About the Summit
The Creative Economy is upon us, yet many of us aren't aware of it. A recent New York Times Magazine article, "Old School Economics," points out that there are more choreographers in today's workforce than metal-casters. ¹ Not only are we in the Information Age, the Global Age, but we are also in the Creative Age. Even though many people think of artists when they hear the word "creative," the Creative Economy embodies more than art; it includes architects, designers, engineers, farmers, hoteliers, entertainers, storytellers, builders, construction workers. These people, their companies and their ideas are critical to our communities -- and they are becoming more relevant to economic development initiatives throughout North Carolina, especially western North Carolina.
Our economic future could come down to which side of the brain people use the most. Creativity springs primarily from the right side. In A Whole New Mind -- Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future, Daniel Pink explains the skill sets of the left and right hemispheres of the brain and how those who primarily use the right side of their brain will be the economic drivers in the United States. The left side (L-directed) deals with logic, sequential thinking, critical analysis; the right side (R-directed) deals with synthesizing information, finding connections between what appear to be discordant ideas, expressing emotional subjects, putting things into perspective and seeing the big picture. ²
Those who are right-brain dominant are powering the Creative Economy; those primarily using their left brains created the Industrial and Post-Industrial economies -- they created the past. Put succinctly, the workers of today and tomorrow will be "... .using R-Directed abilities such as forging relationships rather than executing transactions, tackling novel challenges instead of solving routine problems, and synthesizing the big picture rather than analyzing a single component." ³ These skills are personified in Thomas Edison. Everyone thinks of Edison as the great inventor when in fact he was the great connector. He spent very little time in the lab. He brought together great engineers, scientists, technology and financiers, and new industries were born as a result. Economies were changed. He was actually the ultimate right-brainer.
This trend is being seen in economic development training. The new curriculum for economic developers in the AdvantageWest region, Building New Foundations for Economic and Workforce Development, emphasizes that the customer has changed. The focus is no longer on XYZ Corporation but on the individual, just what Pink describes. Those who can collaborate and create new networks and leadership structures will succeed in growing their economies -- that means building relationships and allowing for fluidity and flexibility. It means crossing traditional county lines and working on regional projects on a case by case basis. It means assessing the assets in the region and capitalizing on those. It means delving deeper into questions like, 'What's our economic base?' 'What types of assets do we have to work with and promote?' 'What's on the horizon that we can capitalize on?' It means analyzing and understanding the workforce, physical and natural amenities, infrastructure, educational opportunities, leadership capacity and the existence of organizations that connect everyone together. It means noticing and being open to homegrown or transplanted new and young talent, to the types of new companies sprouting up, and to the companies that are successfully reinventing themselves.
The Eighth Annual ARDI Leadership Summit, Accelerating Our Economy: Tapping Creative Assets, addressed these questions and put the Creative Economy in context in North Carolina. All across the state and especially in the western part of the state, there are economic sectors that receive very little notice and are often perceived as niche trends. There is a bigger movement happening; one that is very important to the growth of our economy. The purpose of the Summit is to focus attention on these emerging sectors and show their interconnectedness and relationship to a larger strategic movement called the Creative Economy. These companies and people are no longer considered "fringe" -- they are main stream. And not only are they growing in numbers and dollars, but they are also the foundation for regional economies. The Summit has engaged right-brain hemispheres, explained why this movement is so important to understand and support, and finally, highlighted examples in selected emerging sectors of the Creative Economy in western North Carolina.
1 Christopher Caldwell, "Old School Economics," New York Times Magazine, January 27, 2008.2 Daniel Pink, A Whole New Mind -- Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future, p. 25.
3 Ibid., pp. 39-40.
