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Artisan ThinkingA black paper by Mykel Dixon
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Table Of Contents
Why Innovation Is Only The Beginning 5
Key Challenges 7
The Thinking Ladder 11
6 Modes Of Thinking 13
An Artisan Approach 28
An Invitation 30
About The Author 32
“As businesses become more dependent on knowledge to create value, work becomes more like art. In the future, managers who have an understanding of how artists work will have an advantage over those who don’t.”
— Eric Schmidt, former CEO and now Executive Chairman at Google
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Innovation has long been described as the answer to all modern business challenges. The ability to ideate, adapt and pivot is invaluable in an increasingly complex marketplace.
But current Innovation as a mindset and practice will only take us so far. What is required in today's globalised and digitised knowledge-based economy is a more congruent approach.
According to recent studies our world is in transition from money to meaning, profit to purpose, competition to community. We now require a new style of thinking that better serves these emerging trends. In today's economic climate it’s not enough to merely innovate, we must make Art.
Empathy, agility and continuous iteration are just the foundations for providing value. In the future of work, those who consistently produce relevant, elegant and original ideas will be in high demand.
Why Innovation Is Only The Beginning
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In the Knowledge Age, we must capture the hearts and minds of our colleagues and clients.
We must stand out in vivid colour. Craft memorable experiences rich in depth, beauty and connection. Provide meaningful solutions while simultaneously asking better questions.
To do this requires a fully integrated approach. An approach that utilises the head, the hands and the heart. A style of thinking that is more akin to that of an Artist than a Scientist, Designer or Engineer.
This paper introduces a new paradigm for innovation in the modern business landscape. It borrows much of its makeup from the behaviours and mindsets of Artisans and is valuable to almost every aspect of business.
Regardless of whether you work in a traditionally ‘creative’ role we all would do well to explore, unlock and unleash the Artisan within.
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Key Challenges
There are four key challenges preventing us from innovating on demand.
1 - We’ve been raised to be robots. From our earliest experience in the education system to our journey through the corporate corridors. The culture we’ve grown up in has suppressed our spontaneity, reprimanded our individualism and berated us with a relentless impulse to conform. This conditioning has disconnected us from our true selves and distorted our perceived ability for creativity.
2 - Over time this distortion has prevented us from attempting anything truly innovative. It has eroded our creative confidence and now when we embark on a creative pursuit we only ever experience a low level of proficiency. This lack of competence only serves to fuel the skewed perception that we’re not creative. Thus feeding a vicious circle of who we are and who we’re not.
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3 - This in turn means, the majority of our workplace has been designed by people just like us. People who falsely believe they are not creative. Therefore, many of our company’s process and best practice do not allow for, encourage or ignite our innate creativity.
4 - Now we have an entire team, company or industry firmly entrenched in a misleading story that they are not creative. They do not value, understand or exhibit the skills, behaviours and mindsets necessary for true innovation. As a result, we are left vulnerable, open to disruption and inevitably our company or ourselves will stagnate and stumble into irrelevance.
If however we explore, embrace and implement the ideas presented in this black paper we can safeguard our future against the increasingly unpredictable business landscape.
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First I will introduce a model of six different modes of Thinking. Five of these are already well documented. We all use many or all of these modes at different times throughout our day, project or career.
But the sixth, and title of this black paper, is what I believe will make the biggest difference to our ability to innovate.
I will then outline specific areas of focus we can use to progress up the ladder into deeper and richer styles of thinking to better serve our work and life.
Factory
Conventional
Strategic
Creative
Design
Artisan
intelligence
imagination
intuition
integration
imitation
instruction enquiry
experiment
emotion
empathy
embodiment
energy
type style focus
0
x1
x3
x6
x10
x20
output
The Thinking Ladder
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Factory Thinking is the unwanted hangover from the Industrial Age. Our current educational system, social structure and cultural blueprint were designed to prepare us for a factory style of work. As such we have been groomed, conditioned and schooled out of our creativity. (see Sir Ken Robinson’s excellent TED talk)
In Factory Thinking, there is no new thought. We don’t deviate from the plan. We are merely following orders. As technology advances, ourselves or our company will soon be replaced, made redundant or become obsolete.
In an article detailing the 'second machine age', Tim Laseter wrote "Number crunching computers will replace number-crunching managers”. According to numerous others in the know automation is no longer bound to entry level positions or unskilled work.
What use could there be for us once we have a machine that could do the work faster, cheaper and more precise?
Factory Thinking (Instruction)
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“We have embraced the industrial propaganda with such enthusiasm that we have changed the very nature of our dreams.” – Seth Godin in The Icarus Deception.
