John Eger

The Future of Business is the Arts

Posted by John Eger, Nov 14, 2011 5 comments


John Eger

The Conference Board's "Ready to Innovate" report.

A few years ago, The Conference Board, an international non-profit business research organization, released Ready to Innovate, a study that unequivocally says, "U.S. employers rate creativity and innovation among the top five skills that will increase in importance over the next five years, and rank it among the top challenges facing CEOs."

But as The Conference Board cautioned, “educators and executives must be aligned” and that is happening much too slowly. I think what the study was suggesting was that somebody has to take the lead.

So who’s going to align the educators and the executives and how? Where is the leadership?

The problem, I fear, is with businessmen and women…and with the educators, and the artists too, who are best suited to play the lead.

John Hagel III, co-author, along with John Seely Brown, of The Power of Pull: How Small Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things in Motion, made a rather telling observation that business recruiters are always looking for creative people. Then noted that they look again at these creative people on their “exit interview.” So be it for too many corporations.

However, finding creative people is hard work. Creativity still isn’t easily measured or easy to codify, so most résumés are silent on this special qualification. That has to change.

Harvey White, former president of QUALCOMM commented that the problem is with the universities. They keep asking for SAT scores and GPAs when they ought to be looking for creativity and other related skills. I agree. But how do we do that? We have to figure that out. Both California and Massachusetts are promoting the idea of a creativity index for K-12. While admirable, it only scratches the surface.

There is also a fundamental discrepancy about creativity. Business seems to understand that creativity leads to innovation but they are not necessarily thinking of the arts.

Some years ago Business Week (BW) the leading publication for business said: "The game is changing’ … ‘It isn't just about math and science anymore (Although those are surely important disciplines) It's about creativity, imagination, and, above all, innovation."

Soon after, they dropped the “Creative Age” stuff and started calling it the “Age of Innovation.” According to one BW editor who did not wish to be quoted, business readers just didn’t think the magazine was talking to them any more.

Think about that.

On the artists side is a different set of issues?

For starters, many artists are uncomfortable selling this idea. It’s not what artists do, and some think its even demeaning. Two, the arts community isn't sure how to communicate the power of arts training.

One of my university colleagues said that he doesn’t teach dance really as much as he teaches physics, and that maybe we have to find a different language to describe what we do, what the students are really learning, so the connections will be easier to make. He has a point.

It is up to arts organizations like Americans for the Arts, which is doing its part -- to help change the business and philanthropic perspective. Artists and art organizations at every level need to make a stronger case that the arts lead to creativity, and that it can be measured, certainly identified.

And business needs to better understand the powerful role of the arts, and support arts training, maybe arts integration too. Does all creativity come from the arts? Of course not, but the chances of nurturing creativity through arts based training is a no brainier.

Lastly though, business execs and artists don’t mix, don’t talk to one another. They may not even know each other. A new effort to change all that might work. Just getting to know one another might be the first step for communities in cities everywhere.

5 responses for The Future of Business is the Arts

Comments

November 20, 2011 at 1:40 am

This is an interesting article although we need to also think about teaching business practices to artists and other creative types. Contrary to some beliefs, this will not crush the creative impulse, and could aid in the eliminating the language barrier. Most art departments are still not teaching business practices which means artists go out into the world unprepared to leverage their talents.

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November 20, 2011 at 6:02 pm

Hello Patricia,

The Frost School of Music at the University of Miami agrees with the need for musicians and artists to have a better understanding of the business side of the industry they are about to enter.

Our Arts Presenting; Live Entertainment Management graduate program is addressing that need. Our focus is on all aspects of the live entertainment industry; non-proit as well as the commercial music industry. I invite you to learn more about this initiative at the University of Miami.

Respectfully,

Christopher Palmer
Program Director/Assistant Professor-Arts Presenting & Live Entertainment Management
Frost School of Music
University of Miami
PO Box 248165
Coral Gables, FL 33124-8165

305-284-4814 office
615-400-7345 cell

[email protected]

http://twitter.com/UMArtsPresents

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November 22, 2011 at 2:38 pm

Hi John,

Great post. Bringing the arts to business -- that's what we do! That's what my company does, exactly. I'm an artist turned entrepreneur. OpenInvo has 16 workshops to be taught on site in companies that teach the work-methods and activities of people in the arts to business. All of the instructors are working artists in their respective fields and have teaching experience.

I'm so glad that there are slowly some more people out there that see the value in using the people who are trained in creative problem solving and using their imagination as the appropriate teachers of these skills.

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November 23, 2011 at 1:40 pm

Hi All......yes, artists and business folk are not that far apart and only need to be nudged closer together to be doing more together and in the process to be "doing well and doing good" as Ducker would have us say. john

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November 23, 2011 at 1:42 pm

sorry DRUCKER

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