Jan
16
Time management for creative people
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Photo by Roadsidepictures
Mark McGuinness has collected a bunch of his best posts into one free ebook and has some additional time management resources here. I found the book filled with valuable time management insights. Given the pressures leaders have on their time, Mark’s time management practices are extremely useful. I case you don’t want to read the entire book here is a summary of the 7 common practices….
1. Why you need to be organised to be creative
Choreographer Twyla Tharp, author of the book "The Creative Habit: Learn it and Use it for Life", which I’ve previously reviewed here, directed the opera and dance scenes for the film Amadeus, has this to say about the film’s portrait of Mozart and the importance of being organised and disciplined….
"The film Amadeus dramatizes and romanticizes the divine origins of creative genius. Antonio Salieri, representing the talented hack, is cursed to live in the time of Mozart, the gifted and undisciplined genius who writes as though touched by the hand of God… Of course this is hogwash. There are no ‘natural’ geniuses… No-one worked harder than Mozart. By the time he was twenty-eight years old, his hands were deformed because of all the hours he had spent practicing, performing, and gripping a quill pen to compose… As Mozart himself wrote to a friend, “People err who think my art comes easily to me. I assure you, dear friend, nobody has devoted so much time and thought to composition as I. There is not a famous master whose music I have not industriously studied through many times.”
Twyla goes on in her book to argue that "routine is as much a part of the creative process as the lightning bolt of inspiration, maybe more".
Have you structured you day to be productive?
2. Prioritise work that is ‘important but not urgent’
This practice comes from Stephen Covey’s popular book "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" where he classifies work tasks
according to whether they are important or urgent…
Covey points out that many of us spend too much time on tasks that are urgent and important – in other words, staving off emergencies by rushing around to solve problems or responding to others’ demands at short notice. Sometimes this is unavoidable – ‘deadline magic’ can spur us on to feats of creative production we wouldn’t otherwise attempt. This can be an exciting and productive experience – but it’s up to you whether you want to work like this most of the time. ….. Covey’s solution is to prioritise work that is important but not urgent… Though this is hard to do on any given day, it is the only way to ensure you are making progress towards your own goals and dreams, instead of merely reacting to what other people throw at you. And over time, the more you are dealing with important things before they become urgent, the fewer ‘urgent and important’ tasks you will have to deal with.
What percentage of you day is focus in urgent thing vs. the important things? Are you focused enough on completing the important things first?
3. Ring-fence your most creative time
Pick your most creative time of day….. then ring fence it for your most creative work. Mark provide this example of how Tim Ferriss author of The Four Hour Work Week writes blog posts, in two phases and at different times of day:
"Separate brainstorming (idea generation) from synthesis (putting it all into a flowing post). I generally note down 10-15 potential points for a post between 10-10:30am with a double espresso, select 4-5 I like and put them in a tentative order from 10:30-10:45am, then I’ll let them marinate until 12am-4am, when I’ll drink yerba mate tea, craft a few examples to match the points, then start composing. It’s important to identify your ideal circadian schedule and pre-writing warm-up for consistent and reliable results." - The Four Hour Work Week Blog
Do you know when you’re most creative? How are you using this time?
4. Avoid the ‘Sisyphus effect’ of endless to-do lists
Mark points out how endless to do lists and interruptions overwhelm us and sap our time and energy….
"The bottom line is that interruptions destroy your concentration. And loss of concentration = loss of creative work. If you’re not careful, you can end up in permanent ‘reactive mode’ – spending your time responding to others’ demands and all the things you have to do instead of the one thing you really wanted to do today…… In short, you need to install a buffer between others’ demands and your response. Otherwise you’ll end up in permanently anxious and unproductive ‘reaction mode’."
I think we often under estimate the cost of interruptions, previously I posted on a study by Study by Time Magazine…
Researchers studying a random sample of office workers and found they got an average of just 11 minutes clear time to a project before being distracted by an e-mail, phone call or verbal interruption from a manager or colleague.
It also found interruptions now took up an average of 2.1 hours of every working day, or 28 per cent of the average person’s nine-to-five schedule, including the time to recover your train of thought following an interruption.
It took an average of 25 minutes to return to a task after being disturbed, according to the magazine.
How often do you get interrupted a day? How much productive time does this sap from your day? Are you diligently protecting your most productive from unnecessary interruptions?
5. Get things done by putting them off till tomorrow
This practice is about slowing down our response and so that we can response by being smart and not by working harder….
"In his excellent book Do It Tomorrow, Mark Forster….. suggests we create a buffer between incoming demands and our response – by making ‘do it tomorrow’ our default response to all requests. Not ‘tomorrow’ as in ‘tomorrow never comes’, but ‘tomorrow’ as in ‘tomorrow’. Not today or the day after tomorrow, but tomorrow."