In today's global marketplace, the safest bet is on our unique, snowflake, one of a kind self. But what happens when we’ve lost, suppressed or forgotten our uniqueness?
If we identify with Factory Thinking the key area of focus to move up The Thinking Ladder is; Enquiry.
Our first step is to break the cycle. Disrupt our usual patterns. Do something different. Buy a book we wouldn’t normally read. Take a different route to work. Ask a different question about something we thought we knew. Pay attention to the way we think and act in the world.
It is vital we move from autopilot into the observer. It's the quickest and surest way out of Machine Thinking.
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Conventional thinking is slightly better than Factory Thinking. It is logical, rational and reasonable. We look at our options and make informed choices. We anticipate, adjust and consider alternatives. We look like we’ve got it all under control.
But our assumptions are based on the premise that everything we experience will follow in perfect sequence. Everything will be the same as it always was and that the past is the best indicator of the future.
When we are engaged in Conventional Thinking the only time we think about change is if everyone else is doing it. Conventional Thinking is smack bang in the middle of the Status Quo and will do everything it can to remain within the security of the pack.
Conventional Thinking (Imitation)
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The problem with this kind of thinking is that life does not behave in a linear fashion. Nor are the problems we’re facing necessarily the same as everyone else’s. Sooner or later Conventional Thinking will be trumped by something outside of the box.
Common pitfalls are the inability to accept we need to change and the lack of skills required to do so. By not addressing these limitations sooner or later we will be left behind.
When we identify ourselves in Conventional Thinking the key area to focus on is; Experimentation
It’s time to put some skin in the game. Take a few risks. Play. Don’t think, do. Try opposite of what everyone else is doing. Try the whackiest thing you can think of, and then double it.
Whether it works or not is irrelevant. In this mode, we focus on quantity over quality. We focus on action. What’s most important is to build the discipline of experimentation into your approach, your behaviour and your mindset.
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Strategic Thinking is where most business leaders are today. We can see the forest and the trees. We connect the big picture with the finer detail. We value process and build systems that both allow for growth while minimising risk.
We can read the game. We have experience and have studied the experiences of others. We collect the data, think long and hard, and then make decisions not only based on past events but future predictions.
Strategic Thinking can be extremely effective at improving systems and processes incrementally over time. But truth be told, no groundbreaking ideas, initiatives or sales will ever come of it.
The limitations of Strategic Thinking is that there is no flair of our own. We’ve got what we’ve got, and we’re working effectively within those constraints. The unfortunate truth is that we’re merely moving the pieces of someone else’s puzzle.
Strategic Thinking (Intelligence)
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Our thinking is dependent on what's in front of us, not what's inside of us. The world sees us as a capable manager or the perfect team player but never the star talent and certainly not key leadership material. After some time, we’ll become stagnant, disenfranchised and resentful. It’s not enough. We must keep climbing.
When we identify ourselves in Strategic Thinking the key area to focus on is; Emotion
We need to move away from what’s happening out there and reignite our relationship with whats happening in us. Our body is an infinite library of unfolding wisdom and intelligence.
Activate our senses, acknowledge our emotions and learn again how to trust our passing feelings. We will remember how to dream by honouring the essence of our experience.
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Creative Thinking is the beginning of a bold new world. It speaks the language of possibility, turns every anything into opportunity and rides bareback on our wild and untamed imagination.
Creative Thinking is the juice behind every miracle discovery in science, technology and the arts. It is the special sauce that binds all corners of our brain and is fuelled by diverse and dynamic experience.
Constraints to Creative Thinkers are just colours for the palette. A challenge is not an opponent but an invitation into a world of play. It is rich in flavour and the lines between what was, what is and what could be are forever blurred.
The pitfalls of purely Creative Thinking, however, is that we can become self-indulgent. Our ideas might be revolutionary but are they relevant? Our dreams might be magnificent but will they make a difference?
Creative Thinking (Imagination)
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Sometimes an overabundance of Creativity can inhibit forward motion and after days, weeks or months of joyful creation we need to define and refine something in order to finish, ship and scale.
When we identify ourselves in Creative Thinking the key area to focus on is; Empathy
We must stay anchored to the why of our project or problem. Keep asking ourselves ‘Who are we are creating this for? What do they need? Why do they need it? And what would make the difference?’
To enhance and amplify our Creative Thinking we must bring buckets of empathy into the fold. We must get into the hearts and minds of our audience. This awareness will inspire and inform our choices. It will enable us to create solutions that better serve them as well as our individual creative impulse.
