Scott Belsky tells all
Entrepreneur and organisation guru Scott Belsky takes time out his busy schedule to answer a few questions. He gives us the low down on his new book, and what inspired him to create Behance 'the creative professional's platform'.
What is your background in the creative industries?
I did study some design as an undergrad, and I always had a fascination with business and the creative industries. There are two things that really inspired me to start Behance:
(1) The stuff that makes our lives interesting - the art, the design, and all of the original content - is all created by the creative professional community. But, unfortunately, creatives in particular face unique obstacles when it comes to actually making their ideas happen.
(2) There is SO MUCH discussion in the creative world about inspiration and creativity, but very little discussion about organization and execution. I found this VERY frustrating. It seemed that creative professionals would become more effective - and thus benefit society even more - with assistance on execution, efficient self-promotion, and organization.
I was fortunate enough to meet Matias Corea, our Chief of Design, in the early days of the idea. Together, we discussed the role of design in solving these frustrations and created Behance with a very specific mission: To organize the creative world. We are not trying to increase creativity. On the contrary, we are trying to help creative leaders harness their own creativity and actually make ideas happen.
What inspired you to create the thriving 'creative professional's platform' Behance?
Our goal with the Behance Network was to maximize exposure and help organize the creative world's work. When we interview some of the world's leading recruiters and agencies, they complain about typical "portfolio sites" and how difficult it is to organize and navigate creative talent. We developed Behance.net to be a neutral, powerful platform that organizes creative work based on location, field, and - to some degree - quality.
Behance.net is NOT designed to be a "social network." We don't use the word "friends" in Behance. Instead, the platform is designed to push careers forward. When you add a new project to your portfolio, it is automatically displayed in any other network you are a part of (such as Linkedin, AIGA or MTV) as well as other galleries, circles, and collections across the web. You maintain complete control and ownership of your work, you select privacy and copyright settings, and you are always associated with your content.
We have already received incredible success stories from members who report "career-changing opportunities" that resulted from the Behance.net platform. And, we have some incredible new features and partnerships in the pipeline that will bring Behance.net to a new level.
As well as running Behance you also have also written a book called 'Making things happen'. Can you tell us a little bit about the book, and why you wrote it?
For over five years I have been obsessed with execution and organization in the creative world. It is frustrating that the people with the most ideas often suffer the greatest obstacles to making them happen.
And of course, the truth is that most ideas never happen.
But I also found exceptions - people and teams that somehow defy the odds and execute their ideas, time and time again. During the research, my team and I spoke with people like author Chris Anderson, designer Stefan Sagmeister, RISD president John Maeda, and Zappo’s CEO Tony Hsieh - as well as leaders at companies like Google, IDEO, and Disney.
I realized that the forces behind great execution are accessible to all of us. It turns out that we should focus less energy on searching for the best ideas and more on organization and leading ideas to fruition.
My book summarizes the methods, insights, and best practices that I observed among the most productive creative people and teams across industries. The book is called Making Ideas Happen: Overcoming the Obstacles Between Vision & Reality (Portfolio, Penguin Books) and was published in April. Check it out at http://the99percent.com/book.
I hope that the book prompts some serious discussion and introspection around execution and how creative people and teams should operate to make ideas happen.
Have you always been driven to succeed, or is it something you've learnt?
I have always had an insatiable curiosity and a tremendous amount of impatience. I think it's a great combination.
Did you have to overcome many obstacles in achieving your success, and how did you deal with these?
Many many many. Every creative endeavour is moment of inspirational bliss followed by lots and lots of work - and endless obstacles. I have dealt with them by assembling an amazing team to participate in our creative pursuits...
What advice can you give to someone who is trying to realise their creative dreams?
Start with little actions. Everything grand can be broken down into small phrases that start with verbs, otherwise known as tasks. Worship tasks.
Do you have any up and coming projects you wish to talk about?
I would tell you but then i'd have to... ;-)
Our team is extremely excited about our pipeline of projects under development. All I can say is that we are very focused on helping organize the creative world's work and empowering the careers of creative professionals. We believe that the platform will thrive as long as we remain the leading source of new opportunities for the most talented creative people and teams on the planet.
A big thank you to Scott for his insightful and well thought out answers. Why not hop on over to Behance and see what all the fuss is about!
