INTRODUCTION:
Today we are going to talk about the value of the subjective, the emotional component that is critical to the success of every creative business. It is knowing the difference between drawing birds and clouds and when you might share each. It is also knowing that the language of emotional and its return dwarfs anything rational. In the end, what it means is that you have to stop playing the game you are not very good at and start (or only) play the one you are. Listen in…
BODY:
Before we talk about what we’re going to talk about today, I wanted to take a moment and be sensitive to all that’s happening in the United States with regard to racism and race and black lives matter.
And I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge that it is very much a part of our culture that is happening. I think our culture hopefully is evolving as we speak. And I feel for I am as, as much a fabric of our culture as anybody else and, and doing my very best to listen. That being said, the purpose of this podcast is to make your creative business better, to make your voice that much more authentic so that as we remove biases, as these go away, you will be a better artist.
Your artist will be nourished by your creative business and vice versa. So that’s what we do. And that’s what this is about. The conversations about race and how we get better and how we move forward in the idea of human dignity in all aspects. Well, that’s a very big and rich subject for me and something I’ve been part of for a really long time.
I’ve written about it on my blog and you can check it out. But I really do want to keep the podcast pure in the sense that it really is about getting better about speaking your own truth, as a business and sharing with the world your art, right. And giving the world a chance to be healed through it.
And that means my job is to help you have your voice as a creative business. So in that being said. Let’s move on. Let’s talk about what we’re going to talk about today, which is deeply important, right, to what you do. Which is the value of the subjective of, the emotional component of what it is that you do.
The thing that cannot be explained in its visceral response, both in the creative aspect of it and in the response aspect of it, right? So, knowing that that is mission critical to your success as a creative business. And it’s really knowing the difference between drawing birds and drawing clouds, and when you might share each.
And of course I’m going to land that. It’s also knowing the language of emotion and the idea that that language of emotion and that emotional return will always dwarf anything rational. And what does it mean in the end? It means that you have to manifest the idea that when you play in the game of rational, when you play in the game of money, you’re not playing your game, right?
Truth be told, you’re not very good at it, right? So, the game that you need to play, the game that you have to be in, in order to get your vision across, is emotion, and journey, and the ephemeral, and subjective. And that’s the game that you play. So, only play that one, because that’s the one you want to win.
So, you’re Picasso. You are trying to sell a painting. And on one side is a amazing patron who loves every single thing that you do. She happens to be married to someone who kind of likes you, but doesn’t really love you. Right? But knows that your work is really valuable. So you try to sell each of them because you know, you want to sell it.
I know, by the way, you’re Picasso. So you want to sell it for like $10 million. Right. So. To the patron, you say, I can’t wait to paint for you. I can’t wait for you to have something of me. And I know you’re going to love having it on your wall and to share it with whoever you want to share it with. And so that’s $10 million. And she says, Oh, I can’t wait because she loves it. And she loves you.
On the other side is someone who, you know, ask some tough questions. Like, well, I like you and I might put you on my wall, but like, what kind of paint are you going to use? And so then you go down the road, your Picasso you go down the road, “well, I’m going to use the finest paints and don’t you know, I’m going to use the finest materials. And the easel is going to be wonderful. And so that helps me paint and the canvas is going to be great in the frame. Oh my God, we platinum. And Oh, you know that the resale value of my work is going to be like, like twice, so you’re definitely gonna be able to make money on it.” And so what happens is that you get down that road of trying to sell somebody on the thing, right? Huh? But then you say the price is $10 million and he’s like. What! There’s no way this is like, maybe you’re giving me like 2 million worth of value. Right?
And so that is the difference between subjective and objective. And the world that you live in is subjective. You love it because you love it. Right. And you get paid for that subjective. And what does that mean when you take that to this next level? It means that what is irrational is irrational.
It needs to stay that way. And there is nothing you can do to make it rational. And the second that you try to make what is irrational, “why she loves it”, rational. It won’t work it won’t work because you’re asking somebody to put a rational understanding of what is absolutely irrational. That is the essence of the difference between subjective and objective. The goal of every single creative business is to live in subjective. The emotion the connection the relationship right and that is the story of today and it has deep implications for how you go about doing your business. What it does not mean, what it absolutely does not mean is pay me money and I’m not going to tell you why you’re paying me, because what it also means is that there are parts of your business that are subjective. What is between your ears, right? And the value of what it is for you to do what you do as a creative and then what is not between years, which is its manifestation. What does it take to manifest the creation that you just made, right? How do I get that furniture into the house, right? How do I make the photograph come to be, right?
How do I deliver the physicality that I am tasked with delivering? Those are two different things. So today, what we’re talking about is the responsibility of owning the subjective as it is and appreciating its own value and understanding that that value is what has to be decided upon. What does not have to be decided upon is how much you get to make, given what it takes to manifest that value.
