Hug The Haters
How did André 3000 find his voice as a young artist? By embracing critical feedback. He and Rick Rubin get deep into the creative process in a recent conversation on Broken Record.
RR: “There’s no shortcuts to find your voice, you just have to do the work.”
A3: “It’s hard. I remember times when Rico Wade, there would be times when I’d come down and say Ric check this out, and he’d just get up and walk away... I’d be like, ‘Man. What’s wrong with you?’ It took me a minute to realize that wasn’t it (ie what he performed wasn’t his “authentic voice,” yet)…
Another time, I just started rapping with my normal voice, my speaking voice, and Riko said, ‘That’s it.’
And that was it.”
RR: “It’s amazing how those breakthroughs happen, almost when you’re not really looking…”
Rico Wade’s critical perspective was essential to André 3000’s development as an artist. As they say, “Love your critics.” He needed Rico to be honest. Such criticism works best as part of a learning crew, and when you’re putting work out there long before you feel it’s ready for prime time. This is something that Pixar has perfected in their famed “dailies” routine.
Encouragement and compliments may feel great — and have their place in the creative process — but many times the push we really need comes from the critics.
Related: Sharing Before You Feel Ready
Related: Rally A Cohort
Related: Enlist A Co-Conspirator
Related: Psychological Safety
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One of the defining contributions the d.school is helping teams ask themselves, “What kind of thinking is appropriate, when?” We call such clarity being “Mindful of Process.” And it can seem like semantics until you realize we need to show up in different ways.