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5 Exercises to Get Your Creativity Unstuck. Have you hit a creative roadblock?

5 Exercises to Get Your Creativity Unstuck

In his book, “Unstuck,” Noah Scalin presents 52 inspiring prompts designed for any field and any level of experience. They’re divided by time commitment (from 30 seconds to several hours) so you can pick one that fits your schedule. How Reframing A Problem Unlocks Innovation. Editors’ note: The following is an adapted excerpt of InGenius (Harper One) by Tina Seelig.

How Reframing A Problem Unlocks Innovation

What is the sum of 5 plus 5? " "What two numbers add up to 10? " The first question has only one right answer, and the second question has an infinite number of solutions, including negative numbers and fractions. These two problems, which rely on simple addition, differ only in the way they are framed. In fact, all questions are the frame into which the answers fall. Mastering the ability to reframe problems is an important tool for increasing your imagination because it unlocks a vast array of solutions. A classic example of this type of reframing comes from the stunning 1968 documentary film Powers of Ten, written and directed by Ray and Charles Eames.

5 Creativity Challenges to Spark Your Next Idea. Improve Your Sketching by Shamelessly Copying — Work and Words. Recently, I held an internal microclass focused on learning to sketch.

Improve Your Sketching by Shamelessly Copying — Work and Words

Like many similar tutorials, I described the fundamentals of drawing, including how complex shapes can be constructed from the four primitives: line, ellipse, triangle and rectangle. It occurred to me that the problem is less about being able to draw a proper dropdown or carousel, and more about developing the muscle memory to draw these quickly and confidently. This skill is not something ingrained: it’s developed over time through practice. Thinking back to drawing classes in college, I remembered that copying a master work was a great way to improve draftsmanship skills, build knowledge of shape and form, and even gain a glimpse into the decisions made by the artist. 8 Habits of Curious People. Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference next Monday will be all about the brains behind Apple devices—the operating systems.

8 Habits of Curious People

It's not likely we'll see any new gadgetry (I could be wrong; it's happened), but we'll get a busload of information about new tricks in iOS, Mac OS, watchOS, and tvOS. At last year's WWDC, you may remember, Apple introduced OS X 10.11 (El Capitan), iOS 9, and WatchOS 2. The News app debuted, Maps added public transit directions, and HomeKit and CarPlay both got updates. This year we'll hear a lot about how Siri is moving deeper into Apple's major OSs, and about her advances in general smarts and usefulness. And Apple execs will probably talk about how the company has further integrated its cloud services into its OSs and apps.

Ask better questions

The Most Important Job of the Product Owner — Quality Functions. First of all, let me say that I really dislike the title of Product Manager.

The Most Important Job of the Product Owner — Quality Functions

I think it implies that the role of the individual is only to “manage” the task flow of the product team, and I think that greatly demeans the value of a modern product leader. I prefer to use the title “Product Owner”, and while some argue that “Product Owner” is more helpful as a “label” than a title, I prefer to default to Product Owner because: Product Owner is a much better reflection of how a good Product Manager views their own role. That is, to take ownership and decision-making responsibility of the value that the product delivers to customers. For me, the full wordy title is “Concept-to-Customer Product Owner.”Product Owner is a better reflection of the value that the Product Manager offers to the team.

Should only one person “own” the product? You may be thinking that every member of the team should have ownership and responsibility for the product. The most important job of the product owner.

Leadership

Management. Amy Cuddy: To Be Your Authentic Self, Get to Know Your Beliefs, Values, and Abilities. Reframe: Shift the Way You Work, Innovate, and Think. By Mona Patel Published: September 7, 2015 This is an excerpt from Mona Patel’s new book, Reframe: Shift the Way You Work, Innovate, and Think. 2015 Lioncrest Publishing.

Reframe: Shift the Way You Work, Innovate, and Think

Why isn’t innovation happening? Why does your business have user experience issues? Why aren’t customers in love with your brand? People have closed, biased perspectives and are not seeing the problem or opportunity space clearly. This all changes with reframing. Think of it this way: the Reframework contains a set of eight modules that you can choose from depending on the type of business problem you have and the answers you need. STEP 1—The Real Problem STEP 2—A Different Lens STEP 3—Ask What If STEP 4—Funnel Vision STEP 5—Themes. 6 Essential Ingredients for a Successful Creative Life — Life Learning. 6 Essential Ingredients for a Successful Creative Life Our dreams come true when we are true to them — Julia Cameron We write our goals in notebooks, we review them daily, we create vision boards, and we scratch our heads wondering why some of our dreams aren’t coming true.

6 Essential Ingredients for a Successful Creative Life — Life Learning

But that’s partially because we confuse the “dreaming” with the “remaining true.” Remaining true to our dreams requires certain essential ingredients if we’re going to live a successful creative life.