6. Get things off your mind
The practice is about having a trusted system that you can rely on to remind you of the important things that need to get done, rather than wasting your mental and emotional energy keeping track of your commitments. This allows you to commit 100% to the task at hand…..!
"What if you could dedicate fully 100 percent of your attention to whatever was at hand, at your own choosing, with no distraction?…. No, it’s not an ancient Zen text – these words are lifted from David Allen’s best-selling book on productivity, Getting Things Done. When I read this section of the book, I grasped the true value of having a system for managing your workload – not merely to be more productive but to reclaim your own mind by clearing out unnecessary mental clutter caused by trying to keep track of all your work commitments."
Set up ‘buckets’ to capture your commitments, to do lists arranged by your work context so that you do consume valuable mental and emotional energy trying to remember the things you have to get done….
7. Review your commitments
Reviewing your commitments help to keep things off your mind so you can focus……. Mark suggests that you need to review your commitments…
- First, and most obviously, to make sure you actually do the tasks on your to-do lists!
- If you don’t review the lists regularly, you’ll soon stop trusting them and won’t be able to use them to get things off your mind.
- To think about how you’re going to approach your work. It’s tempting to ‘get going’ first thing in the morning, so you feel like you’re getting things done – but whenever I do this, my day is always less productive and more stressful than on days where I take 10 minutes to review my commitments and decide how I’m going to tackle them.
- It helps you step back and see the ‘big picture’ of your work, weigh up priorities and make decisions about your next steps.
Overall I thought this is a great list of time management practices….. So which two of these practices are you going to implement over the next 21 days?
Nov
19
Leaders Focus on Creating, Not Problem Solving
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Robert Fritz in his book “Path of Least Resistance” discusses the idea that creating is not problem solving and that understanding the distinction between these two concepts makes all the difference to the results we get as leaders. What is the difference between problem solving and creating?
“The fundamental difference between creating and problem solving is simple. In problem solving we seek to make something we do not like go away. In creating, we seek to make what we truly care about exist.” - Peter M. Senge, Creating Desired Futures in a Global Economy, Reflections The SoL Journal, 2003.
Creating is about bringing something into existence. Problem solving is about removing what we don’t want. As leaders we are constantly being called upon to solve a constant barrage of problems, to such an extent that we forget what we’re trying to achieve. Missing the purpose of it all, why we’re doing what we’re doing? Society is too problem focused, we are more concerned about fixing problems, removing what we don’t want, than we are with creating what we do want. In all this action, we rarely take action based upon the vision of what we do want to create.
“What determines your orientation is where you spend most of your time. For many people, much of their life is organized around the circumstances in their lives. For others, much of their lives are organized around creating what they want to create…. Their is a dramatic difference between the two orientations. In the first, you are always subject to the whims of circumstances. In the other, you are the predominant creative force in your own life, and circumstances are one of the forces you use in the creative process.” - Robert Fritz, Path of Least Resistance
It may seem like a subtle difference, but creating is very different from problem solving. When problem solving we’re seeking a solution that makes something go away. When we are creating we’re attempting to bring something new into existence. Reflecting on these two ways of thinking, it’s seems to me, that we spend more time problem solving, reacting to circumstances, than we do creating what we desire. We become so caught up in the frenzy of solving problem, that we forget what we originally set out to create. So what exactly are the differences between problem solving and creating?
| Problem solving Orientation | Creating Orientation |
| Problem solving is a reactive approach to situations | Creating is a sustained, pro-active approach to situations |
| Results in an either / or response to situations | Leverages the power of paradox, the genius of the AND |
| Creates and reactive pattern, resulting from knee-jerk reactions to situations. | Creates a growth pattern as we focus on creating what we desire |
| An effective approach when there is only one correct answer (convergent thinking) | An effective approach when there is more than one correct answer (divergent thinking) |
| Orientates our thinking towards problems | Orientates our thinking towards our vision |
| Results in negative emotional energy and responses | Results in positive emotional energy and responses |
| Focused on relieving intensity of the situation | Focused on creating what we desire |
The table above draws upon the work of Bruce Elkin from his book “Simplicity and Success“, who was strongly influenced by Robert Fritz.
When leading from a problem orientation, what drives the action is the intensity of the problem, remove the intensity of the problem and the resulting action slows and soon stops. We need to be leading from a strong vision of what we are striving to create, this inspires and motivates us to continually act, creating our vision…
“What are we trying to create? Without a compelling answer to this question, it is hard to know why all the problem solving actually matters. Problem solving becomes the busywork of organizations in which people have forgotten their purpose and vision. Reconnecting with that purpose always starts with asking questions like: Why are we here? What are we trying to create that will make the world a better place? And, who would miss us if we were gone?” - Peter M. Senge, Creating Desired Futures in a Global Economy, Reflections The SoL Journal, 2003.
