Artful Making: What Managers Need to Know About How Artists Work

They’re very difficult to control. This may be the most

difficult issue we face. . . .When the chips are down they

tend to be . . . your most precious commodity—and your

worst nightmare. You have no idea what they’re doing. They

sit there with 42 little windows open on their 17-inch

monitor.

1

Ivan Sutherland, one of the leaders in the early efforts to

build the Internet, notes of highly skilled individuals that,

“You can maybe convince them that something’s of interest

and importance, but you cannot tell them what to do.”

2

Similarly, Abigail Adams observes of her role with respect to

the actors that she is “not on the journey with them.” When

you ask ...