Artistry is neither exact nor precise. Artists interpret experience and express it in forms that can be felt, understood, and appreciated by others. Art allows for emotion, subtlety, ambiguity. An artist reframes the world so that others can see new possibilities. Modern organizations often rely too much on engineering and too little on art in their search for attributes like quality, commitment, and creativity. Art is not a replacement for engineering but an enhancement. Artistic leaders and managers help us see beyond today's reality to forms that release untapped individual energies and improve collective performance. The leader as artist relies on images as well as memos, poetry as well as policy, reflection as well as command, and reframing as well as refitting.
Lee G. Bolman & Terrence E. Deal, Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Creativity, and Leadership (2008)
