Groups vs. Individuals

Paul McCartney is my favorite Beatle. The guy plays bass, guitar, piano, and the drums. He had the best career after the Beatles. The songs he wrote strike me as the best ones to come out of the group. "Hey Jude" is simply the best thing they ever did.

Some people might think I am a Lennon man, but I'm not. Don't get me wrong. John was a helluva guy in his own right. But he had to get messed up with Yoko. That bitch destroyed the band. But that is all history.

The Beatles were great because you had two amazingly creative individuals. The combination of their talents made something great. But you don't have to be in a group to be great. Look at Bob Dylan. That guy is amazing, and his solo work beats anything he has ever done in collaboration. As for great bands, they almost all were lead by a strong individual with everyone else along for the ride.

I remember Gene Simmons saying that he imagined KISS as a four wheel drive vehicle with four equal members acting as a juggernaut. You had Gene as the businessman of the group and the spirit of the band. You had Paul who was the best singer. You had Peter who was the most sensitive. You had Ace who could flat out play. Each brought a strength to the band that the others lacked. They were stronger together than apart. But as Gene points out, drugs and alcohol took a toll with the drinkers separating from the non-drinkers.

The cool thing about solo acts is they never break up. They do it their way, and if they got big on their own, they can go the rest of their careers without the shadow of the band over them. You know Sting always caught shit about The Police.

For me, I've always been enamored with the idea of collaboration. I think of Jack White and Brendan Benson in The Raconteurs. They have their own thing, but they also have their joint project. Jack White is a humble guy considering the fact that he's one of the heavies in music today. He's in a position to flex his ego, but he doesn't.

We can cite examples where individuals did great things. We can also point to groups and also to collaborations as doing great things. But I think the bulk of creativity is done by individuals. This is true in music as well as business. This isn't to say the individuals did it all by themselves. Steve Jobs needed help on that iPod. But make no mistake. It would not have happened without him.

Individuals are the ones that make history. They are the ones that make it happen. Groups are along for the ride. Part of me recoils at the autocratic nature of this arrangement, but I shouldn't. Someone has to steer the boat, and if you don't like the boat's direction, you can always get off. On the flip side, when an individual does something I like, I have no problem hopping on. Ron Paul would be the most famous recent example.

Between helping others do their thing and doing your own thing, you are always better off doing your own thing. When you join a group, you give up your control over your efforts and the direction of those efforts. This is fine as long as you get something from the joint venture that you would not have by yourself. But you should always retain the option to leave. Groups by their nature can only pursue a few goals.

I think of Dave Grohl playing drums in Nirvana. He did his work playing the skins for the great Kurt Cobain, but who knew the guy had his own songs and his own plans? The Foo Fighters are the shit, but that is another group centered by an individual. What if Cobain had lived? Would he have allowed the Grohl opus to emerge under the Nirvana banner? Probably not.

Finally, I have the advice of my brother who has done both the group venture and the solo venture as a structural engineer. His counsel? Go solo. Avoid partnerships. Do your own thing. If you must join another effort, use it as a stepping stone to establishing your own thing.

For me, I need to be more confident about doing my own thing. This goes against the tide that tells us not to be selfish or be a troublemaker or what have you. But this is horseshit. The worst thing that will happen is you will fail which won't hurt anyone but you. Their real fear is that you will succeed, and in a world that can only think in zero sum terms, this makes you a threat. Fuck them.

Live your own life. Do your own thing. Be your own hero.

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