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A speech by Andrew Taylor in Austin, Texas, on June 24, 2009, on 'creative ecology' and approaches to advancing Austin's creative life. The speech was invited and hosted by the Austin Circle of Theaters, the Create Austin committee, and the City of Austin Cultural Arts Division.
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Austin, Texas | June 24, 2009
Considering the Creative EcologyAndrew Taylor | [email protected] | www.artfulmanager.com
But first... about my yard...
The persistent visitor
Tending the garden
✤ Demands a (malleable) vision.✤ Has a boundary
(stated or implied).✤ Already in progress
(for thousands of years).✤ Moves and grows in cycles.✤ Subject to larger
(and smaller) cycles.✤ Interconnected...you can’t just
change one thing.
The creative ecology...
Creative...
✤ expression✤ experience✤ insight✤ innovation✤ spark✤ connection✤ catalyst
SOURCE: Flickr user Martino!
Creative...
✤ expression✤ experience✤ insight✤ innovation✤ spark✤ connection✤ catalyst
SOURCE: Flickr user Martino!
...Ecology
✤ living system✤ environment✤ complex✤ interconnected✤ interdependent✤ balanced✤ evolving
Tending your garden
✤ Demands a (malleable) vision.✤ Has a boundary
(stated or implied).✤ Already in progress
(for hundreds of years).✤ Moves and grows in cycles.✤ Subject to larger
(and smaller) cycles.✤ Interconnected...you can’t just
change one thing.
A (malleable) vision...
SOURCE: Flickr user Cesar R.
Connecting, advancing, and celebrating Austin’s creative life.
A boundary (stated or implied)...
SOURCE: Flickr user Liv...
“Art is limitation; the essence of every picture is the frame.”G.K. Chesterton
Who’s in?Who’s out?
SOURCE: Creative Columbus report, June 2009
✤ Industry Lens✤ For-profit / Nonprofit✤ Organized / Informal✤ Industry / Job Function
SOURCE: Creative Columbus report, June 2009
Who’s in?Who’s out?
SOURCE: Flickr user garryknight
✤ Human Lens✤ Amateur / Professional
(or “Pro-Am”)✤ Creator / Observer✤ Self-Description /
Observed Behavior
Who’s in?Who’s out?
SOURCE: Flickr user garryknight
✤ Human Lens✤ Amateur / Professional
(or “Pro-Am”)✤ Creator / Observer✤ Self-Description /
Observed Behavior
What I heard: “All In”(Jo Anne said so with some conviction.)
Already in progress...
SOURCE: Flickr user MR+G
Moves and grows in cycles...
SOURCE: Flickr user mandus
Adaptive Cycle
Subject to larger (and smaller) cycles...
SOURCE: Flickr user j u l i a n o
Cycles
✤ Larger (STEEP)✤ Sociological✤ Technological✤ Economic✤ Environmental✤ Political
✤ Smaller✤ Local news cycle✤ Trends, fads, etc.
Interconnected...(you can’t just change one thing)
SOURCE: Flickr user Toby Maloy
“Side” effects
✤ Unintended consequence✤ Frequent “surprises”✤ Changing the players by
changing the game
Tending your garden
✤ Demands a (malleable) vision.✤ Has a boundary
(stated or implied).✤ Already in progress
(for hundreds of years).✤ Moves and grows in cycles.✤ Subject to larger
(and smaller) cycles.✤ Interconnected...you can’t just
change one thing.
Back to “creator / observer”
...so that means we can’t do anything?
No, that means you must bring your complex creativity to the task...(And who better than a “creative alliance” to do just that?)
Four questions, four metaphors
“But doesn’t collaborating threaten our individual impact and ideals?”
Meaning is always co-created.
How can we find common ground, when we’re all so different in our creative work?
“People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole.”
Theodore Levitt, Harvard Business School Marketing Professor
SOURCE: Flickr user Cayusa
“I’m already overclocked. How can I take time out to connect beyond my immediate need?”
The Honey MushroomArmillaria ostoyae
“Seems huge. Where can we begin?”
Button by button, thread by thread
SOURCE: Flickr user Rodrigo Campos
You’ve already begun, keep going...
Andrew TaylorDirector, Bolz Center for Arts Administration | www.bolzcenter.org Wisconsin School of BusinessAuthor, “The Artful Manager”| www.artfulmanager.com email: [email protected]: www.twitter.com/artfulmanager
With thanks to my hosts:
This work is licensed under theCreative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/
