business committee for the arts

Fourth Annual
Forum for New Ideas
A program of the Business Committee for the Arts, Inc. (BCA), in collaboration with the Corporate Design Foundation (CDF)

October 10, 2006
Rubin Museum of Art
New York, NY

National Sponsor:


Design Sponsor:
AD Lubow, LLC

Moderator:
Robert MacNeil
Award-winning journalist and commentator

Panelists:
Chris Abele
Chairman
Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra

Ayse Birsel
Principal
Birsel + Seck

Robyn Waters
Founder and President
R W Trend LLC

Excerpts:
Robert MacNeil
Award-winning journalist and commentator

“The United States was the first great nation to create itself and it’s gone on living in a ferment of creativity ever since – social, scientific, technological, and artistic.  To remain so in a fast, more competitive world, Americans will have to re-stimulate the creative spirit in all fields.

Creativity is coming to seem less and less like a luxury for American business as global competition shakes our complacency about the inevitability of America’s leadership.

To give us some insight into how business may do this, we have a lively panel of presenters.  Each of them is noted for bringing fresh and revolutionary ideas to change thinking in business and the arts.”

Robyn Waters
Founder and President, R W Trend LLC

“The paradox, 'Expect more.  Pay less.' defined what Target has done.

We took the high end department store world and the low end discount world and created a whole new retail landscape.  We became the upscale discounter.  That’s a paradox….  The idea that you could achieve this paradox was pretty revolutionary at the time.

The whole idea of tracking trends and translating them into sales and profits was pretty easy to do initially, but somewhere around the late 90s, the idea changed.  I began to think after years in the retail world, that looking for the next big thing was no longer valid.  I had to reframe the idea into something different.  So that’s when I wrote my first book, The Trend Master’s Guide, that shows everyone how to track trends and translate them into sales and profit.

That ultimately became what I call trends from the inside out theory…  I was very flattered to find my philosophy on Starbucks cups around the world. 
‘Trends are sign posts and indicators pointing to what is going on in the hearts and minds of your customers.  These days, if you want to be on trend, it is more important to figure out what is important, not just what is next.’

This is how I chose to reframe the trend landscape.

As I was leaving the corporate world, the trend in business was six sigma – taking things out of the equation – costs, defects, about finding one bright way, the best method, it was also about analysis – to figure out what you were going to do next.  I felt that idea had to be reframed.  We had a right side of the brain that we should all be using.

I’m a huge fan of Daniel Pink’s book, A Whole New Mind.  He says a new conceptual age is dawning.  He calls it an age of art and heart.  He suggests that businesses today have to learn to rely on what we like to call 'whole brain thinking’.  Businesses need the left brain skills – the linear, logical, analytical side of the equation, but they have to learn to rely on creative and intuitive skills.  That relates well to the world of art.  So the whole idea of using the right side of the brain, which is what art does so well – using emotion and recognizing and seeing the big picture relationships – can be brought to the world of business.

The big take away from this book is using the whole brain – the left and the right side – is the way to success in the conceptual age for business and for the arts.

As a trend master, I am often asked to predict the next big thing.  I say I do not have the answer to this question.  It’s not the trend itself that is important.  What is important is how a trend meshes with the paradoxical, often counter-intuitive desires of the customer that matters – which is what I explore in my new book, The Hummer and the Mini.

Opposites bring fresh ideas to the surface.  There are no rules anymore.  Or the things we thought were rules have been broken.  That’s good because today we have a sizophrenic consumer.  I like to quote F. Scott Fitzgerald – ‘The test of a first-class mind is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in the head at the same time and still be able to function.’  That’s what I think business and the arts have to do today...  We need to look at both ends of the spectrum and somewhere in the middle, as we churn, is where we will find the answers….

In thinking about art, art is typically about thinking differently.  It is the great artists of the world who have inspired us to do just that.  Art can inform our culture.  Art can give meaning to our history.  Art can enliven our cities.  Art enables cultural understanding.  Art inspires us and it humanizes us.  Art takes risks.  Art allows us a prime opportunity to walk in other worlds, to get out of our box and to consider other worlds and explore important issues from a new perspective.

The benefit of the arts lies in that they help business reframe its perspective, but what may be less apparent is how business can benefit the arts besides contributing….  These days it is not enough for arts organizations to pursue status quo solutions to the challenges they face.  Arts organizations have to make their happenings true destination events, just as retail has leveraged the idea of “retailtainment”….  The business community - with its rich resources and its deep marketing and branding experience - might be able to support some new answers to old questions in the art world and help us all reframe how we bring the two together.

So just as business can bring support to the arts, art can bring heart to business.  I believe it is possible for business to do good and make money at the same time.  I call it social capitalism.  I refer to this as a the ultimate paradox.  I think it is time for businesses to do more than to offer financial support…. They have to help the arts reframe the paradigm.”

Chris Abele
Chairman, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra

“Life without art is a life diminished.  Art inspires.

I’m 39, but in Board years, I’m probably about 450!  I’ve made lots of mistakes – big, spectacular mistakes – but I’ve generally learned from them.  I’ve gotten a few things right…  I love new practices, new fields, and the cross fertilization of ideas. 

