Are You a Creator or an Advancer?

In reading the book of Psalms in the Bible this morning, I see where the artists of the past got their inspiration for the great works they created. It would take them months or years to create ageless works of art. This means they spent months or years thinking about the same three verses from the Bible. Their job was to bring their interpretation of these three verses to life in a painting or sculpture which would impact people for millenniums.

This is also true of writers. They spend months or years on a single concept or simple philosophy. They think deeply about it. They dissect it. They introduce it, present it in detail, and show us how to apply what we’ve learned from them.

Preachers and speakers pick a verse or two or maybe a chapter of the Bible. They pray and think about it. They ask God for his insights. They write it down and prepare what the Holy Spirit leads them to say. This may lead to a series of talks, which then leads to a book.

Entrepreneurs are the same way.

They focus on one problem in one market. They go deep to understand the problem in great detail and its implications on business or society. They spend months to come to an initial solution. The more they understand the problem, the more time is spent designing and creating the solution. Depending on the complexity of the solution, it could take years to get to the commercialization stage. But eventually this stage comes about.

The entrepreneur must then build a company to promote, sell, deliver, and support the product. This process takes years. Building sustainable value takes years. In the midst of commercializing their solution, they realize other businesses are dealing with the problem tangentially.

If the entrepreneur partners with these other businesses, usually big businesses, then the problem is solved in a more expansive manner. It is solved in partnership. When this miracle happens, the solution will endure as a standard for a very long time.

The world treasures people who think deeply on a topic for an extended period of time.

They create timeless assets which only appreciate in value. Their work inspires people to bring new works and companies to life by either using their work as a foundation for new creations or by demonstrating that simple, practical ideas inspire vision which inspires new creations.

This next generation of creators then dedicates their lives to bringing this vision or thought to life for all of us. The new creation changes the world.

The rest of us go about working day to day. Our lot is to advance the creator's original idea or creation, to increase the value of the idea by making it useful to the people for which it was intended. We are the financial backers, the leaders, and the implementors. We need the creators and they need us.

We are either a creator or an advancer.

No one stands alone.