The Intrinsic is Enough

Contrary to popular belief, the intrinsic is essential. 

It forms our individual and collective compositions, yet in political and economic discussions on the arts and culture, we diminish that which makes us whole. 

As we explored in last week’s post, we are overly reliant on the quantifiable.  We revere that which is separate from ourselves simply because it generates visible results.    Since it is not seen but felt, the intrinsic is considered less significant, or even meaningless, by market forces (and therefore the political sphere).  These beliefs lead many artists and culture bearers to, in their fundraising efforts, clumsily yoke their work to extrinsic benchmarks that can never convey their power and influence. 

What do we search for most ardently in life, if not meaning and feeling?  It is the arts and culture’s rooting in sensation that makes them meaning full. The intrinsic holds the ultimate significance.

After the recent passing of artists David Bowie and Natalie Cole, the discussions that bubbled up had little to do with “the numbers”.  Their art weighted trillions of moments for people across the globe, across generations and across sensibilities.  Bowie and Cole’s lives’ work formed the foundation of billions of stories that, when shared, healed, buoyed and connected their mourning fans – and created new ones posthumously.  The music business may promote extrinsic benefits, but the greatest value of its products is intrinsic. Its current crises may be resolved by an industry-wide deference to this reality.

Management guru Dr. Nancy J. Adler has written often on the arts and leadership in the 21st Century.  In her work, she implores business leaders to uncover beauty, to seek direction from artists if they desire to succeed in ways that benefit the world broadly. Acknowledgment of the intrinsic’s primacy to our fundamental selves and our collective sense of community, will facilitate the development of an economy that is accountable.

The Truth About Datastan

We are in a state in which data reigns supreme. In “Datastan” (to use a term coined by the brilliant Arlene Goldbard) data is king and queen, though the kingdom is propped up by falsehoods.   This misinformation prevents the widespread development of generative, empathetic commerce, inhibits culture and strains community cohesion. 

So, what’s the antidote?  Many of us believe it’s the arts.

The inclusion of artistic perspectives in public and private sector discourse could help us to solve our most pressing issues, on both individual and societal levels, and create the future our children and grandchildren deserve.  But first, we need to drop the following delusions about Datastan:

Data is Objective / Reveals the Truth

Human intervention, even if passive, is required to make sense of data.  Therefore ambiguity is diffused throughout the processes of data quantification, because it is shaped by each interpreter’s experiences.  The “data as objectivity as truth” perspective is rife with flaws, but it illustrates that there is validity in subjectivity.  Acknowledgement of imperfection leads the way toward authenticity, and it is the inclusion of the artist’s intuitive perspective that wholly illuminates human truths.

Numbers Provide the Purest Evidence

Numbers are a form of evidence, but not the only form.  Evidence in its most potent form cannot be quantified.  It’s the provenance of memory, sensation, emotion.  It’s the provenance of the artist. The storyteller has just as much skill, if not more, than the scientist when it comes to deciphering human realities and laying them at our feet for inspection.

Data is Hard (and Therefore Reliable). The Arts are Soft (and Therefore Unreliable).

The idea that because something is "hard", that because it is scientific or technical it epitomizes truth is short-sighted and incorrect.  That which is hard may be strong, but it also acts as a barrier, may be brittle, and is inflexible, rigid and stiff.  That which is soft can also be very strong, and is permeable, adaptable, enjoyable and pliable.  There is truth in ambiguity.  Artists' work veraciously acknowledges the universal ambiguity of our individual human experiences. So you see, when important decisions are being made, there are considerable advantages to going soft. 

The reality is that everything humans touch is open to human interpretation.  It only makes sense that human information, or information that affects humans and the world we inhabit, should be viewed through human-focused lenses.  It is the artistic perspective that courageously retains clarity of vision, it’s the artist who hones intuitiveness, it’s the artist who is able to jump levels to see many truths at once, it’s the artist’s perspective that adds significance to fact.

Design Thinking: On the Importance of Unity (STEAM)

The concept of the gestalt should be at the forefront of all design thinking.   The gestalt principles acknowledge the importance of a “unified whole” to successful innovation.   Adherence to these principles encourages cohesion and connection, and ultimately the creation of products and services that are, in their usefulness and beauty, designed to elevate the human experience. 

It is often said that we inhabit a connected era, but I believe that these (hyper) links are largely superficial.  Neither our society nor our workforce is unified and, in spite of the myriad methods of communication available, we are fundamentally disconnected.   This disconnect is exacerbated by the artificial threads woven by technologies that exclude the perspectives of the arts and the humanities – fundamentally people-centric perspectives – from business innovation.  

The prioritization of one perspective (STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) has led us into an unhealthy system. Businesses do not operate in a vacuum, and the shortsighted prioritization of STEM skills over others has created an imbalance that, if it is not mediated, may lead to disastrous results.  These skewed ideals have led to a proliferation of content without content: like so many artisanal donuts, its appearance belies its lack of substance.  While the perspectives of the arts and humanities are suppressed, their fruits are emptily replicated to achieve questionable ends.  We require a unified approach to best solve the problems of the present and establish a thriving future.

The elevation of the arts and broad humanities into the contemporary, STEM-dominated dialogue will not only empower us to connect meaningfully, it will help us to solve many of the issues that perplex us.  At last, the arts and humanities are finding allies in STEM culture and businesses, who recognize that systems must be complete to function well.

The triple bottom line is dependent on the health and safety of people and planet, and a unified economy will help us to innovate and advance sustainably.  A workforce which equally incorporates perspectives from the sciences, the arts and the humanities will encourage balance and reciprocity, which can deepen comprehension and propel innovation and creativity in ways that are best for culture, commerce and community.

Adapting the gestalt to our commercial sector will facilitate the plurality of skills and perspectives that will advance the triple bottom line of sustainability.  It will help us to repair the fractures and fortify our futures that, though inevitably imperfect, can be continually improved upon.

WÆRK is rooted in the gestalt, and brings people, ideas and products together in ways that encourage a thriving triple bottom line.  We provide the missing pieces to organizations who understand that the processes of business as usual are incomplete.  We encourage our clients to adopt a new way of working, of building and of thinking, so that they may provide the people who buy their products and services with the experiences they want and need.

A lopsided economy will ultimately collapse.  An economy that is a unified whole of many modes of thought and practices will flourish, by developing understanding in the present to advance sustainably in the future.

Photo by Ingram Publishing/Ingram Publishing / Getty Images