Let me land that. The percentage you might make on an event or on a design or whatever it might be on the things, that is only going to manifestation. It has nothing to do with creative. Nothing. Creative is what you say it is. And make sure that you understand this point, your profit, the absolute profit of your business comes from subjective and appropriate return comes from objective and think about that for a second.
It’s one thing if you have to go buy a bottle of water in a store, right? Maybe you’ll pay $20 because it’s the only bottle of water on the beach when you’re really hot and you drink or you’re in the deli in case you’ll pay 50 Cents. Right? But the point of that is it’s a defined market and you’re only going to pay so much for a bottle of water.
That’s understood. Yeah. But how about to the person creating the bottle in the first place? That number is a completely different number. That number is made up. That number is what is necessary for the person to create that bottle in the first place. Those are two different things. And if you’re going to run a creative business, and I don’t care which one you’re in, you have to understand the difference.
Because. If what you are doing is trying to manifest subjective value through objective, it cannot work, right? Why do you need this amount of money to create? And why should it be based on time when maybe it takes you forever to design, but maybe it takes you a second, right? Literally. So the question that you have to ask yourself is. What do I need as a subjective? And then what is my voice as an objective, right? In order to manifest it.
Today, what we’re really focused on is that subjective, that idea of making sure that you are always living in that place and that the decisions that get made on an objective level are made on an objective level. But much, much more important that real decisions, real decisions that have to get made in order to give you permission to go forward are always made on the subjective level are always made in an irrational way.
And that is where two stories come into play. The first story that comes into play is the idea of, of drawing birds or clouds. And the second story is understanding that we are going to have to Be in a place where we understand that emotion, right, is its own value. Emotion is the way that we want to make decisions happen.
Yeah. And, and, and as we do that, then we will be able to, to really get into it. Yeah. So, let’s first talk about the, the story of, of drawing birds and drawing clouds.
Let’s just say some of you’re parents, some of you aren’t, but all of, you know, little boys and girls, right? And so let’s just say, you know, a little boy or a girl about 8 or 9 years old, and she comes to you and he comes to you and says, hi, I really want your help in drawing the sky. Can you show me how to draw clouds? Can you show me how to make the sky big so that my house looks great, right? I want you to show me how to draw clouds. Now, in that very moment, in that very moment, you have a decision to make. And that decision is, by the way, you’re just you’re creative business, and both decisions are equally valuable, right? Because you have a choice. You can and I’m by the way, I’m not an artist. My art is in business, not in actually manifesting art. Yours is. So your decision is but just go with me here. Your decision is whether or not to show her or him how to draw birds because if the goal is to show a vast huge sky, then birds. Birds is what will communicate that far more than clouds.
So the choice you have to make is do you show or ask permission to show how to draw birds? Or do you know that the person in front of you will never give you permission to draw birds because they will feel what the you can see, oh, you just want to take over my drawing. Oh, you want to do it for me. Oh, you just you want to force me to do something I don’t want to do.
So you have to know in that moment, do I have permission to draw birds or not? Do I have permission to show you a world that you cannot yet see? And that is emotional return. That is how you feel what you need to feel because If you are in the business of showing how to draw clouds, that’s wonderful, right?
That is completely and unbelievably wonderful for you because then you have the responsibility of going to the end of their understanding. Going to where they can understand the world because that is the only place that they will ever allow you to go and you are going to be okay with that as an artist.
Or you’re going to be saying, I need to have permission to show you birds because that will show you a world you cannot yet see right. That is a world that will change the way you think about things right. Both of them are equally valid. The mistake that creative businesses make is not understanding the difference between subjective and objective, not understanding that both things, whether to draw birds or draw clouds, are subjective, but they are two distinct manifestations of the subjective.
Two distinct ones. And if you don’t honor that, that they are the two distinct places, you get lost. Right. And then you think that I have to show birds when you don’t have to show birds or that you have to draw clouds when they really want you to draw birds. You can see the confusion and the confusion is to make sure that you understand, that it is about emotional return and the feeling of validation for what is necessary. That is are you there to transform their vision of the world by drawing birds or you’re there to push the boundaries of their own understanding by showing clouds? Both are your responsibility. What does that mean?
What does that mean? And how is it? How are we going with it?
