Austin Kleon’s “Steal Like an Artist” champions the art of creative borrowing, advocating for the transformative use of collective knowledge, a concept that resonates with agilists and project managers who thrive on collaboration and iterative learning. The book’s principles mirror agile values, emphasizing action, adaptation, and the significance of constraints as catalysts for innovation.
For the project management arena, Kleon’s insights encourage a streamlined approach to problem-solving, aligning with agile methodologies that prioritize simplicity and value delivery. His work remains a testament to the enduring power of creativity in professional practices, offering a roadmap to harnessing one’s influences and inspirations in project management and beyond.
key takeaways:
- Embrace influence: Use existing ideas as a springboard for your own unique creations.
- Start now: Don’t wait for a perfect understanding of your identity or the perfect moment to begin creating or managing a project.
- Value hobbies: Side projects can inform and enrich your main work.
- Share your work: Doing good work isn’t enough; share it with the world to create impact.
- Embrace constraints: Limitations can breed creativity and innovation.
notable quotes:
“Draw the art you want to see, start the business you want to run, play the music you want to hear, write the books you want to read, build the products you want to use—do the work you want to see done.”
“Not everybody will get it. People will misinterpret you and what you do. They might even call you names. So get comfortable with being misunderstood, disparaged, or ignored—the trick is to be too busy doing your work to care”