Surf’s Up, Condensed: Top Creativity Links for March 22, 2011

Photo courtesy of SXC.

If Art’s Your Medicine, What’s Your Dosage? | MildlyCreative.com
Ken of Mildly Creative blog points out the dangers of becoming an “artaholic” and using creative pursuits like a drug to cover up pain in other parts of life.

Symposium on entrepreneurship and the arts: Creating Infrastructure for Creativity and Innovation
This April 1-2 gathering, hosted by the p.a.v.e. (Performing Arts Venture Experience) initiative of the School of Theatre and Film (a part of the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts) at Arizona State University, is focused on encouraging artists to think and act more entrepreneurially. All events are free and open to the public, but registration is required.

Creative Careers: 12 Inspiring Career Guides for Creative People | Lateral Action
Mark McGuinness posts a list of a dozen books that speak directly to the challenges of today’s creatives, who may be pursuing a variety of traditionally artistic disciplines or modern-day pursuits that require non-traditional approaches to vocational issues.

My personal favorites from Mark’s list of recommendations include: Creating A Life Worth Living (Carol Lloyd), Linchpin (Seth Godin), The 4-Hour Work Week (Tim Ferriss) and Escape From Cubicle Nation (Pamela Slim).

Change This – The Reinvention Imperative
Daniel Burrus and John David Mann argue that the rate of change, and even change itself, have morphed and accelerated recently and that businesses can only achieve stability by accepting reinvention and innovation as a permanent state of being. They say: “In the past, reinvention was an option. Today it is an imperative.”

Everybody an artist? | Creativity | Wendelberger
Dr. Axel Wendelberger, an art historian, graphic designer and blogger, asserts, in reaction to a news story in which business tycoon Warren Buffett called himself an artist, that using that word to describe anyone outside of traditional art-making is just *wrong*.
He writes: “If what made Warren Buffett so successful can be called a more holistic, creative way of doing business may be judged by someone else. But he still doesn’t qualify as an artist.”

20 Ways to Get Feedback on Your New Idea
Mitch Ditkoff of the Heart of Innovation blog offers 20 phrases you can use to solicit feedback on creative ideas and move them forward. I like the emphasis placed on getting out there and pitching to friendly folks, as well as the casual way most of these are phrased.