What Do Criminals, Entrepreneurs & Designers Have In Common?

A few nights ago, Husband and I sat on our couch and watched Public Enemies on DVD. The story, set in America in the 1930s, about a charismatic bank robber John Dillinager, was really beautifully told. There was something truly hypnotic and mesmerising about this movie.

I’m sure we’ve all seen a few films with an ever-so-popular theme of Good vs. Evil, where the “Evil”, or the villain, were far more charismatic than the “Good”. John Dillinger was one such character. Despite his questionable choice of vocation, he was a man of principal, someone who respected the public, had a system and followed the “rules”.

Well that’s just great Dana – I hear you say – but what does all this have to do with a “design blog”? Just bare with me, I’m getting to that bit, but first – a Tangent {which is also my middle name}.

All this got me thinking about a criminal’s mind, and I came to the conclusion that all wildly successful “good” criminals are brilliant entrepreneurs. Think about it. I imagine that in many ways it would be more difficult to start up an illegitimate venture than a legitimate business or a company. Whilst my intention isn’t to glamorise crime, there is no denying that quite a bit of creative thinking needs to be employed to pull off a major scam. Not just that – there has to be a vision – and this has to be backed by dedication, commitment, and a significant accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome.

So how is all this any different from being a {lead} designer on any creative project? This {finally!!} brings me to my point and to the title of this post.

I’m of the opinion that a designer’s brain is wired in much the same way as that of an entrepreneur. We are constantly making new connections, assessing opportunities, identifying possibilities, looking at new and better ways of doing things, redefining spaces/ objects/ cities, creating that which didn’t exist before… Hmm, interesting. Then why is it so that many good designers and creative people in general, go on living a non-entrepreneurial life? Are most of us too caught up in the esoteric world, too concerned with the “perfect proportion”, the right “balance”, the ideal “shadow line” or whatever it may be, that we miss out on opportunities to become entrepreneurial forces to be reckoned with?

What would happen if, instead of worrying about the “shadow line”, we focused on discovering our core identity, awakened to opportunity, developed goals and strategies and taken BIG action?

Massive tangent, huh? Maybe so. I guess what I’m trying to say is – imagine if all the famous criminals chose to use their power for good instead of evil, and if all the designers in the world chose to focus some of their talents on creating entrepreneurial ventures with passion and vision they display in their daily work.

Two words for you my friends – World Peace.

What do you think?

{images via linocutboy’s etsy store – cool aren’t they?}