I recently read Carving Out a Living on the Land by Emmet Van Driesche. Drawing from his experience as a Christmas tree farmer, spoon carver, hired scythe, and teacher, Emmet shares his insights on how to create a diversified farm income. Throughout the book, he takes a “throw it at the wall and see what sticks” approach that appeals to me.
Impermanent and Inexpensive
An aspect of his work that stands out to me is his use of nimble infrastructure. According to Emmet, “Nimble infrastructure is impermanent, inexpensive (compared with the permanent alternative), and easy to adapt to the changing needs of your farm.” Nimble infrastructure offers two unique advantages. The first is that it allows one to try things out. This complements the “see what sticks” approach. The minimal cost and impermanence make it easy abandon ship and move on when an idea fails to gain traction. In the authors case, he wanted to offer his services scything for people with land that would be otherwise inaccessible by large equipment; however, he didn’t know what kind of demand existed. Instead of ordering business and postcards off the internet, he took the nimble approach and printed homemade fliers that he hung around town. He was able to act quickly and cheaply (cost not quality) to test his idea. Once he’d generated some interest and assessed how the work fit into his life, he could make the decision to invest further and grow his business.
What Do You Need?
The second advantage of nimble infrastructure is that it reveals what is most important. While nimble infrastructure is cheap and impermanent, it must still function. Its relative simplicity allows one to easily tweak their system and see what they really need. By not rushing into a major build, one has a chance to learn what works without being bogged down by inertia. Emmet presents his spoon carving workshop as an example. While I believe he has since built his workshop, he had purposely not done so prior publishing the book. Instead of rushing into a heated, permanent building, he chose to chop out his spoon blanks in an unheated green house and carve in his kitchen. He did this knowing that he could design a far more useful workspace after actually doing the work for a while.
Not so Nimble
Nimble infrastructure appeals to me so much because it parallels conclusions I have come to through my own work. When I was in high school, I made movies. During my sophomore year, I decided I would make a feature length movie, and I was going to do it just like the pros. That’s what real directors did after all. I spent months writing the script. I made a rule that I would write a certain amount every day. I downloaded pre-production forms and filled them out. I scheduled auditions and hung fliers around the school. I organized production meetings with PowerPoint presentations. I put together a crowd funding campaign with a promo video, crew bios, and graphs showing the cost breakdown. I went around to local businesses asking for donations. Unsurprisingly, most people weren’t interested in funding a sixteen-year old’s filmmaking aspirations. Never mind the setback, I borrowed money from my parents. I was hell bent on being a real director with a real crew, so I enlisted my friends. I gave each one a specific job with an all-important title (key grip, script supervisor, assistant director, etc.). After months of planning and with money on the line, after telling everyone I knew that I was making a real movie, I shot two scenes and called it quits. I had no experience managing a group of people and it showed. My friends didn’t want to spend their entire summer vacation working on my movie, and I can’t blame them. Dejected and humiliated, I went to work bagging groceries to pay my parents back.
The next summer, to my surprise, I was making another movie. There was no script, no schedule, and no crew. It was mostly shot handheld, with natural light, and we didn’t record any dialogue. We snuck into abandoned buildings and pretended to be customers so we could film in a restaurant. In that summer, I found all the adventure and emotional transcendence I had been looking for in filmmaking. I couldn’t have done that until I had let go of my idea of what a real director was. By trying to emulate professional filmmakers, I was missing what was truly important and necessary to make a movie.
Applying Nimble Infrastructure to Music
I have tried to carry this lesson with me even though I don’t make movies anymore, but sometimes ego gets in the way. When I started Propolis, I approached the band with the same mindset I had when I was sixteen. We were going to be a real band, and we were going to look like one too. Hannah bought a bigger bass amp, I built and filled out a pedal board, and the two of us asked more of Jacob (our drummer) than he could give. When the pandemic hit, our tour plans collapsed. We had to reassess what playing music looked like for us. I didn’t touch my guitar for almost six months. When I returned to videos of us playing live, I was disappointed. We weren’t very good. We rushed into the big permanent investment ahead of our abilities. I’m just glad we couldn’t afford a van when we were looking. After talking to Jacob and Hannah, we decided to start practicing again, but this time we would approach music differently. We would bring the lesson I learned from my filmmaking days to music. Instead of worrying about equipment, tours, and merch, we focused on playing music. We made the decision to play acoustic because we thought the effects and volume were acting like a crutch. We spent months practicing rhythm and dynamics without playing any songs. Because we didn’t need a PA, and because Jacob’s drum kit fit in a suitcase, we could practice without a dedicated rehearsal space. Our new approach brought a new perspective, and for the first time since learning to play the guitar, I feel like I am truly playing (in all senses of the word) music.
See if it Sticks
Emmet Van Driesche’s application of nimble infrastructure reminds me that I don’t have to be so precious with my ideas. I can throw it at the wall and see if it sticks. By trying my ideas in a low-risk environment, I can learn about my own temperament and tolerance for a particular kind of work. If you have an idea you’ve been holding onto, I recommend considering the nimble approach instead of waiting for the conditions to be just right. Who knows, maybe it’ll stick.