Ultimately leaders need to solve problems whilst they focus to create their vision of the future, they need to be good at doing both, however as Peter Senge points our our primary focus is on the big picture and on what we are creating.
Ultimately leaders need to solve problems and create the future, they need to be good at doing both, however as Peter Senge points our our primary focus is on the big picture and on what we are creating.
Organizations must do both - resolve day-to-day problems and generate new results. But if your primary role is to fix problems, individually or collectively, rather than create something new and meaningful, it’s hard to maintain a sense of purpose.” - Peter M. Senge, Creating Desired Futures in a Global Economy, Reflections The SoL Journal, 2003.
The vital question for leaders is not “What problem are we trying to solve?”, but “What do I want to create?” Are you leading from a vision of what you want to create? When you find yourself solving problems, do you approach solving them within the context of the vision you’re striving to create?
Technorati Tags: Leaders, Leadership, Management, Books, Business, Book, Principles, Creating
Nov
15
The Leader as Artist
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What do we mean, when we describe leadership as an art? How does the idea of leader as artist affect the way we think about, and practice leadership? When pondering on the idea of leader as artist and considering the parallel between an artist and the practice of leadership, provides some useful insights on leadership.
- Artists know themselves. Artists have a keen awareness of their strengths, weaknesses, when and where they do their best work. They have spent time thinking about who they are, what they want to create, what style they’ll be using to express themselves and how they will use their raw materials. As leaders it would serve us well to do similar thinking around who we are, Warren Bennis in On Becoming A Leader talks about the importance of using who we are, as the foundation of our leadership, “What is true for leaders is, for better or worse true for each of us: we are our own raw material. Only when we know what we’re made of and what we want to make of it can we begin our lives - and we must do it despite an unwitting conspiracy of people and events against us.” An understanding who we are is the foundation of all great leadership. How well do you know yourself?
- Great art is an act of self-expression. The primary drive of an artist is to express him or herself fully. The expression of one’s ideas and vision is and important step in creating great art. “…anyone who wants to express himself fully and truly must have a point of view. Leadership without perspective and point of view isn’t leadership - and of course it must be your own perspective, your own point of view….. It must be authentic, and if it is, it will be original, because you are an original.” - Warren Bennis, On Becoming A Leader. Artists and leaders strive to express their vision and purpose. It’s their driving passion and source of inspiration. Leadership is an act of creation, an expression of vision and purpose. The ability of leaders to clearly communicate, who they are, what they stand for and where they’re going, is a critical requirement, for building trust and creating an environment that supports aligned action.
- Great art is unique and valuable. Great art is original and unique, this makes it valuable. Nobody who can afford and original piece of art would settle for a copy. Likewise, leaders are originals, they are not imitators of others, they may learn from others, but they remain true to themselves. “To become a leader, then, you must become yourself, become the maker of your own life.“- Warren Bennis, On Becoming A Leader.
- Art is a skill that is attained by study, practice, and observation. One definition states that art is a “skill that is attained by study, practice, or observation“. Great artists don’t start out great. They’re born with potential and their skills are honed and developed over time. Art takes hours of practice, personal discipline, persistence and a strong guiding passion. It’s in this daily discipline and routine that great art is created. “Leadership like art can be demonstrated” - Warren Bennis, On Becoming A Leader. Like art, leadership, is a skill we can learn by leveraging the “passion-practice-performance” cycle. If art can be taught through practice, than so can leadership, and like art the daily practice of leadership is crucial. A leader who doesn’t practice is like a performing artist who doesn’t rehearse, in the end they both lose their audience. Leadership is not a right or entitlement, it must be consistently demonstrated, refined, and earned.
- Art can only be effectively taught by artists. You cannot give what you do not have. It takes an artist to teach art. Sure, you can learn art techniques from anyone, but the crucial attitudes and mindsets that separates a good artist from a great artist, is more caught than taught. Just as it takes an artist to teach art, it requires a leader to teach and coach others to become leaders. Leadership requires that we learn the practice from someone who has mastered the craft. It takes a leader to develop leaders! Are you learning your craft of leadership from another leader?
- Great art tells a story. Great art tells an authentic story that inspires and evokes emotion in the audience. Great leadership also tells a story. Great leadership tells an authentic story, gets people involved and involves them as part of the story.
