I have just finished rereading Good To Great, Jim Collins’ awesome five-year study of companies that went from good to great. He studied what made these companies great relative to their peers (and the market in general — the rock stars of business) and how they stayed that way. Much too much to talk about in a single blog post, but I highly suggest (re)reading it, if only to glean the insight that having a core and a purpose matter. A lot. What was most instructive for me though is not that great businesses share successful core values (i.e., we are all about service, relationship, value, etc.), it is simply that great businesses have core values and never ever deviate from them. What do you stand for? What is your purpose? Businesses evolve every day but the core is immutable.
For creative businesses, this is such a slippery slope. You are all in the happy business so it cannot just be about creating joy. That is the price of admission. No, it has to be about creating meaning, transformation that envelops joy and takes it further. What does further mean? Further means you can be the best in the world at the transformation. Note, the world is not the universe, it is just your corner of the sky. Here is my take on Good To Great for creative businesses: if your core does not support you being the best in the world at the transformation you seek, stop now. We do not need another florist, interior designer, architect or stationer to rise to the level of their client’s incompetence. No, we need artists who strive to create businesses that mean something more to their clients than the art they are selling. A centerpiece is never just a centerpiece unless you allow it to be. And how sad it is when you do.
The words “core” and “package” cannot coexist in a creative business. What you stand for has to be iconic, indelible, eternal. Fashion brands have been able to build their empires because they did not have a choice on whether to stand for something. Clothes are never just clothes. Clothes represent the designer’s vision and, because they do, we trust that vision far beyond clothes. Event designers and interior designers are the absolute experts in what a table should look like and how it should be adorned. And yet, with incredibly rare exceptions, fashion houses are whom we trust when we buy the items that we use to actually adorn the table. Why? Not because of money, marketing, etc., but because fashion houses are better at living their core. We know who they are and they never forsake that trust. It is not that fashion houses are any more evolved than other creative businesses, it is just that do not have a choice if they want to remain relevant.
Ah, the rub. Your core, the transformation you most believe in, what you know you can be the best in the world (your world) at, demands sacrifice. If the opportunity does not fit or cannot be made to fit your core, you need to turn it down. Turn it down even if the money would likely be better in the short term than what your core would offer, even if there is no core business on the horizon, even if you might have to shut the business. The brutal fact might be that your core, your transformation is unwanted in its current form, at least at the level necessary to support your creative business. You will then have the opportunity to move on to find out where it might be not only wanted but be a necessity. Yours is the business of meaning after all. If you cannot make enough meaning where you are, then you have to be relentless to find out where you can. Paradoxically, it could be that you take yourself too seriously. There is as much a place for silly comedies that will never win any “serious” awards as there is a need for compelling drama. Great design has no defined price tag. Your core has to be what compels you first, your art second, your clients third. All three have to exist, sure, the order though is what separates good from great, craft to scalable business, money to mission.
Here is a practical exercise: finish the following sentences – “We believe in [not more than 5 words]. When our work is done, you will see [not more than 5 words] in a way you cannot imagine today.” What would life be like if everything you and your creative business did reflected the truth of those two sentences? And if the truth could not be reflected, you would not do them? The simplicity and challenge of living your core. The best part of Good To Great is knowing that if you want to make meaning, if you want to be great, there really is no choice but to do the work. No better day than today.
