This post shares my notes on this Nov 2, 2022 episode “Why Society Hates Creative People (and what to do about it)” from the You Tube channel “Design Theory.” Here's bio info on the host: "All content directed and written by John Mauriello. John Mauriello has been working professionally as an industrial designer since 2010. He is an Adjunct Professor of industrial design at California College of the Arts."
This is the episode summary listed on the channel:
Why do companies hate creativity? They might say they value innovative or divergent thinking, but realistically, most businesses rely on repeatable, formulaic results. Society also places an emphasis on convenience over craftsmanship. As if it wasn't hard enough, creatives, designers, and artists are their own worst enemy. So what can be done? Design and creative professionals are some of the most celebrated and underappreciated people, all at the same time. Our life would be far more boring without creative masterpieces, but society totally takes our contribution for granted. Why is that? On another note, why does society fear creative people so much? This video hopes to uncover some of these deeper questions.
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Here are my excerpts of highlights from the video. Watch the entire thing for all this and more..
“Why doesn’t society value creatives? Creative people are mocked and distained…but also some of the most respected and celebrated. All our lives are significantly improved by creative work.
The
average person doesn’t understand the amount of thought and consideration that
goes into creative work.
Case study of Michelangelo’s David… the details at work.
Thousands of decisions go into creative work. But most people don’t notice the details because they don’t care. (In our modern world) Convenience is king. The less we have to think – the more successful we are. If we don’t have to think about the small details of our lives -- i.e.. if someone drives for us, cleans our house, cooks for us… that’s success!
We all mindlessly scroll through social media sites. We see amazing acts of skill and talent, without even thinking about (the skill and time it took to produce them).
None of us care… because it’s far easier to consume creative works that it is to reflect on them. In movies, there are credits at the end of the film. But in most cases of design and creative work, there are no credits.
There
is a major reason why creative pursuits aren’t valued. (knowing the credits)
just takes too much time and effort and doesn’t impact us.
Our emphasis on convenience hides the inner workings of something and we’re actively discouraged from truly understanding and therefore appreciating great creative works.
Creative works are judged on scale, rather than quality or merit. (most people don’t have reference for craftsmanship or production). We just care about how much money it made and how many people saw it. Creative work can’t be measured any other way…. And that’s a big problem in commercial or corporate contexts. We might value creativity and craftsmanship if we were actually encouraged to understand it.
Further
on in the video there are many tips on working in the corporate world.
Realizing that corporations want to reduce risk. The default in society and corporate
work is to resist anything new. But to make progress, creative people have to experiment...
take risks... try new things... move forward from rejection and ridicule. This takes
courage. But the video uses a story about the musician Prince to illustrate why
this courage is so important. The video also covers why it’s important for
artists working in commercial fields (design etc). need to have other creative
outlets to explore. This brings inspiration and confidence. There are also tips
on how to make sure your presentation of your work is on point, and why that
matters.”
Time
stamps for the material covered
00:00-01:17
Intro
01:18-04:08
Convenience Over Craftsmanship
04:09-05:01
Scale Over Quality
05:02-07:49
New=Bad
07:50-09:44
Creative Or Cautious. Pick ONE.
09:45-10:49
The Bottom Line Is All That Matters
10:50-13:13
Success Destroys Creativity
13:14-14:14
Milanote (info on sponsor of this video)
14:15-16:21
Poor Business Skills
16:22-16:54
Creatives Are Jerks
16:55-18:19
We Don't Fit In
18:20-19:52
Prince Didn't Fit In
19:53-20:53
Lack Of Talent
20:54-21:43
Creativity Is EXHAUSTING
21:44-26:23 What Should I DO!?
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