Why serve on a Board instead of giving a check?  Support is crucial, but if you want to make a big difference, the best way to get your hand on the steering wheel is on the Board.  Boards allow you to make big change. They allow you to learn. They allow you to lead effectively.  When I got involved with the Milwaukee Symphony, I had been asked many times for support.  One of the reasons I had not supported it was because the director was in no danger of winning the Mr. Congeniality Award.  He was a bright guy, talented guy, but he was emblematic of the field – he had a sense of entitlement.

A friend of mine became Board Chair and asked me for support.  At first I said I would not join the Board, but I would pay for a search firm to find a new Executive Director.  The most important variable in any organization is leadership.  In my Venture Capital business, I arrived at a rule – given the choice, it is better to invest in A+ leadership and a C- idea, than C- leadership and an A+ idea.  A+ leadership will make it a good idea.  C- leadership will drive thing into the ground.  They took me up on my offer and we hired a new 29 year old director.  This was extremely young for someone running a symphony orchestra.  He is extremely ambitious, extremely bright, and he listens.  He asks a lot of questions.  He knows what he doesn’t know.  He asked me to Chair the Board… One thing crucial on a Board is peer dynamics.  One way to make lots of the wrong waves it to bring someone off the Board onto the Board and ask them to chair it.  I was very uncomfortable.  I met with everyone on the Board, told them I was uncomfortable about this, and I did not want to Chair the Board unless others were comfortable.  They were comfortable.  I joined the Board and accepted the Chair.  I don’t claim to have all the answers or the absolute solution to approach a problem, but I do have a process that has been reasonably effective.  It is not rocket science.  It is basic.  First, understand the system – the field, the arts, metrics, the most common variables in symphonies, in other arts organizations.  What are the trends in the field?   Understand everything.  Ask and ask and ask.

Second, plan.  Set goals, set metrics.  Put concrete systems in place, but be dynamic.  Build in flexibility.  This is important.  Things change and people are hesitant to make change. 

A third - a Board is important.  Bring in good people who understand and have a buy-in to the plan, the cause, and have passion about the organization.  It is important in a turn-around to believe it can happen.

Being aware of risk is extremely important, but it can also be paralyzing.  There is no such thing as perfect initial conditions….  When people start do they know that they have all the answers?  No.  But people have to trust their ability to adapt.  The nice thing about duress is it is pretext.  People are a lot more open to new and different ideas.  When an organization is under duress, the ideas are not new to the organizations.  What’s new is the ability to do it and have it accepted.

Symphonies have a bit a of reputation for barnacle-like adherence to precedent.  We need to do it this way because that’s what we have always done it.  It’s interesting how powerful that can be…

There is nothing worse in a group than people who tell you it won’t work and can’t be done.  It’s not conducive to good problem-solving.

The perceived solution to getting things done is rarely the best solution.  In a field that has not had enough change, looking outside the field is what is needed.

Symphonies and the arts have a great story to tell…

At the Milwaukee Symphony we asked ourselves what is the best way – not what others are doing – to get people in to the hall.

One of the first things I did once I joined the Board was to look at returns on investment by department.  We cut and shifted things for better return.  The number one thing about the hall - fill it up…. It is a better background condition against which to fundraise.  We cross-marketed like crazy….  We changed our image… We showed young people playing instruments.  We wanted people to be passionate.  We differentiate ourselves.  We offer something distinctively different – the collective experience of having 2,000 people standing on their feet and cheering – a common experience that is not like listening to your stereo in the car.  It contributes to the dialogue.  We had musicians socialize before and after the concerts,  and we had fun.  We let people know this isn’t something inaccessible.  We did speed dating in the lobby before a concert.  We attracted 1,500 people who had never been to a concert.  The hard part is getting people in the hall… Once we get them in, I like the odds of getting them back.  Bringing more people on board is good.  They bring new ideas.

It is not good enough for the arts to go to business and say ‘We are important, we matter’.  That’s entitlement.  We started going to people and saying if you are recruiting and you have some hot-shot candidates, let us know.  We will bring them to a concert, backstage, and introduce them to the conductor.  Businesses would ask what we would charge to do this.  We said nothing.  That’s what we owe you. We want to earn your support.”

Ayse Birsel
Principal, Birsel + Seck

“Often you need to believe in things you cannot quantify.  Believe in inspiration, miracles…. You find inspiration in some unexpected places.  Nature might be your guide….  Try something that has not been tried before….

…Design is the place where creativity and business merge.  If you don’t have leadership behind design, you don’t stand a chance.  They have to be willing to suspend their suspicions about whether something will work….

To be able to break the box – it is sometimes as simple as listening and thinking.  You need a little help from your friends to be different….

The process of product design for the most complex to the lyrical – from the biggest to the smallest – the process is the same.  It involves bringing the business needs and innovation together….  You have to think about people performing in an environment.  You have to have empathy for the user.  You have to put yourself in the position of the user.  You have to put the user at the center of the experience, and ask ‘What is most important to the user?’”