The Irrelevance of Artists
Letter Zero 22
Dear friend,
Have you seen the infographic making the rounds where 1,000 people were asked to rank the essentialness of different professions? Artists scored worst. Is it a surprise that the first skill humanity would cut from our collective toolbox is creativity? Artists are expendable in 2020.
I’ve felt inessential before. Fresh out of college in 2001, I was a bullet of energy searching for a direction to fire my creative weapons. Then the planes struck the towers and my design ambition fizzled. My dream of getting paid to draw pictures all day seemed pathetic when the world was falling down. I considered joining the military. Instead I was offered my first job as a designer for a company that profited off the debt of students. I took the job. A classmate in art school made the other decision. He abandoned his design career ambitions and became a fireman. Hard to blame him. It’s impossible not to admire the heroes who run toward danger.
As we confront this year’s challenges, it’s tempting to believe that artists should quit and pursue more heroic careers. But what if the very thing that we need most is the skill that we value the least?
People who lack the skill of creativity are unable to recognize the value that creativity delivers. This is known as the Dunning-Kruger effect, a cognitive bias where less competent people overestimate their skills and underestimate the contributions of others. We are all susceptible to this bias. Incompetence robs us of our ability to see how inept we are. That’s what I see when I look at the survey that describes artists as inessential.
I believe the most essential thing we need is creativity. We need people who aren’t afraid to see things differently. Because you can’t solve a problem with blind force and reliance on pre-existing patterns. Most jobs don’t reward creativity. In fact, creativity is a liability in most fields. Anyone who brings creativity to their job – whether it is as a doctor, an engineer, a salesman, a teacher, or heck even a designer – puts their career at risk because it blurs the boundaries of their job title. That’s dangerous. It’s also heroic. It’s impossible not to admire the heroes who run toward danger. Thank you for the artistry that you are bringing to your job.
I’ll write again next Sunday. Stay creative.
Your friend,
Adrian
