I recently had an epiphany as I observed a group of art students from the Ringling College of Art and Design located in Sarasota, Florida. They were sketching a tree that is growing outside one of the campus buildings. The students were standing, sitting, and kneeling on the ground, on stairs, on ledges around the tree. Some were in the shade, others in the bright sunlight. As I walked by the students, I glanced at their sketches and I was amazed at how different each of the sketches looked. They were sketching the same tree at the same time, yet every one of the sketches was the result of the individual artist’s perspective.
Seeing the sketches made me realize how often businesses apply the same basic perspective when they frame and attempt to address opportunities, problems, etc. This is especially the case when a single functional business unit (e.g., marketing, finance, information technology, etc.) assembles a team to “tackle a problem”. They are most likely going to frame the problem from the same perspective. “Thinking like an artist” may be as simple as assembling a cross-functional team to get various perspectives. IDEO, the famous design firm located in Silicon Valley assembles multi-disciplinary teams (i.e., engineers, sociologists, anthropologists, industrial designers, etc.) when tackling a new assignment. Their approach ensures that there will be a number of different perspectives when they frame the problem, need, opportunity, etc.
One final perspective that many companies leave out is the customer’s perspective. This can have significant impact on how a problem (or opportunity) is framed and ultimately, the success of the solution. This is a primary reason that designers focus on “human-centered design” as a critical component of their approach (i.e., design thinking, service design, user experience). Next time you are addressing a problem or opportunity in your business, it might be worthwhile to adopt the artist’s focus on including different perspectives in their creative process.