The best thing I heard this week was “Steal Like an Entrepreneur with Austin Kleon” on the podcast Unemployable with Brian Clark. I subscribed to the Unemployable podcast a few months ago because I really enjoy the guests that Brian Clark invites, and love the conversations that come from them. As you might have guessed by the title, the podcast is about entrepreneurism and all kinds of people who work for themselves. This week’s episode featured author and artist Austin Kleon, and it ended up being my favorite listen from this week.
Brian invited Austin Kleon to join him to discuss the concept of “stealing” to create new ideas. This is a great topic because Kleon wrote the book “Steal Like an Artist”, which just happens to be on my 2016 reading list. I didn’t know much about it before I put it on my list, other than I had heard a few people recommend it, and of course, I like the cover design which is a key indicator for me. Superficial, but it usually works. Now that I’ve heard this podcast episode with Austin, I am even more convinced that I will enjoy reading “Steal Like an Artist” soon.
The premise of Austin Kleon’s book and the discussion he had with Brian Clark was to uncover what it really means to “steal” from others’ to create new work. It sounds counterintuitive because traditionally the thought is that to be original or creative your idea should be completely original. The discussion dives into the fact that there really are no truly original ideas. Pretty much all ideas are a product of the ideas that came before it. They cover several examples from history of people who took an idea they had been exposed to, and used it as a launching pad to create something new. For example, Henry Ford getting the idea for the assembly line from processes he saw used in a meatpacking factory. Original ideas coming from ideas that came before. Here’s a great list from Kleon’s website to illustrate the concept further and how to do it correctly.
I really enjoyed how Brian Clark and Austin Kleon covered this topic. To be inspired you have to constantly be seeking inspiration. It’s like filling a well that will be full and fresh when you are ready to dip into it. I definitely recommend taking a listen and let me know what you think!
