Are Creators and Businesspeople Mutually Exclusive?



This parody to shed light on the recent writers guild strike is amusing to be sure, but it also brings up an interesting point. It seems most of the "suits" still subscribe to this type of "dealmaker take-all while the creative grunts produce the stuff we sell" philosophy is sadly more delusional than reality.

I think the key reason is that people like the dude in the video are still conditioned to believe that our economy is still structured to produce "Goods". The unfortunate reality is that the value is no longer derived from "product" but from "thought." In other words, as illustrated in this Wired article, we are becoming a society of puzzle solvers not factory drones.

What was once a a component for "dealmakers" to sell, is now another puzzle for creative minds to solve. Think what kind of person comes up with a truly effective Viral Video, Facebook or OpenSocial app? Is it a market analyst or media buyer or a multimedia designer/software developer?

It's not so much creative types are now the new suits, but rather, creatives who can channel their creativity to capitalize on the changing marketplace that have the real advantage. If you're a writer, designer, musician, programmer, etc. forget about adjusting to fit into the "factory mindset" and instead think about people and connections and the world might be yours yet :)

Thankful



I'm thankful to have lots of cool projects to work on so I have less time to be a "New Media Douchebag". I do appreciate your attention when I do have the chance to post soon :) I'll do my best to avoid the Douchebaggery...




© 2006 GROW |