Every industry, organization, and art form has it’s own unwritten rules. We follow these unwritten rules when we follow the crowd without asking the important question of ‘why?’ We break the unwritten rules when we begin to ask the question ‘why not?’

Why not film our entire movie in one shot?
Why not paint a canvas only using my toes?
Why not drop our album overnight on Twitter? (Because you’re not Beyonce)

Asking ‘why not’ helps us to break through the monotonous mold and create something truly original. But while asking ‘why not’ may be brave, it will not yield fruitful art unless it is also accompanied with its sister question of ‘why?’ 

Sure it’s original to film an entire movie in one take, but why? What is the reason? If your reason is simply, “because it’s cool,” “because we can,” or worse yet, “because it will shock people,” then you’re not making art, at best you’re making a cheap carnival ride. 

Breaking unwritten rules and testing boundaries is what makes art so visceral, exciting, and often times controversial. But just as with any project, what you do is not nearly as important as why you are doing it. 

If your wild “why not” idea doesn’t support the story that’s being told or the product that’s being developed, then it will only hurt your project. 

Dare to ask ‘why not?’
Be smart enough to follow up with ‘why?’

Above my desk at home hangs a giant white board on which I keep all of my tasks for the day, month, and upcoming quarter. My to-do lists have been known to get pretty meticulous, oftentimes getting me laughed at by my fiancé. 

“Did you really put “free time” on your to-do list?”
“Of course I did, how else am I supposed to remember to take a break?”

In reviewing my list last week, I noticed I had made an interesting omission. At the beginning of this year, I made the commitment to blog three times per week, so “write blog post” is a phrase that constantly appeared on the white board. Looking through last week though, I noticed that “write blog post” hadn’t appeared on the list in over a week, maybe even a month or two.

Obviously I hadn’t given up on blogging, I haven’t missed a post yet. But I hadn’t even noticed that I was leaving it off the list. At some point, blogging became second nature.

This is the goal for any artist who creates on a daily basis. I’m sure Seth Mcfarlane’s to-do list does not include writing another Family Guy episode. I don’t think Bach’s to-do list included the phrase “write music.” When an artist is truly committed to the work for a certain amount of time, it no longer is a task to be done, but it becomes second nature. Almost like breathing, it’s not an obligation, it’s an expectation, it’s a bodily function. The day doesn’t feel complete without it. 

Seeking to create on a daily basis means that at some point what was once on our to-do list will have to become second nature. When this happens, we then open up room for new, diverse, challenging projects to go on our to-do list.

It isn’t for everyone.
But it might be for you. 
You’ll never know until you try.
Reach out to someone.

Discontent is the pinnacle of artistic clichés.

“My audience isn’t big enough.”
“My product isn’t fast enough.”
“My project does have enough money behind it.”

Forgive me for being frank, but these comments, and all others like them, are nothing more than excuses. Excuses are the enemy of progress, and therefore, the enemy of art.

At some point, every artist runs into the problem of not having enough money, connections, or influence. These moments can either cripple us with pride and self-pity, or we can humble ourselves and do one simple thing, ask for help.

It was a dark day for humanity when it became shameful to ask for help. Nowadays we avoid it at all cost because asking for any type of assistance means admitting some sort of inability within ourselves. And who would ever want to do that? Asking for help forces us to become vulnerable, reach out, and connect with someone. 

Wait a minute, doesn’t that sound familiar? Isn’t this exactly what we were trying to do with our art in the first place?
“I want to create art that will help connect people, but I don’t want to have to connect with anyone in the process.”

Pardon me again for the frankness, but that’s hypocritical and borderline stupid. 

Art and creativity are so vital to the human experience because they push us to the ends of ourselves, forcing us to reach out and depend on one another if we want to keep going. I think perhaps this is why God is so fond of art, because it forces us into community with one another.

I think James, the writer in the Bible, had it right when he said, “You do not have because you do not ask.” Don’t be afraid, or too proud. to ask.

