Creativity | Business
Think Abstract & Other Game-Changing Business Lessons from the Art World
Artists and entrepreneurs have more common ground than you might imagine.
Walking onto the stage, naked but for a luchador mask and a pair of speedos. This was me in 2007. My partner in crime and I had choreographed a wrestling match. At designated points, we would pause and hold a pose. An announcer would call out the name of the artwork that pose represented. We called it “The Story of Art Told Through the Medium of Mexican Wrestling”.
It was one of many art projects I’d worked on over the previous years.
It was July, and the global recession was about to hit.
Overnight funding for the arts disappeared, the dream came to an end, and it was time to learn to be a proper adult.
The next decade was a rollercoaster. Starting a second career at the age of 25 isn’t something I’d wish on anyone. But it turns out, art can be way more challenging than business.
In art, you have no brief, no team, no way to hide from the spotlight. I’d argue that those five years in the arts taught me far more about how to succeed in business than any degree I could have taken.
Here are some of my most significant lessons after transitioning from the art world to entrepreneurship.
Know your ‘why’
In art, you will always be criticized. You watch as the precious object you’ve poured your heart and soul into is questioned and scrutinized. The only way to survive as an artist is to know precisely why you’re doing it. To be able to believe and defend it to the bitter end.
This isn’t true in the business world. In business, it’s often hard to see the why unless you proactively address it.
Companies that have a clear “why” are often far more successful than their competitors.
“Tesla’s mission is to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.”
Amazon wanted to be “an everything store”.
Spotify’s missions is to “Unlock the potential of human creativity”.
These companies know why they’re in business; they know that money is a side effect of achieving that why. It’s not an end unto itself.
They also know that what they’re doing hasn’t been done before. If your vision is just a copy of someone else’s, people will know, and you won’t have the same impact.
It can also be seen in how you sell. Your customers will know if you’re only in it for the money.
People don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it.
We all have to make a living, pay bills, save up for a house. None of those reasons would have you busting your gut to hit a deadline.
There needs to be something more, a deeper reason for what you’re doing. For the companies that get this right, they will succeed beyond their wildest dreams.
Think abstract, think big
When making art, I never thought about what I could do. I thought about what I wanted to do. I didn’t consider the tools I had available, I thought about what the ideal solution would be.
Because from there, you can compromise. One of my favorite personal art pieces was inspired by a design that was slated for the Tate Modern’s turbine hall.
Ultimately, it didn’t end up there. But from the design alone, I could see what was essential and what could be removed without losing the impact.
In business, entrepreneurs can approach problems the same way. Ignore the tools, construct an abstract flow of how to solve a problem. Once that’s done, you’ll instinctively know what tooling fits. This includes ignoring any current processes, frameworks, or politics that exist in your environment.
A great example of this is how Revolut, Monzo and other fintechs have reimagined how we think and interact with our money. Doing away with bricks and mortar branches. Instead, utilizing the power of our phones to inform and empower our spending habits.
Like them, we should ignore what went before and start with a completely blank canvas. In doing so we’ll create genuinely disruptive solutions and give ourselves an edge.
Of course, you won’t realize all of your vision in one go.
SpaceX hasn’t reached Mars yet—does that make them a failure?
The larger concept will act as an anchor. This will allow you to make decisions instinctively, quickly knowing if you go off track.
Craft equals confidence
Confidence is everything, but where does it come from?
In the art world, the difference between people who had a craft and people who were winging it was stark. Sitting down for hours and truly learning your craft is challenging. Especially when others around you seem to be more successful, with less knowledge.
But Albert Bandura, an award-winning psychologist, believes putting in the hours to achieve mastery is the key to long-lasting confidence.
“The most effective way of creating a strong sense of efficacy is through mastery experiences.” Albert Bandura, Stanford University, 1994
In business, promotion can become a political game. Politics is almost always down to a sense of imposter syndrome. If we took the time to learn our craft, this would disappear. If you’re a leader, learn about leadership, if you’re a manager, learn about management.
But don’t just learn about what exists right now. Learn about Ghenghis Khan, Caesar, Sun Tzu, and all the other leaders in history. Learn about management theory. Ground yourself in the traditions of your craft.
This grounding will bring confidence and inspire the decisions you make. Remember, no matter what you do, you are not the first. There will always be a long line of people before you—learn from their mistakes.
Go deeper
In art school, our tutors were obsessed with the void. What is left when there’s nothing? What is nothing?
Most people would dismiss this instantly as nonsense, but there’s something in it. When you ask yourself impossible questions, it makes you more open-minded. It allows you to accept new ideas.
Think of your brain as a muscle. The more you stretch it, the more it’s going to work for you.
“Is it possible that the loch ness monster is really a time traveller from the cretaceous period?”
Just entertaining these possibilities allows your brain to accept that it doesn’t know everything. It keeps you humble; your mind stays open.
Esoteria is a treasure trove of ideas that have somehow found their way into our collective consciousness. Just because we don’t understand why it doesn’t mean it’s not true. Why are we fascinated with aliens, time travel and superheroes? There’s something more to the world than what we can see and touch.
Opening your mind to the ridiculous will mean the mundane, eg: a change in process, won’t make you bat an eyelid. Being able to engage with other people's points of view is only the start. Holding your beliefs lightly will allow you to stay agile, which in turn will keep you on top of your game.
Be brave and trust the process
I guess once you’ve walked on stage in a pair of speedos, nothing’s quite that scary anymore. Business meetings don’t quite have the same impact after that.
As an artist, you have to learn to befriend fear. You are knowingly exposing yourself to criticism, putting yourself out there to be praised or ridiculed.
In the business world, I often find myself surrounded by people who don’t share my relationship with fear. I have found myself surrounded by people who whisper “Giles doesn’t understand, he won’t ever get promoted that way.”
What they don’t understand is. I don’t see my job as getting promoted.
I see my job as creating change.
The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding go out to meet it. — Thucydides
Sometimes people can be so loud and so afraid of change that they start to believe that what the company wants is unachievable.
That’s likely why 70% of transformation projects fail. It’s always because of the people.
If I’m not alone, we can produce massive changes, increasing revenue, decreasing overheads, creating change the much-needed change that saves the company.
I work with people and trust the process if the company is ready for the change they need. I can smooth the way. If it’s not, then I’m confident I can’t provide any value. It’s not that I’m not valuable; I’m just not valuable to them.
My bravery shows me what I’m about, where my value lies and helps me proactively direct my career.
Final thoughts
It turns out a life in the arts gave me a lot of transferable skills to pursue a career in business. If more people followed these tenets then our working lives would be so much more fulfilling.
Know why you’re doing something. Make that why tangible. It will provide an anchor to all your decisions.
Think big and abstract. It will allow you to come up with genuinely new and disruptive solutions to your problems.
Work on your craft. Learn about the heritage your role encompasses. It will bring you confidence.
Stretch your brain. Considering esoteric and philosophical thought will keep you open-minded and allow you to grow.
And finally, accept fear as your ally. Being brave will increase your confidence and allow you to carve out a place for yourself. One that’s genuinely yours.
