Omit to Commit Research: Creative and Innovative Work

Omit to Commit is all about the resources needed to opt into (and out of) behaviors, such as time, traditions (individual or group behaviors), trust, and treasures. By regularly making and breaking habits, life becomes more fulfilling and satisfying. I’m drafting a book called Omit to Commit, and in 2023, I’m posting research on the 20th of every month.

I studied makers this month, and the resources they tap into are profoundly human! Expressing one’s thoughts and feelings by making something new is deeply emotional and expressive, whether you’re a creator or innovator. While I’ve written on physical needs before, creatives and innovators require an emotional resource of trust, perhaps more than any other group I’ve studied so far. And that’s trust in themselves, in their process(es), in their environments to do their thing. Making something, then, is often a physical response of tinkering and transforming. Therefore, the key resources I’m studying today are trust, tinkering, and transformation for the makers, as well as trends and technology for audiences.

When making, trust, tinkering, and transformation are all at play.

Innovations often from a place of lack, usually to solve a problem in the name of efficiency or accessibility. Innovators are a kind of makers who see a very specific problem, systemize, and simplify. But this is no small task, and it often takes time to see what that solution is, a trial-and-error process. No one said the scientific method was linear, right? It often takes years of trusting oneself, spending ample time and resources, to defend innovations and creations.

This is not unlike artists who may not be overtly solving problems but instead show us mirrors and windows to the self and society. Yet who’s to say that a song, dance, or film didn’t help an audience through something? Creators too may feel this lack, an idea that something’s missing until it is expressed through art. Individually, makers need to express what’s on their heart or mind. Artists lean into their (or others’) thoughts and feelings. They may feel tugged in all sorts of directions, ultimately streamlining these stimuli into a piece. Simplification, stripping so much down into a creation, is a long process, revealing inner and outer truths.

Telling one’s truth is essential to making, and leaving an impact drives makers to continue working toward this goal. But the impression is often determined by the beholder. Audience members often assign morality and value to art and innovation. A piece may be considered good because it relates or solves something, but it also fulfills a need, such as the human desire to be understood. Innovations can be considered good too when they make a simple solution. Form and function matter because creative works and innovations will ask, is it beautiful or ugly? Is it useful or (un)needed? Creations move us because we feel seen or help others feel seen. Sending the self into the world via art and/or innovation is a courageous endeavor. Bravery begets more bravery.

Dedicating time to one’s craft involves trying, over and over again.

Typically, talent is built over dedicated time, but who has the resources? As adults have many choices for how to spend their days, hobbies often remain in the leisure space before talent is fostered. Giving time to think, tinker, and transform one’s thoughts into creative talents may seem like an inaccessible resource. Especially as this process requires self and social examination, small steps can make change. Even exposure to unique artists is a tiny step in the process, but it beats writers’ block or unfulfilled goals.

Tinkering requires small deviations from the norm, whether it’s playing with art or following a hypothesis. When a maker has the time to play, flow can result in new discoveries. Flow is the perfect space for trial and error, as working through an artistic or scientific problem usually takes a long time. When is an art piece done after one draft? Or when is an innovation realized via a light bulb moment? Both answers are seldom, even though western, capitalist world enjoys these stories of discovery. Small developments, making a habit of tinkering over time, are far more likely to build up an artistic or innovative process.

But time isn’t created equal. Certainly, we all have 24 hours in a day, but that’s what the Greeks call chronos time. Chronos time is the measured, exact time it takes to do anything. Spending ample time on a piece or innovation, with no or minimal interruptions, requires energy. This often independent time, where one’s energy is captivated, can lead to flow, akin to what I observed on Entrepreneurs here. This is the other definition of time, Kairos time. Kairos is deep time, where the world around you almost stops, due to productivity, understanding one self, and/or spirituality. And that’s a reason why making is so powerful because this dedicated time to yourself can lead to appreciating the biggest picture we know – the universe. When makers dedicate both definitions of time and energy to their craft, the world changes. Perhaps that’s where I should start studying next: How to create both definitions of time and capture energy?

Teams can help produce, too.

In today’s increasingly connected world, it’s shocking the “starving artist” still exists. Why are some works displayed while others are never promoted? Perhaps because such expression significantly deviates, or maybe echo chambers prevent new, off-brand messaging. Or perhaps the maker didn’t have the resources to market their work, as they spent ample time in the making. But making doesn’t have to be an independent process. Teams can transform art and sciences, as well as help with the display, development, and promotion of such work. Taking the time to ask for help tends to make any work stronger. Solving problems through new innovations is usually an ethical endeavor, and teams can help show usefulness when this work is accessible to all.

Recognizing the need for others, educational and emotional gaps can be filled by expressing a particular message to a particular people at a particular time. Expression through art literally shapes history. Art demands attention, examining the past, present, and future. Innovation may seem forward thinking, but it also requires seeing what’s been done before and finding new ways of operating. Both art and innovation require historical and potential modes of thinking as quests for solving problems, acknowledging both the beautiful and the ugly. This is both an accomplishment and responsibility, especially as generations shift, and the latest generations bend to civic discourse. When innovators and artists make, they help us make sense of life, too. Disrupting the norms, breaking through echo chambers and glass ceilings, and showing what truth looks like are all reasons to create.

Technology can be used as a tool for change.

Technology may seem like a scary, contradictory term in a post on art, but to me, it just means things (ideas, people, processes) are innovating. Whenever new tools exist, the trends of disbelief and uncertainty, followed by (early) adoption are common. Unrest after changes in art and innovation is nothing new, even from Martin Luther’s day. He made printing (religious writings) available to all, and that increase of knowledge was considered a political and social move.