We all know the pain of getting an idea of ours rejected while working within a team. An encounter with rejection can sometimes make us timid to raise our hand during the next brainstorming session. But what about when our idea gets accepted, implemented, and brings about significant fruit, but we get no recognition for it?

A rejected idea bruises our spirit.
An unrecognized idea bruises our pride.

In the face of situations where we feel we’ve been robbed of the credit we are due, the temptation is keep all future ideas close to our chest like secrets for fear of them being “stolen” again. What we’re really doing in this time is allowing bitterness and resentment to take root in our hearts. This is not good for us, and more importantly, not good for the team.

It can be hard to receive no credit for our ideas. But when our heart is in the right place, we aren’t doing our work for the credit, we’re doing our work for the work. For the artist, the creation of art is her number one prerogative. Credit is secondary. She does her work for the good of the team. She does her work for the good of the project. 

To create successful, vitally creative teams, we must stop treating our ideas like playing cards in a poker game. The best organizations are the ones where everyone shows their hand at every meeting and shares the pot with the whole table. In the end, everyone is richer for it.

The bum wants credit for his ideas, because he’s in it for himself.
The artist is in it for the art, wherever the credit lands is irrelevant.

Determined says, “I can do anything, but I deserve nothing.”

Entitled says, “I deserve everything, but I don’t have to do anything.”

The difference is subtle, but it’s incredibly important to land on the determined artist side of the line if we want to do great work and lead our audience. Otherwise, we run the risk of becoming an entitled bum.

I recently finished a book by Ryan Holiday called, Trust Me, I’m Lying. It was a bit of a risk for me to read it, only because it falls outside of my usual realm of desired literature. The book centers around the journalistic blogging world and the dangers of media manipulation. In it, Ryan speaks at length about something called snark…

“You know you’re dealing with snark when you attempt to respond to a comment and you realize there is nothing you can say.”

He also uses this quote from David Denby to support his definition, “snark attempts to steal someone’s mojo, erase their cool…with nasty, insidious, rug-pulling.”

To make an attempt at my own, slightly more graphic definition, “Snark is cutting someone else down so the cutter can be better seen by standing on their carcass.”

In other words, snark is the enemy of vulnerability, which makes it the enemy of art. Snark says, “I’m not perfect, I’m scared, I’m weak, but let’s focus on your imperfections, fears, and weaknesses so I don’t have to deal with my own.”

Snark might be popular in certain sectors of the internet, but it’s also popular in most high school hallways, and it is most definitely not art.

Snark cuts others down to lift yourself up.
Vital creativity lifts other up even if it means exposing what makes you feel low.

We all have a choice to make…
Snark, teasing, pride, and destruction
Or
Vulnerability, openness, honesty, and value

I trust you’ll choose right.

Whenever I talk or hear someone talk about the Bible, “the prophets” always seem to be thrown together into one giant group. Like the Native Americans or the Dinosaurs, we lump all the prophets together and forget that there are many different tribes and species of prophet. They weren’t all hellfire, brimstone, beards, and sackcloth. They didn’t all shout from street corners and carry signs with the words, “Repent, the kingdom of heaven is near.” 

When we take the time to actually look at the Bible, we see that each prophet has their own name, time, place, and calling. Furthermore, if we look a little deeper, we see that each prophet has a different way that they hear from God and express what He has revealed to them.

God “lifts Ezekiel up” and carries him with around to show him visions.
God speaks to David and Asaph through the art of poetry and songs.
God tells Jeremiah to write his messages on a scroll.
God speaks to Moses in a burning bush.
Even Jesus, the greatest of prophets, the Messiah, we see God speak to Him and through Him with parables, signs, and miracles.

This is yet another manifestation of the creative nature of our heavenly Father. He speaks both to us and through us in unbelievably creative ways.

This means that we must be open to God speaking to us at all times through an infinite number of sources. And, we cannot discredit any gifting we might have as a possible way for Him to speak through us.

