The Substance Of Creativity, An Amazing Comeback Of A 136-Year Old Book Brand & Some Business Lessons
Lessons on creativity, entrepreneurship and business from Barnes & Noble's historical recovery
"If you want to sell music, you must love those songs. If you want to succeed in journalism, you must love those newspapers. If you want to succeed in movies, you must love the cinema." - Ted Gioia.
I caught that line while reading a Substack newsletter about Barnes & Noble. It spoke deeply to me.
True success in the creative universe is solely hinged on how much love you have for your craft.
If you are in it because of the money, fame, or something else apart from love, two things will happen to you:
One, you'll discover that your work over time will become shallow, grey, dry, lacking soul, and have no message—just noise.
Two, you would just burn out altogether and end your creative journey—simple.
I feel that one of the reasons creative movements die is that as we begin to commercialise creative movements and gain massively from them, we gradually forget the true essence of creativity and forge for ourselves a false and shallow reality that lacks the substance of true creativity and as artists and creators join the bandwagon of creating for the money, fame and recognition, the true spirit of the movement gradually fades away, and as the true ambassadors of these movements die natural or creative deaths, the spirit of those movements die with them, and the essence of the movement is lost, sometimes forever, and if perhaps some creator can catch the muse again, it revives, but is not always as concentrated or as deep as it was from its original birth.
We need more creators who will create for the love of it and not for the money, metrics, or statistics.
Money is important, and fame is also a part of the whole process, but it shouldn't be the driving force.
The digital creator age has placed the success of everything on views, likes, metrics, and analysis, and in doing so, it has created a generation of creators who do it for the love of what they gain from it.
Only a very few creators would remain if their work didn't bring in views, money, or recognition.
I read about James Daunt, the current CEO of Barnes & Noble, an old book brand, and how he was hired to save the brand from collapse.
Barnes & Noble was once a cherished book brand, founded in 1886.
It ruled the book world in the 20th century, but the company didn't see the digital age coming. It didn't evolve as fast as it should have.
Online book retailers like Amazon came on board and took over the whole market, pushing smaller book brands to the corner to either die or survive on leftovers.
For some time, Barnes & Noble tried to compete with Amazon; they even created their own ebook reader (the Nook), but it didn't fly.
By 2018, the brand had lost $18 million that year and laid off most of its workers.
With a share price down 80% and sales diving down the slopes, the once mighty book brand was struggling to survive.
Barnes & Noble was on the brink of extinction, waiting for an asteroid to deal the final blow.
The company did all it could to regain its lost glory, but it seemed as if the more it tried to pull itself out of the miry clay, the deeper it sank.
It even tried to launch a kitchen—no books, just meals. Maybe they felt that if they couldn't feed the mind, why not try to feed the stomach?
This tactic also, like other strategies, failed woefully.
How Did It Get Fixed?
In 2019, a new boss came into the picture. James Daunt.
He came up with ideas and rules that were far from the norm.
Ideas and strategies that helped him win in his other book businesses and ventures.
To cut a long story short, what made James Daunt different was just his genuine love for books.
Daunt's move was solely directed at feeding the mind of the reader and empowering local booksellers.
He was genuinely interested in providing people with books that would enrich their souls.
He devised strategies that angered and enraged publishers but empowered staff and enriched readers.
Did he succeed?
Yes, he did.
As of 2021, sales had returned to pre-pandemic levels and had kept growing.
The love readers once had for the company has been rekindled, and workers are enjoying their job and putting in efforts to sell books.
There are a lot of backstories here, but I want to focus on the one principle that made it possible for one of the oldest book brands on Earth to escape extinction—the principle of loving what you do.
James Daunt loves books with all that's within him, and he transferred that love into the business of selling books. And that unique characteristic of one man saved a struggling book brand.
Why not apply the lessons here to whatever you are doing?
If you can't find real passion in your work, it may be impossible to do your best or cause significant change.
But if you deeply love what you do, either as a creator or even a professional, chances are very high that you'll do exceptional work that will get recognised by many—maybe even, who knows, legendary and iconic works.
Just pour your all into it.
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