Work vs Creative Labor
I found a great article on work and creative labor from 99%. As a guy who leads creatives, the topic of work and creativity is one I’m always trying to better understand. Work, as expressed below, is willed into action. Creative labor, on the other hand, is not always something I can “will” in existence.
As creative professionals, it’s easy to confuse “work” and “labor” — both are a regular part of our everyday. But when we confuse one for the other, we create the illusion that “creative labor” can be willed, managed, or measured, when, in fact, it can only really be, as Hyde points out, beckoned.
We can do much to create the time, the space, and the expertise that lead to incredible creative work. But there is no silver bullet; there is no “time-saving device” or productivity system that is going to alter the rhythm of invention.
via The Rhythms of Work vs The Rhythms of Creative Labor :: Articles :: The 99 Percent.художник на икониИкони на светци
Apple to announce tools, platform to “digitally destroy” textbook publishing
The technology to completely challenge the way textbooks are handle in universities has always been here. It’s the business model that’s scared so many away. An article today gives us reason to believe Apple is going to stir it up again. I love it.
“MacInnis sees Apple as possibly up-ending the traditional print publishing model for the low-end, where basic information has for many years remained locked behind high textbook prices. Apple can “kick up dust with the education market,” which could then create visibility for platforms like Inkling. These platforms could then serve as a sort of professional Logic-type tool for interactive textbook creation to complement Apples “GarageBand for e-books.”
via Apple to announce tools, platform to “digitally destroy” textbook publishing.
Innovation Series: Chances With Wolves
The Innovation Series feature creatives that are exploring new ways to share their passion with the world.
10 years ago if you had a beloved music collection of rare jazz recordings and wanted to share it with the world, it would be practically impossible to do so. The internet and social technology is changing that by giving creatives a platform to share their work with the world and discover new work. Among the many who have embraced technology as a platform, is a trio call Chances With Wolves. They produce an online independent radio show that exists “to present overlooked hauntingly beautiful music” says one of it’s founders.
So much music gets produced and released and then subsequently overlooked…
They’re passionate about finding familiar songs that have been put in new contexts and share them with the world but with over 125 radio shows under their belt ,how do they keep the station’s content fresh?
You’re never going to hear all the amazing music there is to hear. Ever. I’m talking about old records, I’m not even talking about the fact that they keep making new ones. I keep thinking it’s going to end and it doesn’t. I like that.
There is a lesson here, a niche like “hauntingly beautiful music” may seem like an extremely narrow one with a tiny collection of music and a community of followers to match, but on a global scale this niche can represent millions of songs and people. That is what is often overlooked, underestimated and disregarded. It’s not exactly the “gold rush,” but for those who have something worth sharing and looking to build a community around that, it’s never been easier. Hey, you never know, you might make a few bucks doing so too!
Power of Circles
Social technology is giving us the ability to form circles of specialization in new ways and there is tremendous benefit to this. Though the power of circles isn’t new per se, who we form them with, how we form them and how often we engage in them is entirely new. Social technology gives us reach and accessibility that was never possible before.
In the 19th century, artists including Degas, Monet, and Renoir got together periodically to discuss their commissions, their patrons, and their industry. This circle met consistently, and the artists credited these small gatherings with not only making their careers but the rise of the impressionist movement.
I found this video of Scott Belsky that sums this up. Check it out.
Ci
Steve Jobs on Why Apple Exists
Making the Doors Fit: What Car Doors and Mallets Taught Me About Leadership
Photo by Slimmer_jimmer
I’m working on a couple projects right now. One is an iPad app and the only way to dedicate the time needed to this thing is after hours. So I squeeze it in any way I can. That includes very early meetings. I have a great group around me to help me think through this but at the end of the day it takes work. There is a temptation here as there is with anything we create and that’s to not put the amount of time into getting the desired outcome.
I remember hearing a story about a group of American car executives that went to see a Japanese assembly line. At the end of the line, the car doors were placed on hinges just as they were in the American factories. However, in the US, a line worker would stand at the end of the line and use a mallet to make sure the edges of the doors fit perfectly. In the Japanese line there were no such people.
Confused, an American executive asked at what point they made sure the door fit perfectly. The guide looked at him and said, “We make sure they fit when we design it.” In the Japanese plant when a problem like that arose they didn’t examine the problem and brainstorm new ways of fixing that problem. Instead, they engineered it so they got the outcome they wanted from the beginning. If they didn’t reach it, they understood that it was because of a decision they made at the start of the process.
Some would argue that at the end of the day, doors got on cars and off the assembly line so what difference does it make? After all, the outcomes were met right? I think it’s important to acknowledge that in both cases the doors did appear to fit but only in one case did they fit by design. Only in one case, was there no need to employ people to hammer doors and no need to buy mallets.
There’s a leadership lesson here. Using mallets to make stuff fit is a good metaphor for an approach to leadership. When things we start don’t work or don’t seem to line up, we whip out the mallets and make them fit. In some organizations the mallets and the people that yield them seem to be so common that people don’t know anything different. They’re used to manipulating the doors to make them fit and that’s standard mode of operation.
Maybe that’s why the person that is good with a hammer tends to see every problem as a nail…or in this case a door? I’m mixing my metaphors. In any case, as effective as these tactics may be in the short term, as a strategy, adding people and mallets to organizations to fix problems that originate with our actions as leaders is never good. It isn’t reliable and it isn’t sustainable. In fact, it’s actually not an outcome of excellence. Below is a quote in reference to Jonathan Ive, VP of Industrial Design at Apple, and the mindset of creating Apple products.
Collectively, the designers obsess over each product, stripping away non-essential parts, reworking tiny details such as LED indicators on the sides of laptops and phones.Jonathan Ive once spent months working solely on the stand for Apple’s desktop iMac; he was searching for the sort of organic perfection found in sunflower stalks.
As I think about my leadership style and my app and my life I think about mallets and not wanting to live that way. The way I see it, reaching an outcome isn’t all that difficult to attain unless, of course, you are trying to do so by design. In which case, mallets need not apply.
Are you making the doors fit or designing them to do so?
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An Intro to Google+
Saw this on Youtube and thought it would be helpful to share. If you’re looking for a quick intro to Google+ this will do. There are some great features to Google+ but I think the jury is still out on it. There is no question it’s growing fast though, last I heard, some 20 million people are now on it. Enjoy!икониПравославни икониикони на светци