That’s the second story. Let me show you the value of emotion relative to the value of the rational. Just think about any piece of art that’s personal to you that you might have acquired, whether or not it’s yours, or you know somebody that has, whether you went to a flea market and bought a sculpture or a painting, or you just got a poster or even a book, right? That is personal to you. And you have attached emotional value to it. And let’s say you bought it for a hundred dollars. If I came to you next year and offered you a thousand for it, 99 percent of you would not sell it. 99 percent of you. Absolutely, positively would not sell it. Right? Think about that for a second. From a rational point of view, if I told you that you bought Amazon stock for 10, right? And now I want you to sell it next year for a thousand, right? Or you bought or a hundred to keep the, numbers, correct? Right? A hundred. Then you bought sell it for a thousand. Most of you would jump at the chance, right? Would jump at it.
Oh my God. That’s a crazy great return, right? We are really proud. You look at the world today. You’re really proud if you made 30, 40%. So if you bought it for a hundred, you would be happy if you sold it for 150, right? But you would never sell that piece for a thousand dollars. Such as the language of emotion, such as the language of emotional return, such as the language of subjective.
And yet you don’t live there. You don’t live there in any way. You try to make what is subjective, objective. You do your design by hour, right? You make it about how much you do things, how much you make a list of how many things you’re going to do when you’re talking about creative. That won’t work. It can’t work, right?
Because what you’re doing is diminishing the value of the subjective. And that’s the value of irrationality. And that’s the value of understanding that what is rational to you And makes common sense to you makes no sense to anybody else. And in that place, meaning that if it takes you two hours to design when it should take you 20 hours. So be it.
That doesn’t mean that you should not get paid for the 20 hours, right? Because the value of it is what you say it is. And now the value of it is also understanding that if you are in the business of drawing birds of showing what that is, you have to get permission for that. Because if you’re not earning the permission to draw birds, then the expectation is that you’re going to show me clouds and there will be a disconnect such as the value of subjective.
Yeah. Okay. And why does this matter? Why does this matter? Why am I going here? Other than the fact that you have to live here to get permission to do the emotion and you can see where it is. Well, ask yourself this. I don’t really care what business you’re in, whether you’re in the wedding business and anything manifesting towards events, or you’re in the design business, photography, even fashion, right?
How many of you operate? With line items that you show the price of things that you’re showing the design and what you’re saying in that world is that I understand that the value of things and it’s interplay is how I’m going to connote value. Might I tell you that you’ve just entered a world that you’re not very good at.
Right, which is using money and dollars to connote value. First of all, it’s a very, very poor way to talk about value. And I’ll explain that in a second. But you’re entering a world and typically your clients have more means than you do. This is the world they live in every single day. Putting a price on things.
Making sure they understand the value of dollars, right? Relative to other value of dollars, and you’re asking yourself to step into that arena to defend what? Your subjective. How is that possible? It won’t work. Because now you’re telling them to evaluate, you’re trying to get them to understand that the value of this piece is going to wind up being a thousand, when all they care about is it’s going to be worth a hundred and fifty.
Right, because that’s the realm of that they live in. And so you’re asking them to go to a place they cannot go in a world because that’s their world. But now you’re trying to do it in their world. That doesn’t make any sense. And here’s how that plays out. Why are you showing line item pricing? It is not a very good justification of value.
Let me explain that. Money sucks. If a couch costs $30, 000. Why is it worth $30, 000? Huh? Because of how it’s made because of the brand because of the fabrics because of how long it took you to make it, right? It’s only worth $30, 000 because you believe it to be worth $30, 000 relative to other $30, 000 couches.
Fair. So that as a absolute value, money doesn’t really work, right? And the reason that $30, 000 couch exists is because it has a place in the design. Not because it’s a $30, 000 couch. Not because the couch itself matters. it is a relative thing. The couch is related to the rug, which is related to the light, which is related to the table, which might even be related to the bed.
So the couch is part of a design. It is not itself the design. And so by drawing attention to its cost, you’re saying its absolute value has its own intrinsic relative to the value of the overall design. It isn’t. That leads me to relative value of dollars, right? The relative value of dollars doesn’t make any sense either.
Let’s keep on going. If you had the couch, you had a rug, you had a lamp, and let’s say the couch was $30, 000. The rug was a thousand, right? And the lamp was an antique lamp. And let’s say that lamp was a find in a flea market you fixed up for $500. Do you mean to tell me that the value of the couch relative to the rug and the lamp really is, you know, 30 times of the rug and, and what is it 2, 000 times the value of the couch?
No, no, it absolutely has nothing to do with that because it may very well be that the rug is everything, right? And you needed the $30, 000 couch to show off the thousand dollar rug. So as a definition of relative value the individual prices of each item to connote that relative value sucks right? Just does. Before the internet before we got custom to using emotion before we are in this place of understanding truly the value of subjective we would, quite frankly, have to play this game, but we don’t anymore, right? Why? Because we can show our thoughts. We can use technology and vision and communication to show our thoughts in a whole way. What that means is that there is no more room for line on pricing ever. Does that mean that a client should know every single thing they’re buying? Of course they should, right? They just don’t need to know the cost before they make a decision. Why? Because you don’t want them making a decision on, on a rational basis. You want them making a decision on how they feel about the space. So that means your responsibility is to say, here’s the room that’s going to cost a hundred dollars.