- Who I Am Stories
- Why I Am Here Stories
- My Vision Story
- Teaching Stories
- Values in Action Stories
- “I Know what you are Thinking” Stories
- Art is messy. The act of creating is a messy process. Great artists embrace the messiness involved in creating their master piece. Part of the messiness of art is the duality, paradox and tensions inherent in the creative process. Successful artists learn to work with contradiction and uncertainty by spending time in reflection and contemplation, considering how they might apply their skills. Thinking about what they want to create, and how they will need to work with their materials. Leadership is similar, although we would like to believe leadership is a neatly controlled process, it turns out that much of a leaders work is messy. They too need to contemplate how they’re going to work with their strengths, to influence, inspire and guide their people. If leaders want to effectively deal with this messiness, they too need to more spend time in reflection and contemplation and less time directing and controlling.
- Artists carefully frame their work. Artists select a frame that enhances their work, carefully considering their style, audience and social environment. Framing is about focusing people’s attention within a field of meaning. Framing theory suggests that how something is presented (the “frame”) influences the choices people make. Frames help to organize or structure social meanings and since much of art and leadership is socially constructed, framing is a crucial consideration. Effective leaders consciously frame their messages, their behaviour and their vision, to create meaning and inspire action.
As leaders we need to tell our leadership story. Annette Simmons says that there are at least six types of stories that leaders should telling to engage and influence others:
Looking at leadership from the perspective of leader as artist, provides a useful and insightful way for us to understand more deeply the practice of leadership.
Technorati Tags: Art, Leadership, Management, Practice, Story, Business, Communication, Artist, Development, Framing, Passion, Philosophy
Jun
21
An explanation of creativity
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I stumbled accross this great explanation of creativity from Steve Jobs:
“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they’ve had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people.”
Image from chuybregts
Technorati Tags: Creative, Creativity, Thinking, Quote, Innovation
Jun
18
Book Review: The Creative Habit
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The book “The Creative Habit : Learn It and Use It for Life” by Twyla Tharp is a practical book describing how you can develop a creative habit. I really enjoyed this book, it’s an engaging read, worth the time and effort.
The author, Twyla Tharp, is one of America’s greatest choreographers. She has created more than 130 dances and is a pioneer in melding modern dance and ballet with popular music. In 1993, she was inducted into the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and in 1997 was made an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She has received eighteen honorary doctorates.
Overview of the Book
The book consists of twelve chapters, each chapter provides a practical guideline of a creative habit you need to develop to make creativity a habit. Each chapter then ends with a section suggesting exercises you can use to apply the what was described in the chapter.
I Walk into a White Room
This chapter sets the foundation for the book with the premise that creativity is a habit. In the book Twyla state that:
“I’ve learned that being creative is a full-time job with its own daily patterns….. The routine is as much a part of the creative process as the lightning bolt of inspiration, maybe more. And this routine is available to everyone….. Creativity is a habit, and the best creativity is a result of good work habits. That’s it in a nutshell…… there’s a process that generates creativity - and you can learn it. And you can make it habitual.”
To support her argument she quote’s Mozart who wrote:
“People err who think my art comes easily to me. I assure you dear friend, nobody has devoted so much time and thought to composition as I. There is not a famous master whose music I have not industriously studied many times.”
The bottom line is that creativity is the result of hard work and the development of the appropriate daily habits.
Rituals of Preparation
It’s usually difficult to begin the creative process. To help Twyla recommends that you develop rituals to “kickstart” the process. She says that it’s
“Vital to establish some rituals - automatic but decisive patterns of behavior - at the beginning of the creative process, when you are most at peril of turning back, chickening out, giving up, or going the wrong way.”
These rituals help get the creative process started, using rituals provides a comfortable starting place, starting from a comfortable routine helps to replace doubt and fear to overcome daunting “blank page” faced by many artists.
Your Creative DNA
This chapter talks about the importance of understanding yourself and your unique creative abilities. Twyla states that:
“The better you know yourself, the more you will know when you are playing to your strengths and when you are sticking your neck out. Venturing out of your comfort zone may be dangerous, yet you do it anyway because our ability to grow is directly proportional to an ability to entertain the uncomfortable….. Another thing about knowing who you are is that you know what you should not be doing, which can save you a lot of heartaches and false starts if you catch it early on.”
Harness Your Memory
This chapter explores the benefits of tapping into and using the memories, stories and metaphors stored away in your memory to inspire your creativity.
Before you can think out of the box, you have to start with a box
The ‘box’ that Twyla is referring to is a place to store all her research as she explores, information such as, notes, ideas, articles and clippings, she writes that:
“The box is not a substitute for creating. The box doesn’t compose or write a poem or create a dance step. The box is the raw index of your preparation. It is the repository of your creative potential, but it is not that potential realised.”
Scratching
This chapter discusses the generation of ideas, which Twyla calls “scratching”, ideas are usually generated from reading, conversation, handiwork, mentors, or nature. Ideas inspire you to create and having a good one is important, Twyla writes:
“A good idea is one that turns you on rather than shuts you off. It keeps generating more ideas and they improve on one another.”
