A good day today.
I had some meetings out of the office with some inspiring people, and also some great meetings at work, where we discussed new projects and some innovative new ideas we are developing. That’s the fun bit for me. Coming up with new ideas, fashioning them, bouncing them off others, shaping them further and then seeing them come to fruition.
In my line of work, as in all perhaps, there is always a fight between income generation and R&D (where new stuff comes). As Economics 101 tells you, the world has a scarce amount of resources and there are always many things you want to do. Same in every organisation I guess.
Paradoxically, I have found that the more income you generate, the more time you have for R&D, so the more ideas are created and the more money is created. A virtuous circle. Away from the stress of making ends meet, the brain can relax, declutter and create new ideas. This means you end up doing more of both (making money and creating new stuff), and that is when the real fun begins. The best of both worlds. Concentrate only on the creation bit, and you will R&D yourself into bankruptcy. Concentrate on money only, and you won’t last long. All companies and products need reinvention if they are to last.
Photo credit: svgorange
I agree. I hang out with a lot of creative types and the noble starving artists shtick gets really old. Just because you can extend your creativity to get paid (in addition to critical acclaim), does not mean you’re a sell out. As you said, income generation can directly support creativity.