This Decalogue in eleven steps (‘cause you always need to give more) is “a sort of” Beetroot manifesto with the principles that kept our team going for almost 15 years. We originally developed our Decalogue as a limited edition double sided poster that was presented as part of a TEDx presentation we delivered 2012, but it soon started having a “life of its own” as many people beyond seemed to be sharing our perspective.
01—Visualise
Having a vision is to know how to set a destination and a journey free of any conditions. Visions are different to dreams. Dreams are all about intentions, while visions include the process for achieving them. Thinking your visions in detail and making them clear in your mind, enhances your ability to distinguish people, mediums and projects than can help you to achieve them.
Having a vision is to know how to set a destination and a journey free of any conditions. Visions are different to dreams. Dreams are all about intentions, while visions include the process for achieving them. Thinking your visions in detail and making them clear in your mind, enhances your ability to distinguish people, mediums and projects than can help you to achieve them.
02—No past
Roots are important but human beings are not exactly plants. We travel, experience and change. You may want to grow independent of your past. Every time you begin a new creative journey, your travel bag should be empty in order to hold everything you might need whether it comes from your past or not. An Ayn Rand character says somewhere: “I stand at the
end of no tradition. I may, perhaps, stand at the beginning of one.”
03—Listen
Concentrate on the question, read the manual, pay attention to the expressions, the phrasing and the style. Don’t hesitate to respond. Good communication is based on paying attention to details and respecting the conversation’s pace.
04—Drop the drama
Everybody has problems and most of them even think that theirs are more important than yours. Recounting your difficulties won’t help you overcome them. Every time you manage to handle trouble with calmness, you fortify yourself against the anxiety of a new crisis.
05—Discover the opportunity in something broken
Every system, method, tool that doesn’t work provides a fantastic opportunity for repairing, replacement or space for a completely new way of thinking and ultimately for creativity and growth. Obviously our world is a land of opportunities.
06—Respect your mista(c)es, take risks
Errors are neither bad nor –of course– good but rather part of the process to any outcome. The error suggests the trial, the experiment, the acceptance and the respect of anything random and unexpected. The error destroys a path to give birth to many.
07—Pause
Stop, wait, rest. The pause is a necessary moment of stillness. It may have no past but it has a future. It is a moment of calmness, tranquility and concentration but at the same time a nucleus ready to unleash vast amounts of energy to all directions. The pause is not mind-numbing; it is a bomb about to explode.
Stop, wait, rest. The pause is a necessary moment of stillness. It may have no past but it has a future. It is a moment of calmness, tranquility and concentration but at the same time a nucleus ready to unleash vast amounts of energy to all directions. The pause is not mind-numbing; it is a bomb about to explode.
08—Cooperate
Collaborations are hard, tiresome, slow, creative, productive and prolific.
Collaborations are hard, tiresome, slow, creative, productive and prolific.
09—Keep your philosophy (mind) open
Taboos, prejudices, dogmas, commitments and phobias distract you from coming out with solutions, understanding others and setting up your mind according only to your course of action and goal. You will change many times in the creation of your vision, and this is all very natural.
Taboos, prejudices, dogmas, commitments and phobias distract you from coming out with solutions, understanding others and setting up your mind according only to your course of action and goal. You will change many times in the creation of your vision, and this is all very natural.
10—Always claim a reward for your work
Rewards come in many types: the joy in the creative process, the opportunity to experiment, the fulfillment of sharing and even the financial profit. Clearly there is no reason for sourcing your energy without any reward.
Rewards come in many types: the joy in the creative process, the opportunity to experiment, the fulfillment of sharing and even the financial profit. Clearly there is no reason for sourcing your energy without any reward.
11—Don't get attached to your work, embrace the creative process
Every completed work is like small death to its creator. A work has a very small life as it is made to be used and consumed. In that sense, it is easy to “die” with your work. Concentrate in the discovery of a creative process that makes you happy and the outcome will always occur.
MADE BY BEETROOT
