Artists shift your thinking
Posted by Troy Forrest on August 13th, 2009 at 4:28pm
“The most acclaimed artists not only create more works than their peers,
they also generate more failures.”
- Dean Simonton
In his analysis of how people can change the minds of others, Cognition Professor Howard Gardner looks at revolutionary artists. He suggests that artists create watershed moments - alter the thinking of an entire population – by doing 3 things;
- They expand our notion of what is possible – before Picasso, who would have thought you could create art out of cubes? They push the boundaries.
- They employ themes that have rarely been touched on – did you ever see a melting watch before Salvador Dali painted it? Warhol’s can of soup on a wall? They blaze trails with new ideas.
- They help us understand and define an era - consider Dickens or James Joyce. They stand apart from others, but were in touch with and were relevant to what was happening around them.
Beethoven and Michelangelo and Jimi Hendrix changed minds through their art. Whose mind do you want to change with yours? Finish the sentence – “Something that’s never been done in our industry by me or my competitors for my customers, but that I could try, is….”. Inspiration? Go to the business section of your public library; take a walk through a busy shopping centre and think about the businesses you pass; write a list of 42 annoyances in your best customer’s day.
Gardner says “Artists convey their personal visions using light and colour, sound and rhythm, metaphor and rhyme, bodily movement and facial expression.”
Have a clear personal vision of how you’d like to be perceived by your customers, and apply your artist’s palette to create something revolutionary today!
Reference - Changing minds, Gardner, H., Harvard Business School Press, Boston, US, 2006.
Posted in Imagination, Marketing Strategy