Twyla emphasis the importance of combing ideas:
“the unshakable rule that you don’t have a really good idea until you combine two little ideas…. That is why you scratch for little ideas….. Remember this when you’re struggling for a big idea. You’re better off scratching for a small one.”
Accidents will Happen
Creativity requires preparation, a plan and a goal in mind.
“This, to me, is the most interesting paradox of creativity: In order to be habitually creative, you have to know how to prepare to be creative, but good planning alone won’t make you efforts successful; it’s only after you let go of your plans that you can breathe life into your efforts”
Creativity is where preparation meets opportunity and luck.
“The key words here are “prepared” and “lucky”… You don’t get lucky without preparation, and there’s no sense in being prepared if you’re not open to the possibility of a glorious accident”
Twyla goes on to warn against over-planning and perfectionism at the start, the wrong structure and the wrong materials.
Spine
Spine is about having a goal or message that underlies, supports and guides your work.
“Spine is the statement you make to yourself outlining your intentions for the work…..It keeps me on message, but it is not the message itself….. Having a spine will snap you to attention quickly and, as a result, will inject speed and economy into your work habits. Energy and time are finite resource; conserving them is very important.”
Skill
Skill is important in any craft or practice.
“Leonardo understood that the better you know the nuts and bolts of your craft, the more fully you can express your talents….. Skill is how you close the gap between what you see in your mind’s eye and what you can produce; the more skill you have the more sophisticated and accomplished your ideas can be”
Although skill is important a passion to do what you love is also necessary:
“Without passion, all the skill in the world won’t lift you above craft. Without skill, all the passion in the world will leave you eager but floundering. Combining the two is the essence of the creative life”
Ruts and Grooves
Twyla explores ruts and how it can trap you and sap your creative power, instead we need to strive to get into a groove.
“When I’m working, I’m always asking, “Is this peace moving forward or staying in place? Am I in a rut or a groove?” A rut is when you’re spinning your wheels and staying in place….. A groove is different: The wheels turn and you move forward effortlessly.”
She goes on to explore how you get into a rut and how to get out of it.
An ‘A’ in Failure
The ability to effectively learn from failure is discussed in this chapter, Twyla notes that:
“Every creative person has to learn to deal with failure, because failure, like death and taxes, is inescapable.”
To learn from failure we need understand the reasons for the failure, she discusses reasons for failure such as, a failure of skill, of concept, of judgment, of nerve, of repetition, and of denial?
The Long Run
You need to be successful in the long run and Twyla writes that:
“There is no long run without devotion, commitment, persistence.”
One way that Twyla is most successful is when she is in what she describes as a creative bubble:
“I eliminated every distraction, sacrificed almost everything that gave me pleasure, placed myself in a single-minded isolation chamber, and structured my life so that everything was not only feeding the work but subordinated to it. It is not a particularly sociable way to operate. It’s actively anti-social. On the other hand, it is pro-creative.”
Summary
The book does a good job of describing how creativity is a habit and provides plenty of guidance as to what it takes to develop a creative habit. The advice offered in the book is insightful and practical. The author draws from her extensive experience to support the application of creative habits discussed in each chapter. The book is well structured, with each chapter ending with a set of exercises that you can use to apply the various habits. The book’s layout and style make’s it an easy, comfortable read.
The book inspired me, I’ve become a lot more aware of my daily habits and how they affect my creativity. It is one of the more interesting and practical books I’ve read on creativity. I recommend this book be read by all leaders and managers a who would like to improve their creativity.
Technorati Tags: Creative, Creativity, Habit, GTD, Book, Book Review, Leadership, Management, Business, Personal Development, Art, Write
Apr
3
Working Smarter Not Harder
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The effects of overwork are discussed in a Fortune article entitled “Be smarter at work, slack off” discussing the effects of over work on our ability to think creatively.
“it’s really, really hard, if not impossible, for the human brain to come up with fresh new ideas when its owner is overworked, overtired, and stressed out. And in today’s wonderful world of nonstop work, 40% of American adults get less than seven hours of sleep on weeknights…….. The physiological effects of tiredness are well-known. You can turn a smart person into an idiot just by overworking him,” notes Peter Capelli, a professor of management at Wharton……. Companies need to respect the time it takes to do strategic thinking,” he says. “Task-oriented thinking is important too, of course. But bigger thinking is slow.” The late Peter Drucker agreed. He wrote in The Effective Executive (an eerily prescient 40 years ago), “All one can think and do in a short time is to think what one already knows and to do as one has always done.” Gulp….. What scientists have only recently begun to realize is that people may do their best thinking when they are not concentrating on work at all. If you’ve ever had a great idea pop into your head while you were washing your car, walking your dog, or even napping, you already know what a team of Dutch psychologists revealed last month in the journal Science: The unconscious mind is a terrific solver of complex problems when the conscious mind is busy elsewhere or, perhaps better yet, not overtaxed at all.”