Don’t discredit your job as a place where God can speak to you.
Don’t count out the platform you have as a parents to be used by God in your child’s life.
Don’t doubt that God will use your ability to weave baskets to speak truth, hope, or inspiration into the universe.

Yes, God can, and will, use anybody. But He will also use them in more different ways than you could imagine.

Most of us would probably say that we are, in some capacity, afraid to fail. While I believe this is true, I also think that our fear of failure is a bit more specific than we give it credit for. For most, it’s not necessarily that we’re afraid to fail, but who we’re afraid to fail in front of.

For me, it’s my fiancé. We became engaged last month, and the closer we get to merging our lives and hearts into one, the more I dread the thought of letting her down. Sometimes it even gets to the point where I allow my fear of failing in front of her keep me from stepping up to the plate altogether.

I think we all have someone like this in our lives. Maybe it’s a father who always had impossibly high standards. Maybe it’s a daughter who has placed all her trust in your hands. Maybe it’s a brother, friend, or teacher who we’ve always looked up to and want to make proud. Somewhere, for one reason or another, we all have someone we’re afraid to look foolish in front of. 

What we forget though is that the person we fear letting down is often the same person who inspires us to step up. While I admit that I dread the thought of my fiancé seeing me fail, it is also my love for her that inspires me to get out of bed everyday and take the risks that I do. 

So in a way, I have a choice. I can either let my fear of failing her keep me from trying, or I can let my love for her drive me through the fear and onwards toward success.

Who are you afraid to fail in front of?
Better yet, who inspires you to do what you do everyday?
The answer is probably the same. 
And with a little change in perspective, the question might be also.

A few months ago, I was getting off the subway on my way to work when I noticed a man in a business suit wearing Crocs. I didn't dwell too much on how terribly the two styles clashed, mostly because I have absolutely no fashion sense, but also because I could not get over how comfortable those shoes looked.

When I got into work, I sent out a simple tweet, for no other reason than that it was on my mind:
"I would really like a pair of @Crocs right now." I said (or tweeted)

Within five minutes I received a reply from @Crocs that blew mind.
"@jonjorgenson our social media team just was you in Mamma Mia. Great job." The tweet included a picture of our stage from where they were sitting.

What?! What kind of a coincidence is that? I had to reply, and I did. We ended up going back and forth for the next 15 minutes or so, and before I knew it I was sending an email to one of the Crocs employees telling her where to send my free pair of shoes. Not only were they sending me a free pair, but they were customizing them for me, Mamma Mia style, and they were sending along fifty half-off coupons for me to share with the entire cast! A week later, my shoes arrived in the mail, I had a great story to tell, and Crocs had a customer for life.

In the Twitter, Facebook, Instagram economy, word of mouth marketing is more valuable than ever. If you can get people talking about your brand or company or project, then not only do they tell their family and friends about it, but they tweet it out to all their online friends (aka followers) as well. 

Many companies and organizations believe the key to word of mouth is creating wild, crazy, provocative, and often times controversial content surrounding their brand. While this may work from time to time, I don't believe it's nearly as effective as giving someone a great story to tell, especially when the customer themselves is a part of that story.

A provocative advertisement may drive clicks and comments and may garner the attention of lots of bloggers, but it probably won't go very far in gaining actual customers and true fans. People may skim through a controversial article on their morning commute, but they become engrossed when a spouse or friend tells a personal story about their positive (or negative) experience with a brand.

This is why companies like TOMS shoes have grown so fast. For each pair of shoes TOMS sells, they give a second pair to a child in need. With each pair sold, TOMS invites that customer to be part of a story that is bigger than themselves. It’s a story their customers can get excited about. And you better believe those customers turn around to tell their story to anyone who will listen.

Crocs could have easily let our little Twitter conversation stop with a funny coincidence, not to mention they could have no responded altogether, but they saw an opportunity to make me a part of a story surround their brand, and they seized it.

Garnering positive word of mouth for your business, project, or brand is just that simple. Give your audience a story that they find themselves a part of.