Creativity
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If you often have your best creative thoughts when you're lying down in bed, you're probably not alone. A research study suggests that lying down can boost innovation and creative thinking. The study, from researchers at the Australian National University, tested twenty participants in their ability to solve anagrams.
Need a Creative Boost? Try Lying Down
The Creators Of "Workaholics" On Keeping The Stupid And Weird In Your Creative Process
Often a comedian’s only barometer is his own funny bone. If you work as part of a comedy team, there’s more potential laugh fodder, but at the same time, more opportunity for diverging opinions to shut down potentially good ideas. That’s why the creators of Workaholics adhere to the code: let no stupid idea go unexplored. Meet the creators of Workaholics : Blake Anderson, Adam DeVine, and Anders Holm.When your employees ask for help, how you respond can either empower them to find a solution or make them dependent on your input. One simple response consistently empowers employees : answering with a question instead of a statement. "The most common mistake managers make when helping a direct report solve a problem is a knee-jerk reaction to deliver an answer," says LeeAnn Renninger, director of LifeLabs , a Manhattan-based professional development and research organization, which offers a class on this technique. The problem with advice is that employees don't learn to solve problems independently.
Why the Best Managers Ask the Most Questions
Picasso, Kepler, and the Benefits of Being an Expert Generalist
One thing that separates the great innovators from everyone else is that they seem to know a lot about a wide variety of topics. They are expert generalists . Their wide knowledge base supports their creativity. As it turns out, there are two personality traits that are key for expert generalists: Openness to Experience and Need for Cognition. O penness to Experience is one of the Big Five personality characteristics identified by psychologists.David Byrne on How Music and Creativity Work
by Maria Popova “Presuming that there is such a thing as ‘progress’ when it comes to music is typical of the high self-regard of those who live in the present. It is a myth.
Sci/Tech
Steve Jobs
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values (ZAMM) is a 1974 philosophical novel , the first of Robert M.
The Role of Intuition and Imagination in Scientific Discovery and Creativity: A 1957 Guide
by Maria Popova “Those who do not know the torment of the unknown cannot have the joy of discovery.” Last week, we took in some timeless vintage wisdom on the role of serendipity and chance-opportunism in creativity and scientific discovery , culled from the 1957 gem The Art of Scientific Investigation ( public library ; public domain ) by Cambridge University animal pathology professor W. I. B.
Charles Bukowski: Depression and Three Days in Bed Can Restore Your Creative Juices (NSFW)
Pico Iyer once called Charles Bukowski the “laureate of American lowlife,” and that’s because he wrote poems for and about ordinary Americans — people who experienced poverty, the tedium and grind of work, and sometimes frayed relationships, bouts of alcoholism, drug addiction and the rest. Bukowski could write so eloquently about this because he came from this world. He grew up in a poor immigrant household with an abusive father, took to the bottle at an early age, worked at a Los Angeles post office for a decade plus, and had a long and tumultuous relationship with Jane Cooney Baker, a widow eleven years his senior, who drank to excess and died at 51, leaving Bukowski broken . And then there’s the depression. Bukowski experienced that too.
by Maria Popova “Most of the interesting art of our time is boring.” Artist Maira Kalman believes that it’s very important not to be bored for too long . And yet the history of boredom shows that boredom has an essential function in the history of art .
Susan Sontag on the Creative Purpose of Boredom
I’ve long noted how openness to new people and ideas can power innovation and economic growth. “The Open City,” a new study by Cambridge University psychologist Jason Rentfrow , offers new insight on this issue. A large body of literature shows that highly creative people - artists, scientists, entrepreneurs and the like - are highly likely to be open to new experiences.
The Psychology Behind Why Creative People Cluster - Neighborhoods
On Aaron Sorkin's latest drama The Newsroom, Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels) pledges to cover stories because they're important, not because they get ratings. Aaron Sorkin's new HBO drama The Newsroom follows the inner workings of a fictional cable network trying to challenge America's hyperpartisan 24/7 news culture. It's a typical Sorkin drama, complete with fast-paced dialogue, witty scenes and a strong ensemble cast.
Aaron Sorkin: The Writer Behind 'The Newsroom'
Jeff Daniels: Anchoring The Cast Of 'The Newsroom'
After a public meltdown and a wholesale staff defection, Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels) decides to take a different approach with his nightly news show. Aaron Sorkin's new HBO drama The Newsroom revolves around Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels), a popular cable-news anchor floating happily along with his nightly newscast, which does well in the ratings but doesn't tend to delve into anything that could offend or alienate anyone. After McAvoy has a public meltdown at a university lecture, he's put on a three-week hiatus by his boss (Sam Waterston). During McAvoy's time off, his staff defects and a new executive producer named Mackenzie McHale (Emily Mortimer) is hired to take the helm of McAvoy's show. But there's a back story: McHale and McAvoy used to date years ago, and now McHale wants to shake things up, with a new show anchored by McAvoy that tackles real hard-hitting news stories and calls out those who don't tell the truth.Take solace in the fact that "the creative process is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration." Link between creativity and better mental and physical health is well established Passion protects us physiologically, allowing us to work longer with less stress Take time off and find ways to recharge your creative and physical energy, expert says Editor's note: Columnist Amanda Enayati ponders the theme of seeking serenity, the quest for well-being and life balance in stressful times. (CNN) -- There are many conversations taking place right now about creativity -- how our future depends on it, how our kids are losing it, how most schools are killing it, and how parents ought to be nurturing and encouraging it. I recently attended a lecture on the topic by Tony Wagner, Innovation Education Fellow at Harvard's Technology & Entrepreneurship Center and author of "Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World."