Being Chuck

That title is slightly [read: extraordinarily] contradictory to the content of this post. And you will figure that out as you read on.

I’m reading Tribes by Seth Godin. It’s amazing. And he just presented an idea that related (somewhat) to a post I wrote (“My Rights”) referencing The Shack.

In a minute you will note the irony of the references/credits I’m dropping.

Please read:

I’m frequently asked about getting credit. People want to know how to be sure they get credit for an idea, especially when they have a boss who wants to steal it. Or they want to know how to be sure to give me credit for an idea in a book or blog post of their own.

Real leaders don’t care.

If it’s about your mission, about spreading the faith, about seeing something happen, not only do you not care about credit, you actually want [emphasis added] other people to take credit [to use it].

If you want to program your Web site with the cutting-edge tool called Ruby on Rails, feel free. The software is freely available. And you don’t have to credit the guys at 37 Signals who developed it. You can just use it.

That’s fine with them, because they’re not trying to get credit or earn a living from the programming language. Enough people know it was their work; enough people seek them out and respect them for the work they’ve done. The more the language spreads, the farther the movement they started goes. And that’s the real goal.

There’s no record of Martin Luther King, Jr. or Ghandi whining about credit. Credit isn’t the point. Change is.

This struck a chord with me. Obviously. Hence the post…

Now you probably grab the irony of me referencing Seth Godin and The Shack.

What a marvelous idea!

I have heard countless people whine about getting credit for an idea. I’m probably one of them. And I’m beginning to work (albeit part-time) in an industry where people can sue for infringing upon the rights of “intellectual property.”

Why? Can I really own an idea?

Let’s say I come up with a new way to communicate. Or maybe I figure out a way to treat a disease that is radical and effective. Do I own that?

In one sense it “originated” with me, but at the same time, I am only able to stand and build and create upon the shoulders of those who have gone there before me. I use inspiration and ideas from people who have been there, and done that.

This may not sit well with musicians, artists, and inventors, and it probably won’t be a favorite idea of book writers and innovators. But guess what? I’m not the first one to say it.

What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.

-Ecclesiastes 1:9

Oops! I let the cat out of the bag.

I think this idea suddenly struck with me because I am in classes at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh Online, and one of the subjects broached most often is how to keep people from “stealing” ideas.

“How do I keep a hold on my intellectual property?”

“How do I stop somebody from stealing my stuff?”

But what’s funny is that if you ask the people in my classes (or any other creative professional for that matter) why they got started in design/art/music, what would their answer be?

“I liked it. I wanted to do that. I wanted to contribute. I wanted to further the art. I wanted to express myself.”

I doubt many musicians/artists/inventors/innovators got into their respective field to make money. Their ultimate goal wasn’t to make money. Because if your ultimate goal is to make money, those fields aren’t the best way to do that.

If my goal is to express myself or further the craft or bring a new perspective or a new idea, then bringing that idea is all I need to do. And if it’s worth keeping or using, if people really appreciate it, they’ll find out who made it.

The only reason I feel a need to get credit is when I want to be able to hold on to something.

It’s mine.

But wasn’t the original goal to share?

Well yeah, but…

That’s not where we started. Don’t tell me your goal is furthering the craft if your goal is to make money. Don’t tell me you want people to appreciate art through what you do if you’ll only allow people to appreciate what you’ve done after they pay some arbitrary amount of money.

I’m not saying people who are creative shouldn’t get paid for what they do. I get paid for graphic design and web design and consulting on both. But I also offer those services for much cheaper than most (if not all) of my colleagues, if it’s not for free.

And if someone steals my stuff, if they use a picture I created, if they steal code from a site I designed, or an idea of how to use something, then I know they liked what I did. They thought enough of something I made to use it again.

AWESOME!

I have furthered the art.

Now, that doesn’t mean a small part of me won’t scream for credit, but if my goal (through Relevant Design & Consulting [my "new" part-time/side business, website coming soon, shameless plug]) is to help people connect who they are with who needs their message, service, or product, and someone else uses that stuff I made, “my stuff,” to do that (whether they pay me, reference me, or not), then I have succeeded, and the world is becoming a better visualized place.

I am going to have to keep working on that small part of me. When it screams, it does so loudly. That selfish part of my psyche that wants attention and credit (and money) will always have a part of me, but I am the one who chooses which part of me gets to use my mouth.