EKMH Innovators Interview Series
An interview series spotlighting global tech influencers, disruptors, visionaries, and of course, innovators.
According to entrepreneur and The Artian Founder Nir Hindi, “Art is a Mindset, not an object.” The Artian, a transdisciplinary training company, aims to fuse and cultivate an artistic mindset in business and technology environments to foment originality. Through seminars, research, community events, workshops and presentations, The Artian injects originality into the business sphere by intentionally connecting the artist's creative sensibilities and methodologies with the entrepreneur's acumen and execution, while maintaining a balance between both imagination and business.
As the Founder of the Creative Collisions: Art & Tech event series and part of Cotec’s 100 experts to promote innovation in Spain, Hindi advocates to create connections between an artistic mentality and business entrepreneurship, two areas that he sees as fueling the other’s creativity and providing endless opportunities for mutual learning.
Originally from Tel Aviv where he was active in the Israeli entrepreneurial ecosystem, Hindi currently lives in Madrid where he serves as Visiting Professor at IE Business School and as a Guest Lecturer at the Master for Design and Innovation in IED. Though rooted in the world of technology and business, Hindi has always enjoyed one foot in the creative world: “As an entrepreneur, I bring the unique ability to navigate between business requirements and a wide-ranging set of creative practices. That is why one of my favorite quotes is ‘Entrepreneurs are the artists of the business world.’”
In his new podcast, “Shaping Business Minds Through Art,” Hindi combines two of his greatest passions -- Entrepreneurship and Art -- when he speaks with his guests, seeking to install, create and maintain creative and innovative thinking in organizations and among their employees and managers.
I caught up with Hindi via email to learn more about his views on a variety of topics, including the concept of an artistic mindset and methodology, his new podcast and its process, some artworks that profoundly resonated with him and university curriculum design ideas. Our interview follows.
EKMH: Congratulations on your new podcast, “Shaping Business Minds Through Art.” Why did you opt for this medium? What have you discovered during the creation process?
Nir Hindi: What is beautiful about podcasts is that you can actually have a more natural conversation and just jump from one topic to another. I’m enjoying speaking to people who I find interesting, and in this podcast, others can hear them as well. Another reason that I chose this medium is that everyone can listen from anywhere they want rather than just sitting in front of their screens or reading the text as videos or articles require.
I discovered how serious an endeavor podcasting is. Conducting an interview requires preparation. First of all, for the interviewee: I take the time to find the different and unusual angles, which for me, are the intersections of art and business, technology, or innovation. Interviewing isn’t just, “Okay, let’s start recording the conversation”; the interviewer really needs to be able to create a kind of a rapport with the interviewee and to build trust to make the conversation natural, authentic and insightful. Although one needs to make the conversation natural, interviewers still need to be prepared with different and interesting questions. I always try to ask questions around what would I want to know and then work from there, and not just asking questions for the sake of asking. All of this occurs before speaking about editing and building a narrative :)
EKMH: Through your role as The Artian’s founder, every day, you deftly mix art and entrepreneurship. What lessons learned from artists’ methodology and practices have proven more effective for you and your protégés?
Nir Hindi: It took me a lot of time to understand that artists are very good at observing and responding to the environment. From my years of viewing art, I have developed the ability to observe and ask myself, “What do I see?” and then respond to that. People underestimate how important it is to nurture observation skills. We tend to think that observation is a passive act, but it is actually an active one. You need to look with intention.
Another point, at least for me, is that artists are never satisfied with what they have: they always ask questions, push forward and aspire to do better. This questioning has influenced me as well; I often ask questions like, “Does what I do enough? What can I do differently? What else can I do? What more can I do? And, more importantly - Why do I do what I do?” Being able to observe and question are present in my day-to-day experience.
The third point is, of course, creativity. I always say that for me, creativity is a kind of an osmosis process, so if I’m next to creative people, I am inspired to be creative as well. That is why I recommend others to surround themselves with other creative people, like artists. When I see all of my friends’ art and what they are doing, I always feel that I can do more. Their work inspires me to do that but within my own realm - innovation and entrepreneurship.
EKMH: What methods do you utilize to inspire others to adopt an artist’s mindset?
Nir Hindi: I try to show people that art is not about the object but rather about the mentality. I often use artists’ stories to show that. I try to find stories that influenced me and inspired me in a business context. Being an artist means that you are willing to take risks, challenge norms, predict the future, expose the culture, operate in uncertainty, and be original. All of these are required in entrepreneurship and innovation a well. Case in point, one of my closest friends, the artist Joseph Dadoune, had an idea, a vision, to create an artwork in the Louvre. He moved to France without knowing a lot of people to pursue his idea. He managed to convince the Louvre Museum’s director at that time to allow him to record there. Today his work is part of the Louvre collection. Those kinds of stories inspire when you think about vision, consistency, and belief in what you are doing… For this reason, I use a lot of the stories and artists’ examples to inspire others. The skill set --observation, questioning, ideating, and others-- follows. This is what we do at The Artian - we work with organizations and teams to focus on these human capabilities.
EKMH: We are certainly grateful that companies sponsor art -- but how can leaders learn from the exhibited art and apply artists’ methodologies into the workplace?
