Business Artist Digest Aug 11, 2023

Today August 11, 2023 - I am 42. Not just me, but also my twin brother Eric Boggs - my best friend and source of career competition (he is 3 minutes older and won't let me forget). While he's in Nashville and I'm in LA, we are very closely connected. Today when we get together, we talk more at each other than to each other with simultaneous ideas and conversations happening at the same time and a "secret nonverbal language" to silent referee.

If you've read Liz Wiseman 's book - Multipliers - we would both fit into the accidental diminisher profile - of Idea Fountain needing to find partners and practical ways to help us execute - a challenge many Business Artists face.

This week I've been in Seattle, meeting with my Meahana co-founders. I love the picture below, which I took at a volunteer park (notice the Space Needle in the center).

Fun fact: It is mistakenly thought of as the origin of the song 1994 Soundgarden song,?Black Hole Sun. The band hailed from Seattle, which played a huge role in the 1990s as the center of the grunge rock scene.

Bands like Soundgarden and Nirvana--and any other artist who tries something new--pave the way for others to come behind them. So what sets them apart? It's the same challenge every Business Artist faces: bridging the gap between a great idea and the execution of it.

As a creative person, you have lots of ideas on a daily basis. Ideas are great–they are the source of everything valuable you see in the world. Every work of art, every movie, every building, and every product started as an idea.

Just on example: you may or may not have seen the new?Barbie?movie. It’s been a massive success at the box office, now having earned over $1B. It’s also the first billion-dollar movie by a solo female director (Greta Gerwig).

The concept for the movie was finally put to life with its star and actor, Margot Robbie, who was chosen by Gerwig who directed it. Their two talents combined, along with a creative script, have resulted in box office gold.

But how did it begin? Simply with an idea. Lots of them! The execution proved more difficult. The idea went through three studios, different writers, and several actress choices including Anne Hathaway, Amy Schumer, and Gal Gadot.

Lots of talented people have billion-dollar ideas floating around in their heads. But not everyone has the desire to actually do something about it.

Your goal may not be to make a movie or to do anything related to entertainment. But I know one thing: you have to act on your ideas. The game is won or lost by execution.

Barbie?is just one of a million examples of great art, products, or businesses that people created because they had the will to act. As you think about an idea you’d like to bring to life, ask yourself an important question:

Am I willing to execute and do the work to make it an actual?thing?

HBR's latest research says the average age of successful startup founders is 45

At 42, founding Meahana - I guess I'm a few years early:)

I can say that while my brother and I have never been short of business ideas, like many business artists we've been "wantapreneurs" for most of our careers.

We don't have to go it alone. Like other artists I have the gift of great collaborators around me - my team at Meahana, my network of experienced professionals, and all of you in this community.

We can do amazing work together.

- Adam

From the Blog

The Yellow Brick Road of Innovation

If you’ve ever seen the classic movie?The Wizard of Oz?from 1939, you’ll recall that Dorothy’s goal was to get out of Oz and get back home to Kansas. When she set out from Munchkinland, she had no idea that she’d have to summon all the courage and ingenuity of herself and her friends to ultimately defeat the Wicked Witch of the West.

In that critical moment, all the knew is that she had to follow the Yellow Brick Broad. That was the pathway forward.

That’s a pretty timely analogy to the situation of most companies today. We see big changes ahead and wonder if we have the courage and ingenuity to adapt. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by all that we have to do–and who we have to become–to get there safely.

That’s why so many companies stay locked within the status quo.

READ MORE

Adam Recommends

I talk about movies a lot in my weekly newsletter because 1) everybody knows the most popular movies, and 2) it’s an art form that combines the best of everything: acting, writing, music, visuals, and business.

In 1971, Director William Friedkin gifted us with one of the greatest action movies ever made:?The French Connection. In an interview with Christopher McQuarrie,?Friedkin told the story of how they didn’t have any permits to film their famous car chase scene . They blew through dozens of blocks of New York City traffic going 80 mph.

It would be impossible to do something like that today, but you have to respect Friedkin’s guts to just go for it. I’m not suggesting that you drive through traffic and endanger anyone … but we can learn a thing from his approach.

Sometimes you have to take a risk without getting permission in order to create memorable art.

Business Artist Spotlight

In this week’s spotlight section, I want to draw your attention to the people around you who challenge the status quo. We need more artists and business leaders who aren’t afraid to do something different and draw us out of our creative slumber.

Take David Bowie, for example. Nobody as his record label told him to move away from the mic stand, dance, and work the crowd. But he did it, and today he’s largely credited as starting the “performance movement” where you don’t have stationary musicians.

You can see the difference if you watch music performances from the 1950s and even 1960s. A good example is the Beatles’ first appearance on?The Sullivan Show. Although there were brilliant musicians, they basically just stood at their mics.

The next time you see a music performance that’s both sonically AND visually interesting, you can credit artists like David Bowie who broke the rules.