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Show and Tell and the Critic
Today I had a chance to update some of the recent work on my site. Looking back, it’s been a really busy summer, but a lot of fun. At Golden West I’m part of a great Online crew that’s been able to take on more responsibility in the company and work on some cool projects…
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David Kelley on Creative Confidence
Is creativity a gift or a skill? Are we born creative (or not), or is creativity a muscle that can be exercised and developed? David Kelley, founder of IDEO, which has developed things like the first computer mouse, believes that we’re all creative, but that often our creativity gets stifled along the way. He has…
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Coffee
I wonder how many things in life we do for a particular reason, while the real benefit is something completely different and unexpected. I’m reading Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird, which has great advice for writers and anyone who’s creating stuff. She talks about writing like that. While you might start out writing to get…
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Centrifugal Creativity
I was introduced to the idea of “Centrifugal Creativity” a few years ago by Patrick Dodson (listen to his teaching on the topic here). It resonated with me then, and I’ve been chewing it again recently. Dodson talks about a history of art, why our idolization of “the Artist”, self-discovery and self-expression is misled, and…
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Embrace the Chaos
I recently watched a talk by Ben Chestnut, founder of MailChimp, recently. Being a longtime fan of the Chimp, I was interested to hear what Ben had to say about creativity and encouraging a creative environment in what seems to be a very creative and successful business. Two ideas that I really liked: 1. Humans…
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Rehearsal
Here’s a quote I heard a while back, but found myself quoting a lot recently: “It takes four hours to get one hour of creative work done.” – David Lynch Tim Sanders wrote a helpful commentary on this idea, in which he talks about the need to rehearse before you create. Rehearsing is a way…
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Play
It must be nice to be a pro athlete or musician, because every description of your job starts with the words “I play…”. For the rest of us, it might be easier to forget that, as Mark Twain said, “Work and play are words used to describe the same thing under differing conditions.” Hope your…
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Stay Curious
Curiosity. From the moment we open our eyes it fuels our existence. Keep looking for it and follow it… (thanks anthony)
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Flow
I just finished reading Dan Pink’s Drive, in which Pink explains why traditional carrot-and-stick motivators are out-dated and need to be replaced by the intrinsic motivators of Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose. (For the abbreviated version of the book, watch Pink’s TED talk, which I’ve mentioned before). One thing I learned was the importance of experiencing…
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Don’t Quit
I was looking at some kinetic typography videos yesterday when I came across this one, which is hugely encouraging if you’ve embarked on learning a craft, but haven’t mastered it yet. Ira Glass is talking about storytelling, but it probably applies to what you’re doing too.