From the San Juan Arts Council: The Art of Business

The Art of Business
by Teddy Deane

Business is usually thought of as business and art is, well, not business. But now, consider the following quotes with introductions from Linda Naiman author of “CreativityatWork.com”:

“The business of the artist is to create, navigate opportunity, explore possibility, and master creative breakthrough. We need to restore art, the creation of opportunity, to business.” -Brandweek

Miha Pogacnik, a concert violinist argues: ‘The world of arts must be rescued out of the prison of entertainment and the world of business must be led out of the desert of dullness of meaning!’. . . Art is a role model for business, since all great art pushes boundaries beyond the established norms.

The Harvard Business Review made the astonishing statement that an ‘MFA is the new MBA!’ It reports that ‘Businesses are realizing that the only way to differentiate their goods and services in today’s overstocked, materially abundant marketplace is to make their offerings. . . physically beautiful and emotionally compelling.’

In reviewing The Art of Business: Make All Your Work a Work of Art (Davis, 2005) Tom Peters commented: ‘We are entering an economy which will value a new way of looking at value creation. They call it moving from an emphasis on ‘economic flow’ (input-output) to ‘artistic flow’. See yourself as an artist, see your work as a work of art, see your customers as an audience, see your competition as teachers’.

Dan Pink, in his book A Whole New Mind, argues that left-brain analytical thinking is being replaced by right-brain empathy, inventiveness, and understanding as skills most needed by business. Pink points to Asia, automation, and abundance as the reasons behind the shift. He says ‘Logical and precise, left-brain thinking gave us the Information Age. Now comes the Conceptual Age – ruled by artistry, empathy, and emotion.’”

What does this mean for future jobs? We’ll see designers, inventors, social psychologists, and other right-brain folks coming out on top. Jobs without creativity will trend toward being outsourced. In light of these ideas, it becomes even more important to teach arts, enrich our island community and give our kid’s creative opportunities.

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