Do you like it? And if you like it, I’ll tell you, because you might need to know what each item costs in that room. But that’s not how you’re making the decision. And I won’t let you make the decision that way. Why? Because I honor the fact that I am an artist and that I live in the world of subjective. I live in the world of emotional return. And I need you to be connected to the idea. Did I see you? Did I hear you? Did I listen to you? And did you pay for that?
So you can see how appreciating the difference between subjective and objective really plays itself out in your business. So now that’s my challenge to you. Go to work. Ask yourself, are you in the business of drawing birds? Are you in the business of drawing clouds? Do you appreciate the value of the subjective? And do you appreciate the value of objective? And do you know when you’re speaking the language of each? And if you don’t, then sit down and try to really think about it. And if you do, why not listen to it again?
That’s my riff for today. Thank you so much for listening.
Well, I’m so grateful to have our very first question for our talk doc section. And it comes from Carl Clementson of Minnow, North Dakota. And Carl asks, when is it time to unwind the ball you have built? Not so much to shut it down as to taking a step back to be lighter on your feet. And what an amazing question, because I think it’s actually one of those questions you should always be asking yourself, no matter how big or how small the business is, is are you doing the right business?
Does it feed you? Is it there for you to simply, you know, keep the lights on, or is it there to really nourish you? Look, the Pollyanna and me would say, I want you to only do the second, which is to only do business that nourishes you. But the reality of the world is sometimes you have to do work that keeps you going, right?
And it may not be your favorite piece of work, right? But ultimately, what I think Carl is talking about is that. The, the place where you go, it’s kind of, as I see it, since we, since space X just happened, it’s kind of that, right? Which is that rockets launch, right? And you have boosters, which I still think is the coolest heck that the booster rocket that, that put the, put the rocket into space can, can land on its own. That’s crazy. Anyway, total aside.
The answer is, is that at a certain point, you’re either in orbit or you’re not right. And as you find yourself in orbit, what’s really interesting to me is which orbit do you want to be in, right? It isn’t just getting to orbit, right? It’s also, you know, I learned something new that, you know, things orbit super fast, the closer they are to earth and the further they’re away.
Makes sense. They were slower, right? Makes sense. Not that I, I ever paid attention to it before, but I did now. And so that’s really struck me in what Carl’s questions all about. What orbit do you want to be in? What’s the place where you belong? And I think that’s what he’s talking about. Now, does it mean you have to necessarily decide to do that in a second?
No, not really, right? Because it’s, it’s going to also you know, give you a sense of what change is, right? Change sucks, right? Change is hard. Change is nobody wants to Make change, right? We can feel, you know, can feel comfortable in dysfunction. We all can, right? So making change, especially if things are working somewhat, right?
Then making that change is really hard, right? Because it’s not like you’re taking something that is absolutely broken. It may not be working the way you want it to, but it’s not like it’s broken, right? You’re still making money, right? You’re still paying the bills. So what you’re talking about ultimately, though, is can I move to a different orbit with intention and by moving to that different orbit, will I go the way that I want to go? And that means being fearless in that change and what it does, my core answer to Carl’s question is that… Well, the time to do it is when you are compelled to make important change. Right? You, you know, the one thing about it is, is like, you don’t change orbits with retro rockets, right?
You change orbit because you, you have to fire it, right. You have to move right. It’s, and yet you have to be subtle with it or else you might overshoot. Right. So what this is, is a determination that you must make change, that you must go here and move with intention to go there. And that means taking risk, right?
That means saying, I’m going to say, I once was, but I am now. And that am now really is nothing to do with what was before, as you make that shift to be more outrageous into what you most want. That is nothing easy about it, but when the time is, is when you start to be depleted, right? When you start to find yourself exhausted by the effort and you are not nourished, right?
It is a place where you feel like this is not worth it anymore, right? So then you have a choice. You can decide to walk away and you can certainly do that. But I think what Carl is saying is I love it so much, but I have to feel good about it. Right. And that’s the place where you go and you say to yourself, I have to make this change and I have to be pure about it.
And I have to let go of things that might not be working as well as I want them to be, to go and reach towards that thing that will be. And that means exponential change, right? Which means that, Hey, if I should never charge for design, but I want to be known as a designer, I can’t just charge $2 for design.
I have to charge 10. On a relative basis, because I have to step forward and into the light. That’s what I’m talking about. Hope that answers the question. Thanks again, Carl. I loved it. More, please. Thanks.
