Secrets of the artist mindset

Your engineering professor is going to cringe, but there are things to learn from the art department.

People often ask me for practical advice without first exploring big questions like:

• WHY is sprawl subsidized in 2023, after all we’ve learned about wasteful infrastructure?

• WHY is it illegal to build affordable housing in empty mall parking lots?

• WHY are government agencies still allowed to take private property by force to widen roads?

• WHAT IF we legalized compact development in the suburbs, so people didn’t have to drive everywhere?

• WHAT IF we subsidized mass transit or a mobility-as-a-service platform instead of drive-alone mobility?

• WHAT IF a private corporation was responsible for operating a transportation system that killed 100 people every single day?

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I think it’s part of our training, both by professors in school and by mentors in the workplace. We’re taught to think and act like practical scientists. Scientists look at an existing world. They come up with solutions based on what’s happening right now.

“Everyone’s forced to drive personal cars now, so they’ll always drive personal cars. We need to build more lanes for all the personal cars that will be driven by future persons.”

“100 Americans die every day in traffic. We need to build larger hospitals to accommodate the increased number of deaths and injuries from car crashes.”

That’s in stark contrast to how artists behave.

Artists ask what-ifs about unknown worlds. An artist mindset gave us innovations like the elevator and online banking. Both of those completely changed travel patterns of humans.

Whenever you have the chance, approach your white-collar work like an artist. Plant seeds of WHY and WHAT IF.