The Do-It-Together movement and cross-pollination
I recently had the opportunity to write a blog post for the entrepreneur whisperers at Being Boss, where I shared my thoughts on the evolution of the Do-It-Yourself movement into something much more exciting and sustainable – a Do-It-Together movement.
As creative entrepreneurs have recognized the caveats of doing it all on our own, we’ve done what we do best – brainstorm a better way. By embracing a new paradigm – one that encourages makers and doers to work together towards common business goals, we’ve not only eased the burden of single-handedly covering all the bases, we’ve also gained something invaluable to business success – cross-pollination.
WHAT MAKES THIS ADVANTAGE SO CRITICAL TO CREATIVE SUCCESS?
Cross-pollination allows us to access creative genius that is typically reserved for, well, geniuses. According to neuroscientist Nancy C. Andreasen, creative geniuses “are better at recognizing relationships, making associations and connections, and seeing things in an original way—seeing things that others cannot see.”
Literary masterminds like the late Umberto Eco, science innovators like Einstein, and business masterminds like Steve Jobs all demonstrated unique capacities for seeing opportunities and insights that others overlooked.
While the essence of creativity is this ability to make connections and think divergently, we may not all have the same capacity for creative genius that Nobel Prize winners and multimedia moguls have.
At least not alone. Working together, however, we create an environment that replicates the inner-workings of history’s greatest minds. When we strategically partner with other creative experts, we harness greater intellect, greater imagination, and greater energy. Writers and designers who work cooperatively with digital entrepreneurs are able to build more meaningful online experiences than each would be able to accomplish alone. Creative directors with different strengths are able to complement one another and bring more value to each project they tackle together.
When we work together, we have more combined experience, improved processing, and richer resources at our fingertips. That allows us to build better products, provide superior services, and run our businesses without pulling out our hair.
What are your best experiences working in creative partnerships?