Word of Mouth

In 2005, Daniel H. Pink was writing about the MFA – Master of Fine Arts being the new most desired degree in the corporate world. That scares me.

The thought of artists running businesses scared me not because I think they are imcompetent, but because I am afraid if they read his book, there would be no more jobs left for me with my shy little BCom. I think most would perceieve the fine arts students as more creative, less restricted by rules and more free spirited people. Their lack of structure seem to be what compagnies are now craving for accordig to Pink. But I thnk their contribution to busienss, and maybe their ultimate success is not merely the “creative spark” in them. As someone who grew up around the stage, and who has been involved with numerous forms of performing arts, I realised that the nature of their work is strikingly similar to the new design thinking model that Lockwood, Pink and Martin are all taking about.

Lockwood mentioned The Art of Innovation by Tom Kelley in which he states that Business should be of a more collaborative nature,”one in which intuition count heavily, experiementation happens fast, failures along the way are embraced as learning, business strategies are intergrated.” These are all the things that performing arts students have been doing and perfecting since Shakespeare.

Collaboration- Performances require the most trusted collaboration between everyone invloved. The screenwrite must open up to directors who will interpret the script differently, who would then entrust actors to transmit his vision to an audience. The actors are ultimately at the mercy of the lighting crew who wholeheartedly respect the work of the stage manager. Even in a one-person show, collaboration is mandatory.

Intuition – You will have a hard time finding another place that gives more creadit to a “gut feeling”. There are countless examples of plays, paintings, or entire galleries that resides on nothing but the “feeling that it should be the way it is”. The beauty is that more often than not, that is the only argument you will need to get a story from idea to Broadway.

Experimentation and embracing the failures – We all love bloopers. How do you think they are made? The numerous great stories that starts with “Well, it wasn’t in the script but…”

The forward to Lockwood’s book was eye-opening. praised something that I often thought was an awkward experience. He advocates for “Thinking from both sides” of the brain, using both the creative and the logical to approach problem solving. I think my personal way of thinking is very disorganised, spontenous and sometimes just plain unpredictable. But over the years, I have learned to segregate my creative thinking process and my “normal life” thinking process.

I would intentionally sit myself in front of a computer and loging into databases, googling when I need to finish an assignment or do any school related tasks. However, if I have a task that is generally perceived as purely creative, such as set design, costume creation, or studying a script, I pick up a pen and paper and go for long walks outdoors – how typical, I know, but it works.

I do not really know why I have these two very different styles of thinking, and surprisingly they both work great for me. What I do know is that if I try to create a set drawing in front of a computer or try to write an accoutning homeword in a coffeeshop, the result would be catastrophic. My brain seem to have segregated the two seemingly very different tasks and they can never cross.

I also realised that I love cramming for deadlines. I think deadlines are a perfectionist’s best friend. I would not have finished a single project in my entire life if I did not have a deadline to meet. I have an innate need for everything to be not only great, but the best it can be the very first time. Deadlines allow me to make mistakes and be much more productive.

In the end, I am a little skeptical about whether the free-spirited MFAs will actually revolutionize the coporate world. Design thinking that involves both the logical and the creative is a marvelous concept that in my opinion, is much easier said than done.