with institutions such as the BBC, are the reason why the UK has such a vibrant cultural and creative sector, one which now accounts for over 5% of UK GDP. The frightening thought is that due to short-termism, student grants have just been discontinued and the funding of art schools is now at an all time low.
At the same time, short-termism is at an all time high. Students are choosing courses relating to employability on graduation and starting salary, rather than on passion for learning and their interests. The cult of shareholder value promotes a culture of short-term gain over doing the right thing. The austerity measures of the current government are knee capping the cultural sector which contributes, indirectly but tangibly, to the creative sector and tourism and hence balance of payments and GDP. The venture capital industry promotes the constant short-term pivoting until the vanity metrics look positive over a patient approach to a sustainable business.
The businesses I admire the most, The Guardian, Bonnier, Lego to name but a few aren’t fast companies, they’re either family owned/run or run by trusts and long-term gain is always uppermost. They look far ahead for where they need to go and I hope my children will have those companies as companions when they’re grown up.
It made me so happy yesterday to read a piece from a venture capitalist, Fred Wilson, who I’ve always admired which bucked the trend. It’s about the long game and in particular tenacity. When you read it you see that good stuff is hard stuff and takes time. We need more of this.
p.s. for extra bonus points, look at the role of the dole and the Enterprise Allowance Scheme on the culture of the 70s, 80s and 90s and weep about how quickly we write people off now and how in future our algorithms may.
