We're All Artists Now

Christopher Nolan does not do makeup, compose music, or build his sets. But he knows the right camera angle, the right prop, and the right look that will make the film work. He holds a vivid story in his head, then directs cinematographers, prop makers, and everyone else toward that vision.

Steve Jobs identifies himself more as an artist than an engineer. He cared less about whether the iPhone used x86 or ARM than about what the iPhone felt like in the user’s hand. Then he communicated that vision to an army of engineers.

Now that we all have our own army of engineers, we have to become the Steve Jobs and Christopher Nolans of our projects: hold the vision clearly in our heads, know what good looks like, and communicate that vision to our binary colleagues.