Recently I read a post by Seth Godin about the “laboratory” vs the “factory” mentality and it really resonated with me.
Seth went on to encourage creativity in a laboratory / discovery / scientific spirit.
In the laboratory:
- we are dreamers
- we don’t know how things will turn out
- we don’t know or care if we can “sell” what we are making
- we may not even know what we will find
- we allow time to search
The lab is all about discovery and exploration.
In the factory:
- we are “task masters”
- we do what works, over and over so that
- we can sell more
- we tighten up the speed, efficiency and costs involved with producing our stuff
- we don’t waste time “searching” for a different way
The factory is about predictability and production.
Are you more of a lab musician or factory musician?
Might a “dip” to the other side do you & your music some good?
If music is a hobby, it’s easy to relax into the joy of discovery (the laboratory) as an escape from our other day to day drudgery. That’s great!
But the minute there’s a musical goal, maybe we want to record something or play in front of people, we try to make the music and ideas more concrete. We try to perfect and polish our creations (the factory). This has it’s place too.
If you are more of a dreamer…a music theory class or spending a week polishing a single song may do you some good.
If you are more of a task master…a walk in the woods humming melodies with no goal may do you some good.
Finding our inner balance between the “factory” and the “lab” can be a challenge.
Too often, I fall into being a “task master”. I quantify my entire days tasks and practice (not only music) with my to-do list of important items to do or practice. This leaves little room for joy.
Sometimes this leaves me in a very funky, non-creative mental zone. I can enjoy that I have gotten “tasks” accomplished, but there’s a missing feeling of “mystery, wonder and magic.”
To balance this out I recently spent an entire day playing (my very shabby) Bach on piano, singing blues and playing with recording software – just to feel human again.
The music on this “lab day” may never be heard by anyone (I hope!)….but that’s not the point. The point was to dream and not know what was going to happen.
Why am I telling you this?
Because it’s from your “musical dream laboratory” that you will find songs, grooves and solutions to long standing technical issues….and have your epiphanies and “aha” moments.
However…with no structure and practice, dreaming is a nebulous blog. I mean, blob.
Ask yourself these questions:
- Where do you lie on this scale (lab / factory, task master / dreamer), most of the time?
- What side could you and your music use more of – the “factory” or the “lab”?
- Over the past week, in which zone have you spent most of your time?
- Could you schedule ONE day this week of the side you have been “”leaving out”?
P.S. Here is a neat NY Times article here on daydreaming and here is Seth’s article – The lab or the factory.
Hi Ian Here
Great articled on the creative process. Any creative act has its requisite production curve, at different phases of the process. Practicing the guitar is not the same as practicing for a performance. Two different animals all together.
Getting a song under your belt is fun but getting a song under your skin is really hard work and requires a different mental approach.
Thanks for the perspective!
Ian Ingram
What a fantastic article Adam. I also like to think of the practice room as the ‘laboratory’. IMO thinking like that keeps our creativity flowing and willingness to learn from mistakes.
Great and enlightening article, must-read for people from all walks of life…
Thank you much Adam, I needed this!
Thank you Adam. the funny thing is that i have read this article , this great lesson , before . Now , i want to go to NY ,again . 🙂 And i am abso agree with you , The hardest thing is to find the balance .
And i am married ,and i got a son . My dad gone away from home since i was 8 ,and i dont know anything about him , today . My Mom (mama) did a great job , she was my father and my mother at same time , and also my Uncle ,was my second father. But i dont know exactly if anybody in this world knows me well.
My Mom now , is 84 .And now i have to take care with her . She is very strong still ,maybe for my Sister ,who lives with her.
And i think you know really what is my real medicine.
You are amazing. Thanks a lot again.
‘The Lab vs The factory’ – brilliant analogy, Adam!
Hi Adam,
great article. I am extremely on the lab site…musically and in my profession….til now I just did not realize it..
Very useful. articles, as you adress problems most of us (notonly musicians) struggle with.
Great blog.
Best regards..
Hi Adam,I play and am taking jazz lessons from Jamie.He never sieces to amaze me.I will bring in a song and he can work out the melody in about fifteen minutes.That’s what years of training and hard work will do for you.One little problem.I tend to take this hobby a bit too seriously.I have to keep reminding myself to “Lighten up” I’m looking forward to seeing you in Niagara Falls Dec.12th.Always a great pleasure hearing you on Jamie on the same stage.Love,Bob Clause.
thank you very much for your free advice Adam,next you come to Germany I’ll try and visit a show,greetings from the Netherlands,Raimond
Well that hit the spot perfectly !
An increasing repertoire of half finished pieces, fanciful ideas & ‘twiddly’ things ….
Hmm.
Time to take a few to the factory I think.
Many thanks for your moment of clarity.
Thanks Adam for sharing this ways of looking at things which not only applicable to music but indeed to life as a whole. Cheers!
Sometimes my playing is in the lavatory.
Many thanks for unlocking an amazing insight into me.I enjoy tremendously the pearls of wisdom you offer and to ponder.Kindest regards D.C
I agree, a great analogy lab vs. factory. I spent a long career in the factory, and now that I’ve retired from it, there’s a strong temptation to overcompensate and dissolve into an eternal dreamer. The “lab” is a great concept for working steadily, but being open to dreams and new ideas. Thanks from me, too.
Without dreams life is dry. Without hard work there is no survival.
Agreed! Thanks for the article.
Hey Adam and Folks here!
I really love the fact that Master Genius Adam not only plays the Guitar with great effect and joy, but, also the very rare fact (among serious Guitarist) that he is an avid Reader and an excellent writer, which is normally unheard of for Guitarists!!
Thanks much indeed, Sir, for taking the precious time writing a great article like this and taking the real hassle of always notifying me through the mail!
Indebted.
Regards,
Nukko.