Wherever you look, people seem to be eager to “be part of the industry.”

Maybe you should have a look at what that really means:

Industry

Horizontal segmentation of production firms on the basis of their […] generic product. […] Firms in the same industry are on the same side of the market, produce goods which are close substitutes, and compete for the same customers. […]

(Business Dictionary)

“Generic products”? “Close substitutes”?

Whatever your profession is, if it is your goal to produce generic substitutes, please shoot yourself. It becomes the more ridiculous when you hear that term used by people working as designers, musicians and the like. As the definition couldn’t make any clearer, “creative industry” is an oxymoron and if you use it you sound like a threat to people who are really creative.

Conclusion: do not use the term “industry” unless you are talking about things like factories and assembly lines!

(originally written june 2010, updated november 2011)

PS: (related)

We’ve been culturally brainwashed to believe that the factory approach (average products for average people, compliance, focus on speed and cost) is the one and only way. It’s not.

(Seth Godin)