Research shows that the creative person likes to work with other creative people. Yet many times you are forced to work with your exact opposite.

Maybe these left brainers are close minded and uptight, but they are also bright in their own way. You can find fault with the noncreative person for not seeing the big picture, for refusing to trust your instincts, for playing it safe and avoiding risk as if it were the flu. But they see you in a different light than you see yourself. They see you as a freewheeling good time ….. who is out of control. A high maintenance pain in the ess. They see emotional, defensive, and overly sensitive. It is no wonder they come down on you so hard.

It may seem as though we live in different worlds, but everything actually works together quite well. We come up with the ideas and innovations, and they produce the products. We make art, and they make budgets and do cost analysis. We take an aesthetic approach and they approach with suspicion. We want to put soul into it and create something meaningful and the want to sell it to some guy they know and make meaningful money from marketing it.

If you work together, you can create magic. They can bring your ideas to life and find ways to market them to the masses. So whwat if they are motivated by the money and you are driven by the design? A balance between the two is not such a bad thing – usually. For you the work is its own reward, but you are not immune to the appeal of a little outside recognition. That comes from seeing things come to fruition – which often takes the help of your left brain friends. It can be quite motivating to be able to have a bigger budget, better equipment, and a ton of technical ‘toys’. This takes money, though. Lots of money. Money raised by your other half.

Both sides do best when they take advantage of their strenghts. The world needs unorthodox  people with slightly skewed perspectives to deal with the continuing challenges that nature throws at us. So if you are misunderstood, try communicating rather than caving in.

Opposing Styles

Left Brainer                                                         Right Brainer

Inch by inch                                                          Do it when it is down the wire

One track mind                                                    Variety is the spice of life

Life is a bitch                                                        Life is a journey

Rule maker                                                           Rule breaker

Make it profitable                                               Make it beautiful

Worm’s eye view                                                Bird’s eye view

Office like an operating room                          Office like a kindergarten room

Do it right now                                                    Do it right

Number cruncher                                              Paint by the numbers

To do list                                                              To be list

Better safe than sorry                                       Playing it safe is sorry