This one’s for newbies and those of us leveling up into new heights…

There once was a time when creative and technical and executive were not supposed to co-mingle in a business. Art in business? Artisan business? Hell, co-mingle? They weren’t even supposed to inhabit the same place. That far away time was… today. No, really. I’m dead serious. With the exception of craft brewers and micro-lot coffee roasters, lots of folks have a hard time reconciling creative passion, technical skill, and business savvy. But guess what? Too much right brain makes you so lopsided you spin in circles, too much left brain leaves you loopy, and too much trying to control everything makes for kinda crazy.

A blended approach is good. Play to your strengths, for sure, (after all you wouldn’t go into business selling hand-wound rainbow colored guitar strings if you’re gaga over gluten-free goodies, would you?) and develop some muscles where you need to beef up. Take some time yourself (without sinking your ship), and staff up. Not either/or. Going it alone sucks.

Relationships can be scary and infuriating, but the most killer grooves are built from complementary players riffing together, feeding each other and feeding off of one another’s energies and insights. Partnerships, contractors, employees: Don’t get too many just like you. And don’t always be the smartest one in the room. You can’t help being the smartest one sometimes, but don’t go out of your way to surround yourself with predetermined “subordinates”.  Delegation shouldn’t be a demeaning thing or a sentence.

Very successful rewarding endeavors strive to bring art, craft, and business together in the commission of a larger vision. What’s your take?