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Design thinking is all the rage and for good reason. It is both practical and poetic. Funky and functional. It is a continuous real-time process of ideation and iteration in partnership with the end user.
Design Thinking is a structured approach to generating and developing ideas. It is built upon empathy; marinated in experience and refined with experimentation. In our complex, ambiguous and transformational world, Design Thinking provides a thorough blueprint for innovation.
But despite being an exceptional framework for the future it lacks a special sauce that will prove vital in the coming months and years.
Design Thinking (Intuition)
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There is still a gravity that holds Design Thinking to the ground. It is still of this world. It can be slick, razor sharp and void of superfluous material but as such can sometimes feel lacking of the imperfect divinity we unconsciously seek. It is memorable, perhaps even remarkable, but it will not endure like only Art can.
Design Thinking may provide an answer, but it is only Artisan Thinking that does so by posing an even greater question.
When we identify ourselves in Design Thinking the key area to focus on is; Embodiment
To lift our thinking beyond exceptional and into the ethereal, we must embrace, embody and express the uniqueness of ourselves. Merge the needs of the world with our need to create. Put mastery of our craft over management of our staff.
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Artisan Thinking is the result of living in alignment with our truth.
When we embody our unique essence; when we surrender to being of service; when all we do, have and are is a reflection of our desire to create we have entered the realm of an Artisan.
It is not enough for Artisans to provide solutions to wicked problems. These solutions must be meaningful. They must be ‘relevant, thorough, elegant and unique’, to quote the imitable Thought Leader Matt Church.
They must invite further enquiry while telling the story of both the maker and the made. They must comfort, inspire and linger long after they’re gone.
Artisans are servants of their practice. Every piece, product or performance is merely a stepping stone on the road to mastery. A road that extends far beyond their ability to walk it. Once they have shipped their solution, without delay, they return to the workshop to tinker and tweak the next project in the pipeline.
Artisan Thinking (Congruence/Transcendence)
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Artisan Thinking will set us apart from the pack, but we’ll hardly notice. Our focus is on the stars and with every thought and action we’ll pull the rest of our people closer to them.
Key area to focus on to remain in the Artisan space; Energy
Artisans work with energy. They infuse their work with as much of it as they can. They know that energy is the very source of life. Learning to find it, ride it and harness it is the key to continuous creation.
With deep respect, gratitude and intent Artisans learn to be alchemists of energy. By working with the flow, they attract, unlock and transform all types of energy in life-affirming ways.
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There’s a reason Art is so revered and yet so feared. To make art means to not only touch but to reveal the most vulnerable parts of ourselves. To listen for, engage with and act upon how we feel is dangerous work. And in a world that both champions and destroys those that risk their heart for their art it’s no surprise we’re cautious to do the same.
But Artisans have both the courage and audacity to serve something greater than themselves. They turn conversations, policies and products into Art, not because it’s easy but because they can, because it is asked of them and because we need them to. We need them to show us the way back to ourselves.
We were all born creative. It’s in our DNA. But we were also born into a world that sought to suppress that creativity. For whatever reason, we are starting behind the eight ball but make no mistake, that world has changed. That world no longer requires robots but highly skilled, deftly intuitive and outrageously talented Artisans.
An Invitation
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Our creative recovery is the single most important thing we can do for our business, our career and our life. The success that awaits us is married to our ability to innovate. But never forget, no matter how far from that we feel, we were made to make things.
Maybe it’s time we stopped pretending to be something we’re not. And step into the talented, creative and dynamic Artisan we were born to be.
I’ll meet you there.
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When not writing music or owning beach bars in Cambodia I engage with individuals and organisations around Australia who require the ability to innovate on demand.
Through the design and delivery of enthralling keynote presentations, experiential workshops and emergent mentoring programs I am obsessed with awakening, inspiring and empowering the Artisan in you.
I’m on a colourful crusade to turn the factory into a workshop, the office into a playground and the people into pure possibility.
Are you with me?
For more information on how you can work with me head over to www.mykeldixon.com/work
Find me on social media channels Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin
And be sure to follow my musings by signing up to the newsletter www.mykeldixon.com/signup
About The Author
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Love it? Share it! Feel free to share this document with everyone under the sun. Especially the round pegs stuck in square holes.
Attribution is preferable, acknowledgement would be delightful but I’ll settle for your creative self actualisation. So do with this what you will.
If however you gain any value from this black paper, have any questions you need answered or feel like jamming on all things Artisan please don’t hesitate to drop me a line.
I’d love to hear from you.
mykel[at]mykeldixon.com
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