The Entrepreneurial Savant

“If it’s so good, how come everybody isn’t doing it?”
Every visionary, entrepreneur, artist and creative thinker has heard this one. The answer is that ‘everybody’ seldom follows through on their dreams and it always takes a powerfully determined individual to take action on their ideas and visions. Sure, someone may have thought of your idea before. I doubt there are too many new ideas out there after thousands of years of human thought. Embracing that idea and pursuing it diligently separates you from the crowd and that’s why everybody isn’t doing it. Follow your dream. You may succeed and if you don’t, you’ll have the satisfaction and experience of having tried.

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Improvisation is the basis of creativity. It usually means altering your viewpoint of what you already have to work with so that you can make others see it differently. It seldom means creating something from nothing.
The master improvisational artists of our time are jazz musicians. Saxophonist Warren Marsh spelled a simple formula for musical improvisation:
• Sing the melody in time
• Sing the roots of the chords in time
• Sing the 1 5 7 of the chords in time
• Improvise on the 1 5 7 of the chords
Those of us who are musicians will understand this and also understand that this simple formula for working around a melody opens up an enormous world of musical possibilities. The musician with talent and skill will make the most interesting and moving choices.
For the non-musicians I’ll offer an interpretation (improvised of course) of Mr. Marsh’s formula.:
• Learn the basics of what you have to work with; the roots
• Find those elements that are the foundations and eliminate everything else
• Take that foundation and improve upon it, polishing it to bring out the strengths
• Combine those shining strengths and go with where it takes you
Too esoteric? Try applying this process to something mundane you do that needs a change. You might find a refreshing tune under all that orchestration.

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Are you a logical hard-headed business person? Write a poem and send it out to a hundred of your friends, associates, customers, competitors and enemies (I hope you don’t have any). The results may surprise you. If nothing else, it keeps people from solidifying their impressions of you. You know what a solidified impression looks like don’t you? Cement.
To avoid being as exciting as concrete, do the unexpected. If you’re a pale-faced geek, train and run a marathon. Make sure you prominently display a picture of yourself triumphantly crossing the finish line in your office where your co-workers can see it. If you’re a mud spattered artist, show up for a lunch meeting in a three piece suit. If you’re going on a date with someone who may already have a certain idea of what you’re like, break the mold, do something wild. If you’re normally wild, go low key and classy. Whatever unexpected behavior you do, make sure you do it as though it is a piece of cake, even if it means practicing and studying fine wines or belting out a blues song at a local dive.
Doing the unexpected makes you a more interesting person, both to others and to yourself. Good preparation will help you to enjoy the process and will reduce your fear of failure. Try it, you’ll be amazed at the results.

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I’ve tried to avoid clichés in this collection but this is one that everyone can relate to. Scams, undependable people, dreamers and crooks have all flourished because people conveniently forget this simple statement. When something sounds really great, stop a minute and think it out. Seek informed opinions. Check references. Ask to speak to long term satisfied customers. Do a little research. Then and only then, if everything still smells like roses, go ahead. If there’s any doubt, throw the bums out because if it sounds to good to be true….

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If you want to learn more about the fringes of your business or art, read the classifieds at the back of the trades and on Craigslist. If you want to know more about all the work options out there suscribe to email feeds from Indeed.com. If you want to know about the hopes, dreams and delusions of your friends and co-workers, read the personals.
The classified ads are a window into all kinds of special interests, desires, opportunities and lifestyles. Like all information sources they lead the reader to all kinds of unusual subcultures. They can be very specialized if found in a web site or very general like those you pass by everyday in the daily paper. For small business owners, freelancers and anyone selling a product or service they represent many opportunities to form profitable alliances. Try reading just the help wanted once a week for a year. You’ll begin to get a feel for the economic ebb and flow of your community. You’ll find out who hires who and why. It only takes a few minutes to cruise through the ads.

