Artists have built for themselves, or had built for them, this stereotype of absent-minded creative abandon.  Whether it’s the writer who forgets to eat, drink, or sleep while coming across the next plot point or the painter who can’t find where their paintings are in their over-stuffed house, artists are seen as thriving in creative chaos.

Then, of course, there are the complete opposite: artists for whom every line, every note, is in it’s exact place.  But even they may have drawers and drawers of highly organized pieces of work that never actually go anywhere.

Scott Belsky wrote “Making Ideas Happen” because he has “always been a bit frustrated with creativity.  I would get impatient watching colleagues and friends come up with great ideas only to become distracted by other ideas and the general demands of life.  I found the poor odds that anyone would actually follow through with an idea very upsetting” (p. 4).

Throughout the book, Belsky describes many ways to make ideas happen: finding the right community and learning how to reach out to them, turning an idea into a series of achievable actions, getting through the project plateau, and learning how to lead your own creative sensibilities are just some of the ways.  In summary:

making ideas happem = (the idea) + organization and execution + forces of community + leadership capability

Already in my discussions I’ve heard mixed responses from people I know.  Artists who think his work sounds great, administrators who laugh at the idea of creativity being organized, and also artists who think that organizing creativity would kill it.  Belsky addresses these points any many more in his book.  It’s not for everyone, but if it’s for you it’s really for you.

Check out some of the ideas that Belsky has made happen:

Behance, an online platform for creative professionals to share ideas

99U, a conference that shifts the focus form idea generation to idea execution

And, of course, the book itself: Making Ideas Happen