Are you overworking your brain? Have you set aside time to think, shape and land your thoughts?
Technorati Tags: Thinking, Creative, Business, Management, Personal Development, “Personal Leadership”, Lifehack, GTD, Innovation
Mar
24
The Best Times to Be Creative
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Paul Williams from Idea Sandbox has a follow-up post to a Time article describing the best times to be creative. He has used his creativity and produced the following images to illustrate the best times to be creative.
For the Morning Person
For the Evening Person
- Low Concentration - the body’s clock shifts, lowering concentration.
- Creativity - best time for brainstorming and open-ended thinking. Before the brain is flooded with the day’s stimuli.
- Problem Solving - The brain is warmed up and at its peak for activities from analysis to memorization.
- Rejuvination - ‘To stay sharp, experts suggest refreshing the mind with daily exercise and brain-building activities like reading, artistic exploration and puzzle solving.’
This approach is something that I am consciously trying to practice. Whenever possible I block out my mornings and use them for work that requires higher levels of my creative energy. I use my evenings to do most of the routine tasks, work that does not require much thinking. I have seen a definate improvement in the quality of ideas and thinking in the mornings using this approach.
Technorati Tags: Creative, Creativity, Innovation, Personal Leadership, GTD, Lifehack, Mental
Feb
25
Where do you wear your thinking cap?
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An article entitled “Where do you wear your thinking cap?” found that….
“New research into entrepreneurial thinking conducted by mobile phone company Sony Ericsson……offers an intriguing glimpse into patterns of creativity. A survey of men and women, working predominantly in “progressive” areas such as IT and biotechnology found that 81% of people have their best ideas outside of the office, specifically while in the car and in bed…….practical methods of maximising creativity at work include brain-priming exercises, where you focus on a problem, move on to something else, then come back to it; creating a dedicated space for ideas and even re-organising office layouts to enhance working relationships.”
Technorati Tags: Thinking, Creativity, Innovation, Business, Entrepreneur, Research
Feb
18
Stimulate Insights with the Relaxation Response
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I stumbled across an interesting article from the November 2005 issue of Harvard Business Review, titled “Are You Working Too Hard?“. In the article stress is defined as “a psychological response to any change, whether good or bad, that alerts the adaptive fight-or-flight response in the brain and the body“. Stress plays an important role in our lives, stress is especially important when it comes to high performance. Too little stress results in poor performance, whereas appropriate stress provide a catalyst for high performance, however too much stress reduces performance and can cause burnout. This relationship is described by the Yerkes-Dodson law a scientific principle developed by psychologists Robert M. Yerkes and J. D. Dodson in 1908. The Yerkes-Dodson law, illustrated below, shows that as stress increases, so does performance, up to an optimal point, the top of the curve. If stress is increased beyond the optimal point, at the top of the curve, performance begins to decrease.
Building on this work Dr. Herbert Benson, Harvard Medical School and President of the Mind Body Medical Institute discovered an interesting response…..
“By bringing the brain to the height of activity and then suddenly moving it into a passive, relaxed state, it’s possible to stimulate much higher neurological performance than would otherwise be the case. Over time, subjects who learn to do this as a matter of course perform at consistently higher levels.”
By consciously using this biological response, which Herbert Benson calls the “Relaxation Response“, we can trigger insights to help solve difficult problems. The response is triggered as follows:
- Focused information gathering and analysis. By increasing your work load and working hard at analysis you increase stress, over time moving along the stress axis of the Yerkes-Dobson curve. As stress increases, your performance will eventually start to decrease, creating a “stress response”, such as frustration, anger, fear, etc.
- Stop and walk away. Now you stop what you’re doing, walk away and do something different and relaxing, such as, prayer, jogging, swimming yoga, etc. This is the stage that triggers the relaxation response.
- Sudden insight. This is where you usually experience a “sudden insight” into the problem or challenge you were trying to solve.
This approach of intense analysis, the release of control then removing yourself from the issue allows your brain to rearrange itself increasing the possibility that insights will emerge. According to Dr. Benson about 25% of people trained in the process can reliably reach the insight stage. Although I have not deliberately tried this approach I have experienced this working in the normal course of a work. In the months ahead I will be attempting to deliberately use this technique and see how well it triggers insights into difficult problems.
