Brady Helps

Interesting opinion article from the Washington Post.I understand the writer’s big as: stop funding performing arts organizations and start direct funding artists. I started thinking: how would that look? What if you could raise money from your neighbors to fund a backyard production of a play/musical? What if instead of going to a concert hall, you could fund a string quartet to play in your living space? What if you could hire a composer to write music for your birthday? You would ask the composer to write the piece for the person in your family who plays music.I’m left inspired. How many ways might we elevate the arts by abandoning the arts funds and directly funding artists? Would it make sense? I realize I’m on the edge here. You might be the reader that values our performing arts organizations. I do too. I still wonder if a change in arts funding is inevitable. We stopped paying for cable television and now pay directly the content streams we want. Why should other arts be different?

Getting started.And by “getting started” I mean, getting everybody to sign off on what “done” looks like. Refusing to accept “let’s cross that bridge when we get there.”Refusing to accept “let’s just get a few things going and revisit as we go.”Refusing to accept “we’ll see where this sprint takes us.”None of that.The hard part might be getting the idea out of your head. Creating a visual. Creating the rules and the logic. Imagining the outcome in real terms. Writing it out simply. Going to stakeholders and asking for their “approval to build as scoped.” Perhaps even harder than that is informing stakeholders that no changes are allowed once building starts. Why? Because shipping the work is too important.

If you are going to create culture, you must maintain culture. The way you maintain culture is to assert: here’s what the people like us do. Then, the hard part, you must tow that line. “People like us do things like this… we don’t do things like that… if you want to be with us, you do this…”Creating culture is generous and difficult.

Sometimes the fight’s not worth it.Sometimes it’s better just to give in. Better to win a war but have lost every battle, than win many battles but lose the war.Note: don’t confuse the metaphor of fight and war with “negative engagements with people.” Often times that fight and that battle are in your head.

You and I are absolutely imposters. What’s an imposter?A person who pretends to be what they’re not so as to deceive.I do that all the time.When my brain says that I’m not a writer, I pretend to be one through the act of writing in order to deceive my mind that I am one. When my brain says I’m not a musician, I act like a musician and play music to deceive my brain. When my brain says that I’m not good enough for this job, I act like a person who belongs where they are. I deceive myself regularly.

I live on the edge.I don’t roller coasters. I’m not a thrill seeker.I don’t particularly enjoy activities that might cost me my life. However, I love thinking and subtly working at the edge of culture.If conventional wisdom says one thing, I think about the opposite. If the masses suggest one best practice, I try out things that seem outlandish.Living at the edge of culture gives you the ability to see what others don’t see — possibility.

For you, the leader in an organization.Perhaps the best feelings you can give your team — the belief they have agency.

You end up missing the forest for the trees.Remember to come up for air every now and then.Try not to mix metaphors ;-)

The blank page.Intimidating and inviting.Alluring and appalling.Generous and greedy. Why fight it?“Acceptance is not submission; it is acknowledgement of the facts of a situation, then deciding what you're going to do about it” — Dune.“Resistance is futile.” — The Borg.

You might admire this person on my team. She wrote an email intended for our customers. She made 7 attempts and failed each one. The emails were too long, and didn’t communicate value. She finally nailed it on the 8th try. I admire this person because of their grit. She didn’t want inputs because she wanted the opportunity to get back and try again; each time sharpening herself. She felt surprised to see 8 submissions all together, and nearly 100 back and forth messages. I saw nothing but 8 lessons learned, 8 at bats, 8 moments of resilience — I saw the fight within her. Perhaps you share a few of her traits?