Book Review: "Creative Careers"

I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy of Jeff Madoff's new book, released today, Creative Careers: Make a Living With Your Ideas, which was published by Hachette. Madoff is an adjunct professor at Parsons School for Design and the founder of Madoff Productions based in New York City. He teaches and advises creative thinking, strategy, and collaboration to many of the world's most successful creatives and entrepreneurs.

His book did not disappoint. Here are four of my favorite ideas from the book:

1. Invest in relationships: Madoff speaks at length about the importance of relationships when it comes to creative careers and success. "Investing" in relationships may seem like an odd or foreign idea to some. You can invest in the stock market. You can invest in real estate. But how many people actually "invest" in specific relationships? Investing in this sense has a few meanings: Literally spending your own money to have access and mentoring from specific people, those you want to work with. But also, investing your time and energy into those relationships. In other words, being transformation-based rather than transaction-based. During my Ph.D. research, I found that "investing money" was one of the crucial turning points in an entrepreneur's journey. Often, the difference between wannabes and those who succeed is investing money into your goals, relationships, and education.
2. Finding the right collaborators: Madoff provides many great ideas about finding the right collaborators, and not being afraid of differences in opinion and perspective. His ideas resonate with research on diversity, which shows that you want differences to mesh and blend, wherein the whole becomes different from the sum of parts. Sometimes, really different. But in order to do so, all parties need to be open to new experiences, open to new ideas, and not fixed in their perspectives. This resonates with the research from Harvard psychologist, Robert Kegan, who found that those in the highest collaborative relationships, what he called the "transforming self" stage of development, had a worldview but weren't fixed in that worldview. Moreover, these types of people enter relationships for the purpose of growth and change.
3. Determining your value: Madoff helps his readers and students raise their sights and vision for what is possible for them. "A bottle of water sells for ninety-nine cents in a store. Is that what it is worth? Value is determined by context and the 'given circumstances,'” he states in the book. He then helps you re-think your current "rates" and how you can elevate them. Pricing is all about psychology and perceived value, and how you position yourself as a creative could mean the difference of being a starving artist or a millionaire.
4. Keep on going: Madoff has been at this game for a long-time. You can tell he's worked with people for many decades. A "creative career" is not for the faint-of-heart. You'll have many failures along the way. You'll question yourself. You'll be forced to go deep into your own psychology and emotions if your "art" or creations are really going to connect at the deepest level. Seth Godin, the famous marketing writer, agreed when he stated, “Art isn’t only a painting. Art is anything that’s creative, passionate, and personal. An artist is someone who uses bravery, insight, creativity, and boldness to challenge the status quo. Art is a personal gift that changes the recipient. The medium doesn’t matter. The intent does. Art is a personal act of courage, something one human does that creates change in another.”

Conclusion

I personally found this book to be refreshing and filled with many gems. Madoff has worked with and taught many of my own creative heroes. I was glad to read this book. For anyone looking to build a creative career, this book could help.