It's ironic to say this given what I do for a living, but I think we focus way too much on the mix of artistic and business skills.
Don't get me wrong, understanding how to create work, promote work and generate revenue are all important things. But often what's really holding people and organizations back isn't a lack of skills.
It's a lack of discipline.
It's a lack of self awareness.
It's fear based thinking.
It's a lack of respect for your competition.
It's a lack of financial management ability. It's hard to be a working artist when you can't balance a checkbook.
But of course we don't like to talk about these things. It's much easier (and socially acceptable) to say that your organization is failing because no one respects your work or because they keep giving money to the "other guy".
It's a lot harder to admit that your organization has gotten stagnant and you keep surrounding yourself with well meaning, but incompetent, people.
Sometimes we need a reminder that one of the biggest obstacles to success is our own difficult, contradictory, human, nature.
These obstacles may come in different names (marketing problem, morale problem, etc.) but it all comes down to embracing and activating the best of ourselves instead of the worst.
In that spirit, I think the most helpful thing we can do for each other is to not only share/teach our skills but also to assist people in identifying and overcoming the things that are truly holding them back.
Help someone fight their fears today.
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