Nir Hindi: One of the things leaders can learn is how artists deal with uncertainty, how they create and build trust, and how they engage and inspire their viewers - just like a leader needs to do. Building trust is like creating art; it is a process that requires building an environment of trust. We need to foster trust, and successful business leaders are the ones that are actually able to cultivate this trust. If you read research studies, you discover that more than 50% of employees don’t trust their leaders! It is sad and harmful to the business. Art requires trust by definition. It is a kind of ecosystem of trust because artists need to trust themselves, their colleagues, or their audience.
The second aspect is that art, by definition, is breaking the rules and not repeating what it is known. The moment you understand that this is what art is, you know that it involves a lot of uncertainty and vulnerability, and that requires trust. The other thing that leaders can learn from art is how to set a vision and how great artists create artwork, not even for our generation. They create artwork for the next fifty or one hundred years of people. So how can you actually set a vision and make people follow or become inspired by it? We can define it in a way: long term thinking that is missing in the current business environment. This is something that artists are quite good at doing and the essence of many artists’ work.
EKMH: Which entrepreneurs do you admire for their artist’s mindset, and why?
Nir Hindi: I respect and am inspired by the Brown brothers, Artur and Erwin Braun, from the German company Braun, and their ability to understand the importance of aesthetics, futurism, and creativity. Their ability to trust the creative team is one example we can all learn from. Obviously, Steve Jobs also inspires me. He is the one that actually defined the way we live today. In a way, I also admire James Dyson, the founder of the Dyson company, because art also plays a significant role for him. Paul Graham from Y Combinator and Marissa Mayer, are two more examples… So there are many more business leaders that have strong ties with the arts. It is just that it is not common to talk about art’s influence.
EKMH: Which artworks, installations, performances, experiences, and/or AR and VR installations continue to resonate with you?
Nir Hindi: The one that impacted me the most are works by James Turrell. Turrell works with light as his artistic material. If you haven’t yet had the chance to experience Turrell’s work, it is ‘a must’ because his immersive spaces take you to a different level, a kind of meditation space. He creates permanent installation rooms all over the world, so try to find one in your country.
When it comes to artwork, I still remember the feeling I had when I first saw Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon in person at the MoMA. Some other exhibitions that impacted me in the last few years: Robert Rauschenberg and Nam June Paik at the Tate, those two artists that were very experimental, worked with technology early on. Both were innovative, and pioneers in technology; to see the works they did in the ‘60s, and ‘70s is inspiring. Another exhibition that I recall took place in the Musee d’Orsay. The first exhibition for a female painter named Berthe Morisot, one of the few female artists among the Impressionists group. Beautiful exhibition.
Other great exhibitions include James Turrell in the LACMA, and the Guggenheim in 2013, two shows in two spaces that impacted me a lot. Another work that influenced me is the Rothko Chapel in Houston. This is a chapel that Mark Rothko designed for his paintings. The massive paintings he painted specifically for the place were intense and created a spiritual experience. The last exhibition that I remember was of Yayoi Kusama in Dallas and her beautiful Infinity Room. I was so lucky to be there alone; I couldn’t stop going in and out of the room!
EKMH: In your podcast, you mention how you experienced an epiphany when you took an art history class... If you were to design a university curriculum for an aspiring entrepreneur (or leader), which classes would you find essential and why?
Nir Hindi: It’s as simple as adding the “A” into STEM. Practically speaking, I would have a cultural class, and in every lesson, there would be a speaker coming from different disciplines who would share what they are doing. This is what I would call the “Creative Process” class. Guest speakers could include a biologist, a scientist, a poet, or a painter. I would also add an observation class - a dedicated time to observe the world. I would add classes that learn from art and focus on developing abilities to deal with uncertainty and ambiguity.
I am a big believer in entrepreneurship. As someone who always built his own ventures, I would also add a course or a class on the psychological price of entrepreneurship- how to deal with stress, negative emotions, or depression. One of the mistakes we are doing today is that we glorify entrepreneurship without discussing the price of it - and there is a price for it.
I would also include a class that teaches beauty and functionality of products and services so that entrepreneurs could learn those basic aesthetics and create compelling and beautiful products. I also think one of the classes I would include is a class on empathy, and how we can develop better empathy. As you can see, it is a different approach to train future generations. It is in addition to all the STEM. This is the “Art” in the STEAM.
EKMH: How do you envision The Artian growing in the next few years? What is your perspective on lofty versus conservative goals?
Nir Hindi: I hope that more and more business leaders will understand the importance of an artistic mindset and start nurturing, developing, and growing it within their organizations. We want to be part of this process to bring this mindset into the business world. We hope that we can make business leaders see that you can shape original minds through art without sacrificing business results. I genuinely believe that an artistic business will be the one that succeeds in the long run. Apple just proves it.
EKMH: Finally, which books and podcasts do you recommend for this summer’s reading and listening?
Nir Hindi: First of all, I recommend our podcast, The Artian! We have super-exciting speakers coming in the next few weeks. I also recommend the Freakonomics, The Happiness Lab, and Revisionist History which are all great podcasts and full of inspiration.
In terms of the books, I would recommend reading the autobiographies of Marina Abramović and Yayoi Kusama… and for a whole, a complete list of books just check our Instagram or webpage because we are publishing every month a book we recommend to read.
***To read more EKMH Innovators interviews from the Archive, please conduct a search below!