Benson’s latest book is “The Breakout Principle: How to Activate the Natural Trigger That Maximizes Creativity, Athletic Performance, Productivity and Personal Well-Being
Technorati Tags: Leadership Practice, Personal Leadership, Leadership, Management, Leadership Development,GTD, Lifehack
Feb
11
Tips for Becoming a Highly Creative Person
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A study released in Sawyer’s latest book, “Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation
Creativity Requires Collaboration
Sawyer says that many people have a vision of highly creative people as “lone geniuses.” “In reality,” says Sawyer, “creative people network with other people. A lot of creativity happens through collaboration.
But the myth of the lone genius still persists because many people, when they think of the stereotypical creative-type person, they think of the ultimate lone genius — the poet. “People see poets as being very solitary and yet very creative. Many people think all a poet needs is a pencil and some paper and he or she never has to talk to anyone. People tend to view painters the same way. They think all the artist needs is a canvas and paint and he or she doesn’t require social interaction.” However, Sawyer says, research shows that even writers and painters are very social and creative and they spend a lot of time interacting with other people. “They have to get ideas from somewhere,” he adds.
Creativity Requires Knowledge
“You can’t be creative without knowing a lot about what you are trying to be creative in,” Sawyer says. “You can’t just decide to be creative in something. Really creative people spend a lot of time in preparation. If you want to be creative, Sawyer says, spend a lot of time learning about the subject and what others have done before. “Network and find out who else is working in the area. A lot of good creativity comes from collaboration. Creativity takes a lot of time and hard work.”
Sawyer thinks much of the difference between highly creative people and the rest of us is hard work and work habits.
Creativity Requires Hard Work AND Smart Work
“When people say they aren’t creative, it’s because of some false ideas about creativity that we hold as a society,” Sawyer says. “One myth is that if you’re a creative person it’s a trait and everything you touch turns to gold. That’s not the way creativity works. It’s not some magical trait. You have to work hard to be a more creative person. You have to be diligent,” he says.
“Creative people work hard but they also work smart,” Sawyer adds. “There is a certain way they structure their work habits. They structure their day so they alternate between hard work and time off.A common pattern for creative people is to work hard in the morning and then take some time away during lunch to take a walk or garden or ride a bike. A lot of creative people have their great ideas when they take time away from their work. Idle time allows them to think of their problems in new ways. People talk about the ‘aha’ moment emerging when you are doing something else.”
Creative people also tend to have multiple related long-term projects going on at the same time. “When they are working on one thing and they get stuck, they shift to another project. That creates potential for unexpected connections between the projects.”
Creative people also take breaks to do something radically different from their current project. “They might read a book, play a board game or take a walk. These are times where distant analogies can happen — meaning something on the board game might provide an idea regarding the current project. Something in a book might connect two ideas together. A walk might allow for viewing of new concepts.”
Sawyer says that the brain processes we use for creativity are based on the same building blocks that we all use everyday, like brushing your teeth or taking a shower or fixing breakfast.
I have recently started to purposefully manage my creative energy, seeking to do my creative work in the mornings, whilst I’m still fresh, and leaving the more routine, administrative work until later in the day.
Technorati Tags: Creative,Innovation, Personal Leadership, Management, GTD, Books, Lifehack
Dec
10
The Creative Processes
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An interesting post titled Notes on Making Art offers the following insights into the creative process:
- Quality through quantity. Don’t get hung up on making this one piece good — make ten and one will certainly be pretty good.
- Do NOT mix generating and editing. When you’re making a piece, don’t stop and get judgmental half-way through. If it’s a piece of crap, get that piece of crap out of your system — don’t try to fix it mid-flow. Finish it, move on.
- When to judge: After you’ve completed a piece, look at it and decide what direction you want to go in next. Or if you’re selecting pieces for submission to a show, apply your critiquing mind then. Make a piece of art; look at it; make another.
- Don’t be afraid to re-use elements. If each piece has to be unique, then you’re going to get hung-up when you create some bit that you like. But if you can re-use bits, then you can keep moving.
- How to have “lots of ideas”: permute. Start anywhere. Once a piece is done, try varying some aspect. Think of all the variables that could have permutations.
- “Get through your first 50 failures as fast as you can.” I don’t think that we should be shooting for a place where we no longer make crappy art. A good artist is one who’s in motion making lots of art — you only think they’re so much better because they produce so much quantity that their pile of “good art” has also been able to accumulate. For every piece of crap you create, you’re one step closer to getting something you really like.
- Don’t even bother “fixing” pieces. Making art shouldn’t be a struggle. You’re simply “thinking out loud” onto the page, photo-paper, or canvas. If a product seems confused, leave it confused. Make another piece where you contemplate whatever issues you were wrestling with. Try something different. When clarity arrives, it will come in one living piece — not be Frankensteined together out of a single infinitely re-worked, mangled corpse.
