“The Bit I Didn't Want To Show...Was The Bit That Mattered"
Image by Harry Burgess from Pixabay
“How people may emotionally connect with music I’ve been involved in is something that part of me is completely mystified by...Human beings are really different, so why would it be that what I do connects in that way? I discovered maybe around (Radiohead’s album) The Bends that the bit I didn’t want to show, the vulnerable bit...that bit was the bit that mattered.” Thom Yorke
The 1,000 true fans of what you do, the ones who will follow you through hell and high water, aren’t there because they expect you to sell them something. They aren’t interested in you because you’re thoroughly researched, or because you’re crafted to the nth degree.
They’re here because they view you as offering something real, something legitimate. Something that you’ve created with honesty and dedication. Not something that was crafted on the 102nd floor of a downtown skyscraper with a view to capturing incremental market share and optimizing core competencies.
No, they’re here because they want to buy. From you. Something that does something for them.
To do so, requires an openness that we normally don’t view as acceptable. We perceive that as a vulnerability, and vulnerabilities are to be shunned, hidden away, because if we show them, we’ll be judged. And who wants to be judged? Too much honesty cannot possibly be a good thing, can it?
But deep down, I think we all know that’s not the case. That, in fact, that’s the only true path. A willingness to make mistakes, to be seen as human and real. That, while we are here to do our part and bring forward our best work, maybe we don’t have all the answers, only the best and most real answers we can.
That’s hard to get to grips with, especially in a world that’s hyper competitive, hyper focused on the next big trend. We tend to think of this level of vulnerability as the realm of art, not of business. The cynics amongst us will look at this as the realm of fools, and all this talk is nonsense.
Is it?
