The article “What entrepreneurs can learn from artists” posits that art has become an “integral part of business.” Leberecht claims that with the ease and availability of technology for use in the business world, the only thing separating competing businesses today is creativity. He argues that entrepreneurs should be more like artists. Conversely, in the article “Are Artists Entrepreneurs?”, Gupta argues that artists should be more like businessmen. He claims that both artists and entrepreneurs are guided by the same force – their passion for what they do – but that both groups must follow market trends and demands. Basically, Leberecht thinks that businessmen should take a page from artists; Gupta thinks that artists should take a page from businessmen.
What I gathered from Gupta’s article as far as how artists may borrow from an entrepreneur’s toolbox is as follows. First of all, the business world is built on networking. Artists can also benefit from seeking out connections and utilizing resources available to them, instead of thinking that they must work all on their own. In addition, Gupta says that both groups of people “must learn to balance what to do to live today so they can survive to do what they really want to do tomorrow.” Just like the dream of starting a hugely successful company, an ambitious artistic vision is likely not feasible at the start – one must start small and work to achieve their aspirations. Lastly, both authors think that intuition is hugely important for an entrepreneur, and one of the only advantages that one might have over another. For artists, too, listening to your gut can be very important. Starting small doesn’t mean failing to follow your passion.
I’m not sure if I agree that artists are also entrepreneurs. It’s hard to say what defines an artist, or even what defines an entrepreneur. I do think that both can learn from one another.
As far as Leberecht’s list of characteristics of artists… I agree that, generally, artists seek novelty; that they “think by making”; that they retain a childlike sense of wonder; that they are intuitive; that they are interdisciplinary; that they are passionate; and that many artists are contrarians. Again, I find this difficult because it’s difficult to define who would be classified as an artist, and I feel that this is over-generalizing a huge group of people. For instance, it’s certainly not true that all artists feel okay with ambiguity, or that all artists do well with constraints. I would, however, add that artists tend to be deep thinkers.
I first took the grit test before I listened to Angela Lee Duckworth’s TED talk. I thought, based on my opinion of myself and my answers, that I was going to get a score very close to 1 – not gritty at all. I was surprised when I got a 3.63, making me apparently grittier than 60% of the US population. It was only after I watched the TED talk that I better understood. Duckworth says that you “have to be willing to fail, to be wrong, to start over again with lessons learned,” and that really resonated with my own journey.
In January of my senior year of high school, I was voluntarily admitted to the Menninger Clinic, a mental hospital in Houston. I missed seven weeks of school, but with a lot of perseverance and hard work, managed to graduate on time with the rest of my class. In fall of 2014, I started as a freshman at Randolph College in Lynchburg, Virginia, where I was planning to study Classics. Though I know I can’t change the past, it remains difficult for me not to regret my decision to go off to college right away, not to wonder if things would have been different had I chosen a different school. The semester went very badly for me – I fell very deeply back into depression and self-harm, and withdrew at the end of the semester. In March of 2015, I returned to Menninger, and spent another eight weeks there. When I left, I went to a step-down residential program in Los Angeles, and spent nine months developing emotional and independent living skills.
Now, almost two years since I was last in school, I’m living on my own in an apartment, I have my own driver’s license, and I’m restarting the long journey through college. It’s scary – having failed the last time, the threat of failure seems to be constantly hanging over me. But, like Duckworth said, it’s important to remember that failure is not a permanent condition. It’s exciting and fulfilling to be back on the track towards my future, and I’ve realized that I do, actually, have grit. As Duckworth said:
Grit is passion and perseverance, for very long-term goals. Grit is having stamina. Grit is sticking with your future. Day-in, day-out. Not just for the week, not just for the month, but for years, and working really hard to make that future a reality. Grit is living life like it’s a marathon, not a sprint.
Grit is the cliche of “fall seven times, stand up eight,” or the Thomas Edison quote, “I have not failed. I’ve just found ten thousand ways that won’t work.” Grit is knowing that failure is a part of life, and being able to pick up and carry on.
Though I am determined to continue in school, to get a degree, to do something that I love… At this point in my life, there are several different areas of study that I find myself passionate about, and a dozen career paths I could see myself taking. It’s definitely harder to persevere when you don’t know why you’re doing it, what exactly it is that you’re aiming for. Finding more concrete direction in my life, I think, would increase my level of grit.