Creativity and Business: A Good and Necessary Coexistence

Let’s be honest.

Business acumen and creative insight are often considered separate spheres that overlap only occasionally. It’s a common occurrence for, say, a financial analyst and a website designer, each pondering the other’s job description, to exclaim, “I could never do what you do!” And they might be right.

Personal inclinations aside, however, business and creativity belong together. What ad campaign doesn’t have as its goal an increase in sales? What artist doesn’t hope to draw some kind of income from his paintings? Who ever heard of a musician who doesn’t care whether people buy her music? And don’t product designers yearn for fanatically loyal customers, who can’t wait to get their hands on the latest version?

Don’t get me wrong. We right-brain creative types are motivated by more than profit. We love crafting things. We’re energized by the creative process. We’re bursting with the need to express ourselves. And, since there is no such thing as too much beauty or clarity in the world, we feel compelled to keep both flowing.

Yet, I think most of us realize that if what we create connects with people, they’ll buy it. The just-right creative message crafted on behalf of business should benefit that business’s bottom line. So, business sense and artistic sensibility really can, and should, coexist happily. It’s possible for the manager and the muse to play nice. Sometimes, the two even reside in the same person.

As a right-brain type, I don’t think the bottom line should drive each and every creative decision like a whip-wielding taskmaster. On the other hand, we should never embark on a creative adventure without a business compass.