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You Gotta Be Good to Borrow
Good artists borrow; great artists steal. – Pablo Picasso (maybe) While I’ve been hearing this quote a lot lately, and it’s encouraging, I’m not sure it’s right. It’s way harder to borrow than to steal. In high school jazz band, we learned that in the language of jazz improvisation, borrowing elements from the great jazz…
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Say it With Symbols, O}
I was checking out some spoken word poetry this morning and came across this short poem, the one Helvetica Man wishes he’d been a part of…
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Love You, {Helvetica} Man
I love simple symbols and icons for their ability to communicate clearly and recognizably across language and cultural barriers. I guess this is why The Noun Project, with its growing library of icons, has become one of my new favourite resource sites. I did a bit of digging recently to find out a bit more…
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The Words You Use, They Matter
A few years back I was put in the uncomfortable position of explaining the Christian term “spiritual warfare” to a rabbi. I was explaining the training program I was leading at the time (the word was embedded in the title) when he kindly asked me to clarify. Was this some kind of warfare tactic, where…
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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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Everything You Do is Marketing
I was listening to a marketing class where they interviewed Ken Clement, a McDonald’s franchisee in Arizona. Say what you want about their food, and experiences may vary, but I’ve often been surprised at the friendliness (and family-friendliness) of McDonald’s restaurants. Clement talked about the importance of treating his customers well and giving them a…