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When I first started writing and for a long time after that I always considered myself a creative person. I played music and was good at problem solving at work. My definition of a creative person was one who created original ideas, stories and concepts, coming from some mysterious internal source. That’s still a part of my definition of creativity but now I’ve discovered that this kind of creativity is only half of the creative equation and to my surprise, not necessarily my most effective half.
This kind of creativity is content creativity. It is the source of art and music at the composition level, entrepreneurship and idea generation. It’s the resource we tap into when we brainstorm for new ideas. The other half of the creativity equation is process. Process is how we put those ideas to work, how we get the paint on the canvas, how that new company sprints ahead of it’s competition. One example might be found in your neighborhood fast food joint. The burgers and fries are the content, the semi-automated methods used to get them to you quickly is the process. In the case of fast food (and many other franchise type businesses), the process is what makes them successful and what makes you go there. The process results in fast, consistent tasting, hot food every time you drive through. These companies have realized that their process is what makes successful, rather than their cheeseburgers. On the other side of the coin, the one of a kind restaurant specializing in a local delicacy may be more content-oriented. However, even the mom and pop restaurant must be focused on process to remain profitable.
Finding new methods to process ideas is in itself a creative act, though one of a totally different nature. Process and content cannot exist without one another. When you’re faced with a difficult problem to solve, try separating it into two components. One is the basic creative material involved, the other is the process used to make that raw material into a solution or product. By separating content from process, it becomes much easier to identify the nature of a problem and apply the right kind of solution.

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Superficial knowledge and borrowed experience are the rewards of being an observer rather than a participant. No matter how much expertise you accumulate by watching, reading and listening, you will never truly experience success unless you take the plunge and go out into the deep water. When you become fascinated by a subject and go beyond the contemplation stage into the action stage your entire perspective changes. All kinds of opportunities open up. I’ll give you what may seem to be a far-fetched example.
A friend’s father is nearing retirement from a job with a large company. In the past few years he has become interested in carved duck decoys. These decoys have evolved from a utilitarian aid for hunters into an art form. In fact there are  competitions with categories for non-functional decoys that are judged solely on the skill of the carver. Our retiree has read books and articles on the subject, has calendars featuring photos of decoys and has often contemplating trying his hand at carving. One Christmas he is presented with a book of patterns and goes beyond reading and actually tries his hand at making a bird. His first attempts are amateurish but because he has actually done it, his insight into other’s work is radically changed. He begins to look at how they resolved certain problems and learns about carving competitions with categories designed for novices. He begins to enter and receives awards and encouragement from people who he had revered as experts.
After a few years of carving, his birds begin to sell for respectable prices. By now he specializes in certain birds and certain positions and has developed a style that is recognizable to decoy aficionados. His armchair interest in an esoteric discipline has become an important (and profitable) part of his life, opening up whole new groups of relationships and providing an interesting second career.
As soon as you explore an interest beyond what you can absorb through observation you are in new waters. To continue the metaphor, you may get swept along into an entirely new and fascinating life.

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The word competition comes from the Latin words com petit which mean to learn from. And who knows you and your skills, hopes and methods better than your competitors? In athletic competition we learn as much or more from losing as we do from winning. I always preferred to play tennis with a better player than myself rather than somebody I could always beat. I’d learn things and push myself to the limits of my ability, trying to reach their level.
Competitors at work or in business are potential allies. Their skill set resembles your own. However, we each have our own set of strengths and weaknesses. Your competitor may have strength where you are weak and vice versa. Why not turn them into a resource; a resource that compliments your particular set of skills. Refer customers to them when you are backed up or when you have a need for their expertise. You might even arrange to sub work out to them that they are better equipped for (and hopefully they will do the same for.)
If this seems hopelessly idealistic, think of it this way: They may be in the same competitive situation, fearing you and unhappy with an adversarial situation. Try turning the tables. You might have a lot in common.

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Comedian George Carlin had a famous routine about ‘stuff’. The more we get, the more we need. When we get more stuff, we buy a bigger house to put it in. The big house is even more stuff. It builds up and up. What is all this stuff?
We live in a materialistic society. We make things in response to a demand that is created within the marketplace which in turn is created by inventors who develop timesaving or luxury items. Got to have ‘em. How important is this stuff? Is it portable? Does it improve the value of your life? Is it educational or visionary? Can you live without it? Most things don’t really live up to these criteria. A luxury car does not transport you faster than an economy car in a world with speed limits. A bigger house does not protect you from weather better than a smaller house. These things are the fruits of our labors but they don’t always truly improve the quality of our lives. Relationships, friends, children, successes in your work, and strong self esteem are valuables; the rest is just stuff. Don’t spend too much energy making a monument out of junk.

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• Did you ever notice that the people who are early don’t miss anything?
• That the people who are early, get in on the project from the start and become decision makers?
• That people who are early meet the other early people and establish relationships before getting down to business?
• That the person who is early never misses an unexpected success or announcement?
• That early people are relaxed and organized when things get started instead of playing catch-up?
• That the early person gets a chance to warm up and get a cup of coffee?
• They don’t rush, don’t forget things, and enjoy life a little more.

Be early. It’s an easy way to give yourself a promotion in the eyes of your mentors and bosses. It also puts you at the advantage in a negotiation or interview.

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