by
Brian Lawrence
Full-time jobs are not for everybody. Sure, to most of the
workforce, they’re seen as amazing opportunities to take care of
expenses and responsibilities and prepare for the future (children,
retirement, your own home, etc.), but they also provide a sense of
security that does nothing for the free-flowing creative, nor the
risk-it-all entrepreneur.
The people in these two categories love the struggle of bootstrapping
businesses and stretching resources to do the impossible, even if they
can’t pay the rent.
Here’s why nine-to-fives have no place in the lives of the super creative:
1. Too Much Structure
If artists have too much structure, especially structure someone else
dictates, they go crazy. I’m not talking about “method-to-the-madness”
crazy, I mean damn-near-killing-people-for-no-reason crazy.
Entrepreneurs and creatives crave the abstract, free flowing of things.
They prefer to have pieces to a puzzle so they can determine which
pieces fit in their lives best. They also don’t mind open spaces in that
puzzle because that’s exactly how they want it.
2. Little To No Flexibility
If a creative can’t decide what to do with his or her time and resources, he or she won’t be a happy camper.
Creatives love when you give them a budget for resources, an abstract
of what you need done and the time in which you need it completed.
They’ll produce awesome work for you afterward. Heck, they’ll even
provide you with a multitude of options to choose from so you won’t ask
them to change anything in a particular piece.
3. Creatives Need To Work At Their Own Pace
Pressure a creative to finish a piece in a time-frame with which he or
she isn’t comfortable, and you better be prepared for a nuclear
explosion.
Work this group completes does not, and usually cannot, have an exact time-stamp.
And, even if he or she can estimate how long it will take to complete
a project, he or she would much rather you trust the project will reach
completion within the specified time-frame.
A creative will also let you know, before knowing your preference, how long he or she feels it will take to do it.
If you don’t like the timeline, a creative has no problem moving on to another client or another struggle.
I can’t imagine holding a corporate position that mandates short deadlines and constant pressures throughout the day.
4. Creatives Crave Autonomy
Creatives
need to have the responsibility for a job they do
left up to them. You need to give them all the requirements for what
needs to happen and, also, the freedom to do it, without constantly
looking over their shoulders.
Trust me, if creatives want help, they’ll either ask for it or Google it.
There’s no point in interrupting the focus of someone in this group.
It will just take a longer time to complete and you may just get sub-par
work. Then, no one is happy.
5. Their Motivation Can’t Be Held To A Certain Time Of Day
Expecting creatives and entrepreneurs to be motivated all throughout
the day is unrealistic. That shouldn’t be expected of anyone, really.
Whereas most workers will try to push through a task even if they
don’t feel like it, the creative will not pick up a task until he or she
knows it’s of interest, then will amps him or herself up to take it
head on.
Things need to get done, I know, but creatives know themselves well
enough to pinpoint when they get motivated, and what to do to get
themselves to that point.
6. Routines Don’t Make Sense To Them
Doing the same thing, or set of things, day-in and day-out, drives creatives nuts.
Creatives prefer to view their days as blocks of time, when they can
have different meetings or complete tasks when it’s convenient for them.
With that in mind, you might think most creatives shirk
responsibility when it doesn’t fit what they like, but they’re quite the
opposite.
Creatives are very committed people. Once they decide to do something, they usually see it through.
7. Most Creatives Prefer To Work In Non-Traditional Industries
Banks, law firms, factories and the typical office aren’t able to
keep this type of person for too long. These environments don’t utilize
the strengths of creatives enough, and so, they get frustrated and work
hard to find ways out of that environment.
Don’t be surprised if these people leave before the probationary period is even up.
Creatives need environments that are comfortable for them. They need
the flexibility to do projects that challenge them with wide autonomy,
so they can keep themselves grounded and focused.
It’s unlikely traditional, full-time jobs cut it for these folks.
by Jo Piazza
by Carolyn Gregoire
by 
