Art, Product & Fear
Artist vs Entrepreneur: Genesis of Innovation
I have been thinking a lot lately about the European Product Development Challenge.
A more general point that I find fascinating is to look at the creative dimension behind new products. Specifically, what I call product driven entrepreneurship. Therefore, I’ve asked my friend Kevin Abosch to argue the point with me.
Roberto: So Kevin you are an artist — What if I say that the best product people in the world are artists… They get inspired. They create a product. The public may come to love and enjoy their creations. Isn’t the same for your pictures?
Kevin: There’s no doubt that entrepreneurs are inspired and create product, but I’m keen to know where that inspiration has its genesis. What is the motivation behind the manifestation, whether product or art? Is it an internal or external obligation which propels the creation? I have no choice in the matter. I must make art.
Roberto: Interesting. You immediately overlapped in the same sentence the concepts of original product creation with entrepreneur. I like that! I think there is a subset of amazing product guys that are also entrepreneurs. To me the act of creation for these type of guys is extremely similar to the act of creation of an artist. I am thinking of people like Daniel Ek or Ev Williams. I have zero doubt that their act of creation answers first and foremost to an internal obligation. However, what I really wonder is: When you do make art, do you think of the public? Does being liked factor into your inspiration? For sure, to be liked/loved by millions of people plays a role in the creative process of entrepreneur.
Kevin: Most, but not all artists want to connect to the public. They want their work to be seen or even admired. Artists and entrepreneurs are not without ego, so I suspect as you suggest, inspiration, or more so drive, is often a response to this desire to be appreciated. I don’t think it’s necessarily a healthy place to start, but fear, as they say, is a great motivator. Both artists and entrepreneurs fear irrelevance. Do you think fear helps drive innovation?
Roberto: Yes fear is a great motivation for entrepreneurs. No doubt. Fear of failure is always present. But Kevin, let me ask you a question… What about financial rewards and financial risks? Both are key to the life of any entrepreneur. How does an artist like you relate to both?
Kevin: An artist may take a financial risk as well, and without collectors to pay sums above the artist’s financial and temporal costs, one might see the artist’s act of creating profitless art as foolhardy, or at the very least unsustainable. That said, it is not unusual for artists to spend a lifetime making art without the prospect of having a profitable career. Still, they persist because they must. Something inside them drives them to create. If I couldn’t support my family through the exploitation of my art, then I would do something else, but I wouldn’t stop making art. You could say it’s a compulsion. Is there a similar compulsion for entrepreneurs?
Roberto: To be honest I am not sure this would be a healthy compulsion for entrepreneurs. Don’t forget that if a business doesn’t work, eventually the entrepreneur will need to do something about it. But now that I think about it, this brings us to an important point: What about when a piece of art does not work? In business it happens. You try to build a product and after a lot of work, you figure out that people don’t like it. You scratch it and move on. What about for an artist? Can you really move on from something that does not work?
Kevin: Ideally, an artist’s work evolves over time, but this can take a lifetime. An artist who cannot look at their work and discard it when it’s “not working” is going to have a difficult time evolving. Destruction goes hand in hand with creation. The entrepreneur might call this a pivot, or otherwise have to shutter a project before starting a new one. Approaching product in the way an artist does, has its merits I think. We know technology informs art. In my case, a new camera comes out and I might find myself with creative options I didn’t have before. I think art and the artistic approach can inform technology and product creation.
Roberto: Interesting point: looks like the genesis of innovation for an artist is therefore not too dissimilar from the one of an entrepreneur. Kevin, I have been thinking of this for long time — I am sure there are a lot of potential great entrepreneurs that are not aware of their potential because they are locked inside the walls of some corporate office. They are not ready to jump, nor are aware of their potential. They might die without ever unleashing that entrepreneurial potential. Do you think most people with the potential to be great artists come to realize this potential and ultimately become great artists during their life?
Kevin: I think we are all full of unrealized potential and that’s okay. Ultimately I think humans long to connect as individuals to the collective. Artists try to accomplish this through their work and perhaps entrepreneurs, through their products. I think there is a danger in identifying too strongly with career, insofar as it doesn’t allow for failure. When one’s work fails, one doesn’t fail as a human. To more succinctly answer your question, however… I think we all have the potential to be great in a number of ways and how it manifests is one of the magical mysteries of life.
Roberto: I love your view on the mystery of life. I often think about how many Steve Jobs or Leonardo Da Vincis died without even knowing that they could have had the potential to create a product loved by billions of people or paint La Gioconda.
Thank you Kevin. I hope one day you will do a portrait of me! By the way, it was pretty cool to write this with you on Google Docs while I’m in Italy and you are in Ireland. Last and not least I strongly recommend to visit Kevin Abosch Website: http://www.kevinabosch.com
