One of the fundamental topics of interest here on the White Hot Center is this idea of creative business.
For many, that term may seem a little vague and ambiguous. In this post I’ll explain what I mean when
I use the term creative business and more specifically “creative entrepreneur”.
Many business people get hung up on the word “creative”. So many people do not believe they are creative. Many people think of the term as it relates to the creative arts, expression or artistic ability. If you have a dry cleaning business, you might not think of it as creative business at all. In truth, being a successful entrepreneur in any business requires lots of creativity and innovation. My fellow bloggers at Lateral Action, have an in-depth article on the subject that I think you would find helpful regardless of the business you are in. I encourage you to check it out.
There are three characteristics all entrepreneurs have:
Creativity
–generating new ideas, evaluating them effectively, taking action to turn them into new products and services.
Collaboration
– connecting and working with partners, and other significant players in their network, which will increasingly be scattered beyond local geography and contain more ‘virtual’ relationships than face-to-face ones.
Entrepreneurship
– identifying opportunities in the marketplace and using their business skills to transform formless ideas into physical products and profits.
Entrepreneurs have always relied on their creativity to produce wealth, but the modern creative entrepreneur goes further and deeper. Noted author, John Howkins defines creative entrepreneurs as people who “use creativity to unlock the wealth that lies within themselves rather than with external capital”. The value that creative entrepreneurs create lies not in their physical products (if any) but in intangible assets such as their brand, reputation, network and intellectual property. This forms the “inner game” that I call the white hot center of competitive advantage. Creative entrepreneurs inherently “know” their success begins inside them, and they go from there. How do these three characteristics show up in you?
The New Age of Connection
There has never been a more favorable environment for creative entrepreneurs with big ideas and the will to bring them into form. Social Media is transforming every human structure and business model of the last half-century. We are truly in a new age of human connection and interaction. What’s different is the transparent and “virtual nature” of these interactions as a result of the exploding phenomena of social media.
For awhile, I thought social media might be a passing fad– the CB radio of our time. However, after more research and participation (this blog), I have come to the conclusion that it is far more. We are experiencing the embryonic beginnings of how humans will build more transparent, tribal and profitable relationships with others of like mind. It is in this fertile soil that the creative economy will grow.
Ideas are its currency–particularly ideas that have a viral potential. This gives the creative entrepreneur a leg up simply because, by their very nature, they are predisposed to thinking with creativity and innovation about their business. The social web is not going away, it will only grow in its potential to bring humans closer, providing a powerful venue that is favorable to ideas that create more value for people. Creative entrepreneurs will form the core of this emerging group who will become the new visionaries–people who create financial value from their intangible ideas. Creative entrepreneurs are driven by:
Autonomy
– the desire to direct the course of their own lives.
Mastery
– a never-ending capacity to grow and get better at something that really matters.
Purpose
– the yearning to do what matters to them, and have that serve the good of others.
What this means to you.
Many people believe they don’t “have enough” resources to pursue their ideas. They blame their lack and limitation on the closed structures of the past fifty years. If you continue in the belief of lack and limitation as a reason for not pursuing your ideas, and you will miss the opportunity of your lifetime. Snooze, you lose.
On the other hand, creative entrepreneurs are “possibility thinkers” framing their ideas around “what-if and why-not” questions. The emerging creative idea-based economy is a system favorable to this point of view. Never has potential and possibility for success been more available!
When you embark on the journey of pursuing your ideas to grow your value to the world, you’ll be focusing your energy on trusting your intuition and imagination, (which is where all ideas come from) and less on the evidence interpreted by your physical senses. New opportunity will show up to strengthen your faith and belief. And with faith and belief, you will have the will to set meaningful goals and persist in your action. Persistent action gives you more momentum, momentum leads to results. There is no better time than now to begin to take your creative business to the next level. Think about these questions:
What is important to you, what really matters?
What motivates you? Are you moved by intrinsic ideals (doing what matters), or do you prefer the outside “carrot and stick” incentives (money, social status) for motivation?
Let me know what you think about this.
