vance brown Archives - Aaron McHugh

Take More Time Explaining Your Art

Take your time assessing what you created.

Take your time explaining the beauty of your art, so we can absorb the magnitude of your creation.

Your photograph, your book, your painting, your company, the album you just finished, the car you restored, or the software release you just finished.

Don’t just move on to the next project.

Think about how long it took you (or short), how many obstacles you faced, and the crux decisions that you had to make.

That wasn’t easy right?

How many others would have thrown in the towel if faced with the same challenges?

You see most people either do not ever start or quit before they are finished.

Not you.

Beauty is very subjective.

Since you are a finisher, a winning horse, then you earned your victory lap around the track. So take your time sizing up what you have accomplished and explaining the beauty.

As the artist you have the power to enlighten our eyes by offering a peak behind the curtain.

You will find that your creation or accomplishment is more beautiful to others once they hear the story.

Share the story, share the art, and take your time explaining them both.

Here are a couple of finishers that I have had the privilege of seeing behind the curtain with:

@CaryPierce1 and @Thegoodrun just released a new album.

@VanceBrown just released his first book.

@Fuelpricing knocked out an epic software release.

Bluff Works just smashed their Kickstarter campaign goal.

What is your story?

What did you just ship?

Love to hear about it.

Who are you? Do you know?

It is such an imperative question to ask. And your first answer will not be entirely accurate.

It is so difficult to see your own skills, talents, and uniqueness clearly. We are aware of those collections of amazing elements that make us “You”. But we lack the intricacy of insight required to fully comprehend our bigness, our own recipe that makes up our “special sauce”.

We need trusted advisers to assist us in crafting the laser precision summary of “Who am I?”

Don’t misunderstand me. I know who I am at a macro level. But when I start tracking down to a micro level, I need some help.

This was my quest beginning in 2011. I needed to be able to communicate “Who am I? What do I make, invent, and pioneer? Why is it important? Am I any good at it?

Those questions drove me to ask questions of the few people I respected the most in the space of Work. And the prerequisite was I had to trust their belief and heart for me. That cocktail combination of respect for them and trust in their intentions for me was powerful.

I asked those trusted advisers to get out their red ink pen and start lighting up my first cut answers to these questions. There was more red than black. And it was beautiful.

They helped me extract from the marrow of my life “Who I am.” Notice it was no longer a question. A period was inserted and it became a statement.

I am under renovation and always improving, inventing, editing and dreaming.

I am becoming dangerously clear on who I am, what I do and why it matters.

Start asking the question. It will disrupt the trajectory of your life.

The Lost Art of Being an Apprentice

There are a few remaining trades that still require a season of designated apprenticeship. When I think of those industries Electricians, Architects, and Engineers come to mind.

Side-by-side

There was a time in our history where it was expected that the Apprentice would work side-by-side the Craftsman.

Today, it seems that everyone knows everything there is to know about everything.

Or so they say. Really?

What happened to the humility required to accept the position of Apprentice?

I believe as the Industrial Age shifted away from craftsmanship to factory production, we lost the vital role of the apprenticeship.

Today, I rarely meet anyone, young or old, male or female that takes on the posture of an Apprentice. Although there may not be a formal program like those in the Trades it should not prohibit you from considering enrolling yourself in an apprenticeship role.

Humility is the first ingredient required.

Second is a watchful eye and desire to find a Craftsman to shadow. Have you encountered the saying “When the student is ready the teacher will appear“?

The lost art of being an Apprentice should be reclaimed. Not through our school systems, not by the Trade industries, but by you and I.

One of my favorite apprenticeships is under Vance Brown. Today, he is CEO of Cherwell Software. I had the privilege of formerly working under him for a few years in a software start-up. I took the job because he was the teacher, the Craftsman, the guy who had more miles on the odometer than me.

Takes the pressure off

As the Apprentice, it takes the pressure off from having to have the right answer all of the time. Your job shifts to being responsible for asking questions. Instead of mastery you learn and absorb what you will need for the future day when it is your responsibility to know the answer.

Start with a willingness and humility to become the Apprentice. Then open your eyes and watch the Craftsman appear.