If an album has 12 songs, there are just over 479 million ways to organize them in a sequence (12 songs * 11 songs * 10 songs… all the way until the last 1).

Out of all of these possibilities, a recording artist needs to decide which one tracklist represents what they want to say. They do this by using an organizing principle. 

For example, choosing to end the album on a sad song might tell a tragic story, whereas ending the album on an upbeat note might convey a redemption story. The same songs, arranged differently, will send a different message. Which message does the artist want to send?

When you’re talking about music, and someone asks, “Who is your top five?” you need to order your favorite artists into a list, the simplest way to apply an organizing principle. When you do this, you’re using an organizing principle based on the reasons you like an artist. When they respond with their top five, they’re also using an organizing principle—according to their values and philosophies. Together, you are getting to know each others’ values through your organizing principles. 

Anywhere you experience a sense of order, you are feeling someone’s organizing principle. You can see organizing principles everywhere, including in cities, art exhibits, books, films, laboratories. 

Wes Anderson likes to anchor his films in organizing principles from other media. For example, he arranged the stories in The French Dispatch with the organizing principles of a magazine. I find thinking metaphorically in terms of articles, magazines, and a table of contents to be very helpful. 

This blog post has nine paragraphs. What made me arrange this paragraph to be here? Why is this sentence third in this paragraph? You need an organizing principle to answer these questions well. Sometimes, even with a clear organizing principle, the arrangement might only work after a few tries. 

An organizing principle is successful when it makes the work say what you wanted it to say. It can sometimes feel incredibly abstract. Virgil Abloh describes “tourist vs. purist” as one of his organizing principles.

When you’re consistent with your organizing principles, you’ll develop a signature. If someone else can recognize your work or imitate you, you’ve done a good job.