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Photos by Gregory Boratyn. Photos by Gregory Boratyn Photos of Antelope Canyon in Arizona with some additional image processing. You can see more of his work at 500px. 25 Useful Brainstorming Techniques. 7 Easy Ways To Be More Innovative. The Eight Pillars of Innovation. The greatest innovations are the ones we take for granted, like light bulbs, refrigeration and penicillin. But in a world where the miraculous very quickly becomes common-place, how can a company, especially one as big as Google, maintain a spirit of innovation year after year? Nurturing a culture that allows for innovation is the key. As we’ve grown to over 26,000 employees in more than 60 offices, we’ve worked hard to maintain the unique spirit that characterized Google way back when I joined as employee #16.

At that time I was Head of Marketing (a group of one), and over the past decade I’ve been lucky enough to work on a wide range of products. Some were big wins, others weren’t. What’s different is that, even as we dream up what’s next, we face the classic innovator’s dilemma: should we invest in brand new products, or should we improve existing ones? Have a mission that matters Work can be more than a job when it stands for something you care about.

Think big but start small. 3 Paths Toward A More Creative Life. Everyone can learn to be more creative, but to become very creative, I’ve come to believe you need to lead a creative life. In watching my best students, in examining the lives of successful entrepreneurs, and in seeing the process of the great Native American artists who I know, it is clear that how they live their daily lives is crucial to their success. I realize that it sounds very “zen-y” (which is OK by me), yet I come to this realization not through a search for spirituality or clarity but from simple observation. Creativity is in such demand today that when we apply for jobs, when we join organizations, or when we just meet other people, we are asked to present our creative selves. But we can’t do that unless we understand the nature of our own creativity, locate the sources of our originality, and have a language that explains our work.

If you are one of the growing number of “creatives,” or want to become one, you need to lead a creative life. 1. For good reason. 2. 3. 5 Outstanding TED Talks about Creativity. According to Sir Ken Robinson, creativity is the " process of having original ideas that have values". Everyone of us is born creative but the milieu where we are brought up and the kind of education we receive have a lot to do with how creative we become as we grow up.

In his popular TED talk " Do Schools Kill Creativity " , Robinson argued that students are educated out of creativity. Schools and curriculum do not seem to put a high premium on those elements that are mainly linked to the development of our creative powers including art, music, dance, and drama. Whenever there is a budget cut, the first thing they start with is art as if art is only a recreational subject. I am actually working on a poster about creativity which I will probably publish tomorrow. 1- 4 Lessons in Creativity 2- You Elusive Creative Genius 3- How to Build your Creative Genius 4- Where Good Ideas come from 5- Fashion and Creativity. Innovation – The Leadership Soft Skills | KaurSkills. A summary of the role of leadership and soft skills in innovation. ‘A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.’ - Lao Tzu There are a lot of blogs and worthy peer journals, sharing the importance of innovation in business success and survival.

We all agree innovation is important, but how do we nurture innovation, as something which is integral to business process, and creates value within an organisation? Exceptional leaders and authors highlight the importance of ‘soft’ skills for successful management and leadership. Just recently, Tom Peters tweeted: ‘So called “soft” people skills drive implementation. Implementation = The “all important last 99%.”‘ (via Twitter @tom_peters) In management practice you could: (a) Ignore soft skills or give credence to ‘soft’ skills, as a key factor to nurturing performance, teamwork, in creativity and ultimate innovation; Everyone has time to reflect.

Like this: 8 Types Of Imagination. Imagination is critical to innovation and learning–but what exactly is it? Dr. Murray Hunter of the University of Malaysia Perlis discusses the 8 types of imagination we use on a daily basis, with explanations for each. Dr. Hunter defines imagination as “the ability to form mental images, phonological passages, analogies, or narratives of something that is not perceived through our senses.

Imagination is a manifestation of our memory and enables us to scrutinize our past and construct hypothetical future scenarios that do not yet, but could exist. Imagination also gives us the ability to see things from other points of view and empathize with others.” 8 Types of Imagination 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. More Info Visit the IntoEastAfrica blog for more reading. Requisite Carl Sagan And no mention of imagination would be complete without Carl Sagan. Matt Cutts: Try something new for 30 days.

Stixy: For Flexible Online Creation Collaboration and Sharing. How To Steal Like An Artist (And 9 Other Things Nobody Told Me) - Austin Kleon. Wednesday, March 30th, 2011 Buy the book: Amazon | B&N | More… Here’s what a few folks have said about it: “Brilliant and real and true.”

—Rosanne Cash“Filled with well-formed advice that applies to nearly any kind of work.” Read an excerpt below… Tags: steal like an artist. Creativity Processes, Creative Thinking & Lateral Thinking from. © iStockphoto/pavlen The tools in this section can help you to become more creative. They are designed to help you devise creative and imaginative solutions to problems, and help you to spot opportunities that you might otherwise miss.

Before you continue, it is important to understand what we mean by creativity, as there are two completely different types. The first is technical creativity, where people create new theories, technologies or ideas. This is the type of creativity we discuss here. The second is artistic creativity, which is more born of skill, technique and self-expression. Artistic creativity is beyond the scope of these articles. Many of the techniques in this chapter have been used by great thinkers to drive their creativity. Approaches to Creativity There are two main strands to technical creativity: programmed thinking and lateral thinking. The other main strand uses 'Lateral Thinking'.

Programmed Thinking and Lateral Thinking Unfortunately, we get stuck in our patterns. The Two Basic Tools | Julia Cameron Live. There are two pivotal tools in creative recovery: the morning pages and the artist date. A lasting creative awakening requires the consistent use of both. To read more, click here to download the Basic Tools pdf. Morning Pages Morning Pages are three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing, done first thing in the morning. There is no wrong way to do Morning Pages– they are not high art. They are about anything and everything that crosses your mind– and they are for your eyes only. Artist Dates The Artist Date is a once-weekly, festive, solo expedition to explore something that interests you.

Creative process. Creativity Processes, Creative Thinking and Lateral Thinking from MindTools. Creativity Toolbox.