Business as an art form
By John Ribbler March 4, 2009
Succeeding in business depends more on imagination than performing tasks or managing money.
As an artist, Henry Ford's canvas was the factory.
The ages have produced many artists, writers and musicians, but very few masters on the level of Michelangelo, Mozart or Mark Twain. The same is true in business, but even more so.
While most of us toil in the arenas of commerce — often aspiring to greatness — only a handful of people have a lasting impact on the way goods and services are produced. Henry Ford, John D. Rockefeller, Harold Geneen, and Sam Walton are a few who come to mind. Like many artistic geniuses, these business people did not set out to change the world. To this day, no one knows how imagination really works.
WalMart founder Sam Walton changed the nation's landscape more thoroughly than any architect.
The difference between the creative geniuses in the arts and business and the rest of us is that they combined solid fundamental skills with imagination to develop new ways of doing things. The results of their visions have been studied and imitated.
I believe each business person must define and promote something unique about the work he or she delivers. For the long run, that is what every business has to do to compete and survive. If you agree, and would like some help leveraging your unique value, please contact me.