Creative People Say "No"

freebooks · Post by **freebooks** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 8:21 pm

Certainly applies to ERE types:
A Hungarian psychology professor once wrote to famous creators asking them to be interviewed for a book he was writing. One of the most interesting things about his project was how many people said “no.”
Management writer Peter Drucker: “One of the secrets of productivity (in which I believe whereas I do not believe in creativity) is to have a VERY BIG waste paper basket to take care of ALL invitations such as yours — productivity in my experience consists of NOT doing anything that helps the work of other people but to spend all one’s time on the work the Good Lord has fitted one to do, and to do well.”
https://medium.com/design-thinking-1/bad7c34842a2

Post by **jacob** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 9:02 pm

http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html

secretwealth · Post by **secretwealth** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 10:46 pm

As someone who frequently interviews people for articles, I can confirm people usually say "no."

dot_com_vet · Post by **dot_com_vet** » Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:00 am

There is a website I run that used to have a "contact" link at the bottom of every page.
It made it too easy for people to send questions that took a lot of time to sort out, but weren't giving us any business.
I changed it to a single contact page located one layer deep on the site. So far it's working great as an automatic filter for non-productive requests.

Post by **jacob** » Sun Jun 23, 2013 2:32 pm

Another problem is the pyramid-like hierarchy involved in fame (also hotness, smartness, fitness,...). In general, you'll have the most success contacting people one step above you. The reason is that you yourself are famous enough to be known by them. This creates a selection-mechanism. People at the top get hundreds (thousands?) of requests per day. They have to say no to most of them otherwise they'd never get anything done---except those who are "famous for being famous" and aren't actually doing much of anything beyond that.
Caveat: Some of them will actually say yes to "unknowns" on occasion. For those who are good at engaging people, this can be a big source of leverage.

freebooks · Post by **freebooks** » Sun Jun 23, 2013 2:57 pm

Maker's Schedule is very interesting. I don't like management aspects of a job and prefer the making/creation. I thought this was just because I was lazy or something, but I can get a lot done on the creation side if distractions are eliminated and I have at least a few hours to focus. I hate having schedules, like knowing there is a phone call scheduled for 4pm distracts me the whole day.

Jpsilver · Post by **Jpsilver** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 11:17 am

Cool post.
Doesn't this line of thought coincide with that of careerism? I mean, it's like your awake time is fully allocated to your 'art' (which in fact is something I appreciate).
The vibe I get from the anti-careerism post in the blog is that it is anti-ERE. Maybe I don't understand the term 'careerism'. Is it only considered careerism when your goals are shallow, like going from Junior Bureaucrat to Senior Bureaucrat, and not when your goal is, say, to win a Nobel prize?

freebooks · Post by **freebooks** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 4:18 pm

I think it is a distinction that isn't always apparent on the surface, but is actually a complete mental shift. Shifting strategy, but actual tactics implementation depend on the individual. So a great composer could perhaps understand the ERE philosophy and realize he doesn't need to sell insurance for the next 40 years and only try to compose when he's 60 and lost most of his passion, but instead could free up his time immediately and begin writing great symphonies.