I've seen the inside of a lot of successful art organizations of all sizes.
They share an interesting trait.
They are pretty boring.
No, not the work they present to the world. That's normally interesting.
But on the inside . . . when it comes to the day to day operations . . . it's all pretty tame.
They hire professionals. They come to work, do the best they can, and go home.
Conflicts are kept to a minimum. Decisions are based far more on facts then they are on emotional. People respect and appreciate the skills everybody else brings to the table.
So like I said, it's pretty boring.
------------------------
I've also seen the inside of a lot of struggling organizations.
Man, it is interesting inside those places.
The egos run amok. The mismatched goals. The ridiculous framework they often have for decision making. The hidden agendas.
Trust me, it is never boring inside those places.
Which proves to me that sometimes, boring is an underrated and underappreciated trait for a workplace to have.
-----------------------------------
Here's the paradox you have to embrace.
A bit of chaos is useful to the artistic process. But it is death to the business of art.
Business craves infrastructure. It craves stability.
So you have to know when to draw the line.
You can't let too much of the artistic process creep into the business process.
This is a particularly hard thing to do when the same people are creating the art and running the business . . . so you have to be aware of where the line is drawn.
Remember, sometimes boring is your friend.
Comments