We see this social shift today. Artists and innovators can use their platforms to make, display, educate, and inspire, for practically any type of audience. And with technology superseding distance, response is faster than ever before. Modern technology, from Tiktok to YouTube, allows spaces to host works, engage with various niche audiences, sell work, and market it. Yes, that means technology can also make all its usership a creator, but these modern tools also signify there are even more consumers, too. The western marketplace is an increasingly changing, innovative space, and so makers must market, too (hence, I’m the Maker’s Marketer).

In addition, innovations can lead to AI “art.” As an artist and systems-thinker myself, I’m cautious in writing this because AI does not actively think, feel, and imagine as artists and innovators do and instead uses machine-learning to make something. That’s why I don’t support a new trend of sharing AI-driven portraits for my Facebook profile picture. And though I know a lot about these processes, AI is neither human nor fully explainable, so I’m among the group that don’t trust it yet. And that leads to a deeply human concern, a resource that innovators and artists tap into. They must trust the process.

There’s a freedom in exploring media, technology, time, and space. As technologies change, messages and their mediums are no longer fixed, allowing for independent and collaborative paths. But the presentation of these messages is dependent on placement: A canvas is still a canvas; a social media message is still hosted on a screen (for now). There are more choices to tinker with, and social media in particular offer a crossroads between art and innovation, expression and problem-solving. Finding avenues to meet people where they are is no small feat, whether it’s in-person or virtual.

Artists and innovators are usually transparent, and their talent rests in making the private public.

There are ample reasons why creative and innovative works are made (and distributed), but we can’t forget the humans making them. Their talent of transparency and penchant for trying surprised me in my research. Consistently working toward a goal is noble, especially if there’s a problem to solve. While yet another myth of early genius exists, spending the time to make and expose yourself to art and innovation matter much more.

Giving space to create and see others’ creations are no longer just for the select, talented, and/or affluent few. In theory, anyone can make or appreciate, but the modern world of increased competition and seemingly constant display of content prevent people from trying. Capitalism, morality, and the tradition of valuing “literal” art pieces and “instant” problem solvers may be roadblocks to art making and innovating. While it is normal to focus one’s time on a different kind of making (money), technology and new teaching methods are helping dismantle trends of valuing one single voice. Exposure to art, without prejudice, is helping audiences truly see different ways of thinking.

Art and innovation help audience members pause and consider their place(s) in the world. Sometimes, art and innovation expose the truth. Success can look like truth telling in mass, such as hosting an accurate point of view at a museum, honoring histories. Art spaces can also be more private, such as a Zoom session of authors of color. Innovators must also consider what success looks like, and I think accessibility matters most. When arts and innovations affordably and simply solve a problem, life becomes a little easier. This is not to say cheapness matters. Instead, impact means usefulness. Not only are works available, they are also used, and something is taken away as a result. Even if that something is an idea.

Quantifying human success is tricky, as resources for making and displaying art and innovation are historically unfairly distributed. Humans value consistency, but makers express divergency. These unique voices, abilities, personalities, and resources must be presented. Individual skills matter to show audience members other ways of thinking, working, playing, and living. Displaying and promoting these perspectives highlight the greater capability of humanity.

Teaching creativity and innovation requires new ways of thinking.

The tradition of valuing talent over time is nothing new, and it’s one of many trends of how art and innovation are taught. But as technology is changing and the world is increasingly more diverse, teaching methods are diversifying. Problems-based and projects-based learning are new avenues of exploration of learning, especially as this generation of learners is exposed to divides from the Covid-19 pandemic, systemic racism and the birth of Black Lives Matter, and a shifting economy.

Students in some spaces are taking control of their learning, such as Montessori environments and liberal arts and sciences institutions, and that can lead to more art and innovation. But young people still depend on teachers to share their lived experiences, too. Civic engagement and STEAM can work together, in educational settings and elsewhere. Consider this: Today’s students have more tools for connection than ever before, so even though many can’t vote yet, they can display their works, hone their voices, and build audiences faster and more affordably than ever before. These tools are gifts but hefty responsibilities too, so teachers can help children see how to use these platforms in fair, honest ways. The fourth industrial revolution is here, so adults and children can work together to make and create, so that their work is more accessible, diverse, and respectful.

The scientific method and creative process can work together, and trends like STEM’s transformation to STEAM can cultivate interdisciplinary thinking, technology with art. Precise thinking in educational environments can lead to creative work, too. Exact measurements still count, especially in engineering and math spheres, and so innovations depend on both analytics and art.

BIPOC, womxn, LGBTQIA+, and people with disabilities are disproportionally affected by lack of resources, so now is the time to invest in art and innovation, especially for these people. When given the tools, time, and space to think and thinker, anyone can make. The western world demands diverse solutions. Let’s start with the young: Diverse students make diverse art, innovation, and change.

When individuals are in a democracy with the spaces to ponder, tinker, and question, they have avenues to invest with one another and themselves, and that’s where magic happens. Innovations are seldom made alone, and so places that acknowledge creativity will continue to allow more works. Anyone can create, so barriers for entry can be minimized with this mindset shift.

Ultimately, all these tools show that being true to one’s makings (or others’) is an ongoing task. The world is changing and becoming more diverse, and giving time for creation and innovation is no longer a resource just for the elite. Nearly everyone can expose themselves to unique viewpoints through art and innovation, and this access (and excess) of information is a gift. Yes, that means more competition and capitalization, as well as echo chambers, but it also gives way to inclusion and justice. When art and innovations are accessible to as many people as possible, people become more honest and brave, showing a diverse, creative world. This work lets us look in and outward. And maybe, such exposure will help the world start healing.

Do you create or innovate? Do you have a process? How about a system for exposing yourself to others’ creations? I’d love to hear your creative/innovative/scientific processes. Write a comment here or fill out my habits form. Together, let’s make the world more creative and inclusive.