- Work fast. Creativity is exciting. If you’re not judging while you’re making, then you can just throw things together as fast as your mind can move. You’re smart; if you don’t like what you’ve made, you’ll know immediately. You might not know what to do about the problem you perceive… Don’t “think”, standing there cogitating — try things. If your hands are in motion, you can be generating new permutations. The one that you want to pick will come out on its own time.
- Let your level show. Let the world know that despite having years of investment in your art form, you’re still a beginner who doesn’t know it all. Rather than hide your thought process, let your questions be present in your work. You are a fundamentally more interesting artist if people get to see what it is that you’re struggling with, rather than just your final answers. Show your work. Talk about what you still can’t understand (unapologetically).
- Don’t hide your failures. If you are only willing to show those perfect pieces that you are aspiring towards, you’re never going to display / publish your work. Show everything, the worst of the crap included, and let your ego be humbled — and goaded to create more.
Thinking patterns that help create new ideas.
- Explore new ideas and learn to become flexible in your thinking.
- Practice visualization — learn how to create concept maps, illustrative schema, and sketch ideas out.
- Explore other fields looking for new theories and ideas that can be synthesized and adapted.
- Keep a record of your explorations. Keep an “Idea Journal”
- Learn to think of possibilities, diverge, be expansive. Generate lots of ideas, then refine them.
- Practice trying to look at things holistically and try to get the big picture.
- Learn to focus in on parts of a problem, then come back out to the big picture.
- Don’t get in a rut. Force yourself to try new things. Experiment with new strategies and play with ideas imaginatively.
- Think of yourself as an “idea artist” or an “idea vendor.”
- Combine ideas. Let ideas and thoughts ferment and percolate and then revisit them.
- Take time to imagine new ideas and possibilities. Practice daydreaming.
- Look for ideas and inspiration in ordinary places. Scan books, magazines, articles, advertisements & photos for new ideas.
- Ask family members, friends, co-workers and even strangers for a fresh perspectives.
- Brainstorm and free associate frequently.
Technorati Tags: Creative, Innovation, Creativity, Leadership
Oct
4
Time: The Number 1 Barrier to Organisational Creativity
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As part of a masters degree, a research project, initiated by Wayne Morris to identify the factors that enable organisational creativity, found the number 1 hinderance to organisational creativity is TIME! The survey found that:
More respondents raised the issue of time as the most important factor with regard to enhancing organisational creativity than any other with comments such as, “Just having uninterrupted time would do it for me. Its so rare that I make space and time in my day just to think and be creative. I know that when I do it works really well for me and I enjoy my work. It remains a challenge for me.” Time pressure was also identified as a real barrier to creativity. This is supported by a study completed by Teresa Amabile in 1996 the results of which are recorded in Amabiles words in the December 2004 issue of Fast Company in which she says:
In our diary study, people often thought they were most creative when they were working under severe deadline pressure. But the 12,000 aggregate days that we studied showed just the opposite: People were the least creative when they were fighting the clock. In fact, we found a kind of timepressure hangover — when people were working under great pressure, their creativity went down not only on that day but the next two days as well. Time pressure stifles creativity because people can’t deeply engage with the problem. Creativity requires an incubation period; people need time to soak in a problem and let the ideas bubble up.
In fact, it’s not so much the deadline that’s the problem; it’s the distractions that rob people of the time to make that creative breakthrough. People can certainly be creative when they’re under the gun, but only when they’re able to focus on the work. They must be protected from distractions, and they must know that the work is important and that everyone is committed to it. In too many organizations, people don’t understand the reason for the urgency, other than the fact that somebody somewhere needs it done today.”
In addition to time, the study found the following factors, identified in priority order, as being a hinderance to organisational creativity:
- Time
- Competence of staff
- Space/resources to pursue ideas
- Open communication and full information sharing
- Supportive organisational structure
- Personal authority to initiate change / Individual empowerment
- Creative leadership
- Motivation of staff
- Clear organisational goals
- Appropriate reward
- Appropriate investment ($, time, resources etc)
- Appropriate tools and technology
- Allowance for mistakes
- Diversity
- Organisational desire to learn from previous mistakes
- Creativity recognised / taken seriously
- Balance between risk and opportunity
- Skilled delegation
- Some fat in the system
- Removing uncreative people
- Organisational life force
Hat Tip To: Report 103, a complimentary weekly electronic newsletter from Bwiti bvba of Belgium (a jpb.com company). Archives and subscription information can be found at http://www.jpb.com/report103/
Technorati Tags: Creativity, Innovation, GTD, Lifehack, Research
Sep
29
Creativity Requires Courage
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“Every act of creativity is an act of faith. The essence of faith is to proceed without any real evidence that our effort will be rewarded. The act of faith in choosing to live out a way of operating that we alone believe in gives real meaning to our work and our lives” - Peter Block in “The Empowered Manager“
Technorati Tags: Creativity, Courage, Faith, Book
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