亚博体育官网

Some of the most astute business brains are artists. Having worked equally with artists and businesspeople across my professional career, I am so convinced by this that I believe many companies would benefit from having an artist on their board or in their senior management team. 

Artists see the world in a very different way. Have a coffee with one in a caf茅 and you will notice their fascination with the interactions of those around them. Going for a walk with one is a fascinating experience. They might鈥攚ithout skipping a beat鈥攕toop down to pick up a feather or interesting stone that may or may not be useful for an artwork. They will stop and peer at an interesting detail and, if provided the luxury of time, conjure a sketchbook from somewhere to capture the moment. 

This is not an innate ability they have, but a skill they have developed: they have learned to see. That ability is vital in business鈥攖o always be unconsciously looking and able to notice the subtle changes in the market or a sudden anomaly in customer behaviour. 

Not only do artists have an ability to notice these tiny details, they can simultaneously zoom out to see the big picture. So good are they at doing this鈥攃reating mental images of an entire suite of artworks while also thinking about the minutiae of their creation鈥攖hat they are some of the best systems thinkers around. Hand in hand with this ability to understand the complexity of the world, they are able to identify the contradictions, weak links, and redundant parts of a work鈥攐r indeed a business鈥攚ith forensic accuracy. 

Unlike a traditional consultant鈥攚ho might identify the problem but not the solution, or proffer a solution to the wrong problem鈥攁rtists can identify the problems and invent multiple ways of solving them. For every successful artwork, there are countless iterations, sketches, and models along the way. Artists know they are unlikely to get it right first time and work through countless prototypes as part of their process before they settle on the final piece. 

Over the past decade, innovative businesses have started to embrace the value of visual thinking: of adopting techniques drawn from the worlds of art and design. But, there is still much benefit to working more closely with artists. To celebrate Unesco World Art Day 2022, businesses should head to the galleries, studios, and art schools around the world to experience how artists see and think. Their art may challenge, comfort, enrich, enrage, or even confuse, but they will certainly help businesses to see the world in very different ways. 

Here in Aberdeen, we have one of the country鈥檚 greatest collections of contemporary art鈥攊n the award-winning, refurbished Aberdeen Art Gallery鈥攁nd one of the oldest established fine-art institutions in Scotland: Gray鈥檚 School of Art at the Robert Gordon University. But, we should not restrict the power of art to the gallery. Fashion designer Sir Paul Smith has embraced the mindset of the artist to grow a business worth hundreds of millions of pounds while retaining critical acclaim. Adopting the artist鈥檚 mindset, he understands that 鈥測ou can find inspiration in everything鈥攁nd if you can鈥檛, look again鈥�. Wise words indeed.