Creativity

Antoun Nabham, inspired by ‘And I Cannot Lie’: The Oral History of Sir Mix-a-Lot’s ‘Baby Got Back’ Video, observes:

It's striking how the creation stories of great pieces of commercial art tend to share features:

1. Have a principled mission
2. Have a small team of committed people who have enough experience to at least know what excellence feels like when it's in the process of creation
3. Have a strong leader with final authority over the artistic vision, and at least one highly trusted advisor who can change that person's mind when necessary.

Serendipity is an emergent property of certain starting conditions.

You'd think that folks in the culture industries would structure things this way as a matter of course, but actually creating these conditions turns out to require a visionary with will and clout.