We can use artistic creativity of various kinds (a-Creativity) in the studio and then ingenuity and lateral thinking (i-Creativity) in the business office.
If we embrace both kinds of creativity and put them together to build a business, it’s a powerful combination.
We can each of us do both perhaps, or sometimes two business partners or a larger team play different roles, each complementing the other, bringing different kinds of creativity together to support each other.
In this way, the total is greater than the sum of the parts.
This involves various creative and business techniques that we can explore in later sections.
But first and foremost, it is an attitude, an approach to business in the creative industries that embraces both creativity and business, accepting and indeed rejoicing in the contribution that each of them make to a winning business formula.
This combination of creative talent plus smart business thinking is what I call “T-Shirts and Suits”.
I’ll say more about that in the next section…
What to do next:
– Ask yourself to what extent you, or your wider team, embrace both creativity and business in equal measure.
– Identify any misgivings you might have about the business side of things, perhaps a dislike the way others use business practices in ways that don’t resonate with you, or feeling of not being comfortable with the terminology or techniques of business.
– Decide what might be done to re-balance your team so that creativity and smart business thinking both play a full part in the design of your enterprise.