What does it mean to be an artist?
It’s a question many people are asking now that generative artificial intelligence seems to be cracking the creativity code, much like Mark Haddon writes in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (also available on Audible):
If something is a puzzle there is always a way of solving it.
So, if you’d like to flex your creative muscles and start making art in whatever form that takes for you, here are some of my favourite Seth Godin quotes from his 2022 blog posts, together with a recommended title from Blinkist.
Make things better by making better things. You can always improve it later. ~ Might as well quit
Learn more: Build
The battle for ‘most convenient’ is fierce. It might be easier to stake out your claim to interactions and products that are less convenient, but worth it. ~ Harder, easier and more convenient
Learn more: Perennial Seller
Ideas shared create value. Good ideas are the engine of our future. ~ Who chooses?
Learn more: The Fire Starter Sessions
Breakthroughs, creativity and human connection don’t come from predictability. They come from unpredictable interactions with unknown ideas and voices. ~ Chaos, connection and industrial systems
Learn more: Find Your Unicorn Space
When we insist on waiting until it’s done before we share it, we walk away from the most important component of innovation. ~ Continuous incremental improvement
Learn more: The Creative Act
More answers are only going to insulate us from the questions we actually need to be focusing on. ~ The answer imperative
Learn more: Too Fast to Think
Intentional design is the most productive kind. It begins with “who’s it for?” and “what’s it for?” as foundational questions. ~ Intentional design (and complicated systems)
Learn more: Why Design Matters
If we’re going to create anything at all, if we’re going to ship the work, the positive path is to look for the constraints and grab them. They’re the point. No constraints, no project. ~ Paths not taken
Learn more: Project Management for the Unofficial Project Manager
The body of work you’re creating adds up over time. The consistency and empathy of your vision will seep through. Drip by drip, you’ll create something worth noticing. ~ Crickets
Learn more: The Hidden Habits of Genius
If you’re a creator, you either have a style or you don’t. If you don’t, you’re simply a gig worker. ~ Unprepared, as always
Learn more: Working in the Gig Economy
Thinking of problems as things for individuals to solve is hopelessly out of date. ~ The speed of change
Learn more: Partnering
Constraints are a gift because they bring us something to lean against, and they give us the chance to focus on work we can actually do. ~ Constraints are a gift
Learn more: The Innovator’s Dilemma
While we might not easily say no to a new feature, we can be smart and proactive when it comes time to clear the slate and start over. ~ Feature creep
Learn more: Bored and Brilliant
Human beings care about harmonies. About originality. About the tension that comes from the new. And we care about the dynamics between and among people who are working together. ~ The parts between
Learn more: Out of Our Minds
Innovation doesn’t work without logistics. ~ Logistics vs (and) innovation
Learn more: The Creative Thinking Handbook
You might want to make something that a lot of people want a little. Or you could make something that a few people want a lot. ~ A lot is a choice
Learn more: Blue Ocean Strategy
Our insistence that it be guaranteed to work almost ensures that it won’t. Forcing something to be big makes it small. ~ The paradox of big
Learn more: Big Magic
When we’re in the middle of a project, it’s easy to imagine that it’s not going to be around for decades. But every project opens doors, for you and for the people you build it for. ~ The long road
Learn more: Creative, Inc.
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