Improvisation May Be the Key to Successfully Managing Change, Says MIT Improvisation May Be the Key to Successfully Managing Change, Says MIT January 10 2012 by ChiefExecutive.net Agility , flexibility, improvisation – a company’s ability to quickly change is crucial to its long-term success. Sometimes, however, the conductor needs to let go and let its skilled and creative musicians lead. Orlikowski says, “Organizations that stay flexible take advantage of new opportunities, explore new ways of working, and resolveunanticipated consequences.” Read: Jazz-Inspired: Manage Change by Improvising
Rice 10 Awesome Videos On Idea Execution & The Creative Process At 99U, we try to demystify the creative process. To show you the real inner-workings of how ideas are made to happen by sharing the thought processes and creative practices of great achievers. Here, with the help of our readers, we’ve rounded up some of the best videos on idea execution from artists, writers, designers, storytellers, researchers, and chocolatiers. 1. William Kentridge: Anything Is Possible (53:12) This rich and wonderful profile of acclaimed South African artist William Kentridge comes from PBS’s Art:21 series. Among other things, Kentridge talks embracing the seriousness of play and learning how to work out of your weaknesses. It’s always been in between the things I thought I was doing that the real work has happened. 2. The most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. 3. Sometimes we over-value our own experience. I know that being right is a pretty deadly thing. 4. 5. Enlightened trial and error succeeds over the planning of the lone genius. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch wallpapers for the rest of us. PreviousNext Tip: Use your arrow keys to navigate. Talent, Passion, and the Creativity Maze - Teresa Amabile and Steve Kramer - HBS Faculty by Teresa Amabile and Steve Kramer | 12:25 PM February 27, 2012 We live in a world mad for talent. From Hollywood and sports to executive search firms and HR departments around the globe, everyone seeks that special mix of natural abilities and attitudes that will make performance pop. A few months ago, Douglas Conant wrote a terrific blog post on how to find talented candidates for a job. When evaluating a potential hire, Conant looks for a strong mix of three qualities — competence, character, and skill as a team player. That ingredient, at least as important as the talent package described by Conant, is passion for the work — what psychologists call intrinsic motivation. Arthur Schawlow, a Nobel laureate in physics, said it eloquently: “The labor of love aspect is important. Intrinsically motivated people are more creative because they engage more deeply with the work. As a manager, you can leverage the link between passion and creativity by following three guidelines:
How Geniuses Think 109Share Synopsis Thumbnail descriptions of the thinking strategies commonly used by creative geniuses. How do geniuses come up with ideas? What is common to the thinking style that produced "Mona Lisa," as well as the one that spawned the theory of relativity? What characterizes the thinking strategies of the Einsteins, Edisons, daVincis, Darwins, Picassos, Michelangelos, Galileos, Freuds, and Mozarts of history? For years, scholars and researchers have tried to study genius by giving its vital statistics, as if piles of data somehow illuminated genius. Academics also tried to measure the links between intelligence and genius. Genius is not about scoring 1600 on the SATs, mastering fourteen languages at the age of seven, finishing Mensa exercises in record time, having an extraordinarily high I.Q., or even about being smart. Most people of average intelligence, given data or some problem, can figure out the expected conventional response. GENIUSES MAKE THEIR THOUGHTS VISIBLE.
Why Weird Experiences Boost Creativity Creative people think differently. But why? There is no magic bullet or single pill. We all have the for creativity , but there are so many different triggers that can broaden our minds, inspire, and motivate. A crucial trigger is the experience of unusual and unexpected events . To test their idea, the researchers put people in a virtual reality world where participants took a virtual three-minute stroll through the university cafeteria, and during the course of their walk experienced weird events that violated the laws of physics. They also had people take a test of cognitive flexibility where they were required to come up with as many ideas as possible to the question "What makes sound?" In a second experiment they asked participants to prepare a sandwich with butter and chocolate chips (apparently, this is a breakfast delicacy in the Netherlands, where the study was conducted). These results are provocative and have some important implications. © 2012 by Scott Barry Kaufman .
The Age of the Artist–Time for a Revolution I’ve said many times before that it is an amazing time to be a writer. Yet, I think this age, this new Digital Renaissance might actually be more than we can imagine, and age of empowerment artists have never before experienced. We just need to be open to the future. First, the Technology Problem Many artists feel threatened by social media, computers, iPads and e-readers. I will admit that I used to be one of those people who refused to learn how to use e-mail. Yet, now? Now, I no longer send frilly messages to a handful of friends and family. Digital books are not the first technological advance that has left artists feeling threatened. Great, thanks to that Gutenberg jerk, everyone can be published. When the Lumiere brothers invented the first cameras, people believed that artists would be obsolete, that photographs would take the place of paintings. What no one accounted for is that art is the very essence of creation. And that is awesome news for us. Artists have had a Rough Road
The Creative Benefits Of Exploring The Uncomfortable At Grey New York, someone had the radical idea that to be creative, you need time to think creatively and not be at the mercy of relentless calendar invites. Our boss, Tor Myhren, agreed and instituted the Thursday Morning No-Meeting Zone from 9 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. This is officially sanctioned time for us to expand our minds and devote time to ideas that kept getting pushed to the side, using whatever methods worked for us. My plan was to Force Myself to Learn About Something I Am Not Interested In. I was wrong. I’m no neurologist but I am now certain that the synapses in your brain like the familiar path. Finding topics that you can’t work up any interest in is not as easy as you’d think. Rick Santorum I don’t like politics. It took about 3.2 seconds on YouTube to realize that when it comes to Rick, my synapses were set on insta-dismiss mode. I found it in loss. The point is, forcing myself to try to find a connection made me find one. 1. 2.
The philosophy of creativity A highlight of Cannes for me has been the wisdom of philosopher Alain de Botton, a man so clever his brain has eaten his hair. Here, in a series of quotes, is some of the clever stuff he said today about creativity, media and advertising. “The world’s most powerful multinational corporation is the Catholic church. It has made lots of money by selling a good that people need, like a sense of belonging and self esteem. Advertising rarely does that. Too often it caters to the bottom end of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. “Difficulty and suffering is normal. “The problem with alcohol and religion – two of the great western narcotics – is that they remove suffering too early. “Get a human skull and put it on your desk. “The great thing about animals is that they don’t care about status. “The sabbath is really a check on megalomania. “There is no such thing as work-life balance. “All of us wrestle with a fear of failure. “Read any newspaper. “The best ads are childishly simple.” Robin Hicks
Einstein, music lessons and opening the mind This story is from Jerome Weidman, with no known copyright info. Thanks to Akshar Smriti for posting it. I'm only re-posting to update the formatting. When I was a very young man, just beginning to make my way, I was invited to dine at the home of a distinguished New York philanthropist. After dinner our hostess led us to an enormous drawing room. Other guests were pouring in, and my eyes beheld two unnerving sights: servants were arranging small gilt chairs in long, neat rows; and up front, leaning against the wall, were musical instruments. I use the phrase “in for” because music meant nothing to me. After a while, becoming aware that the people around me were applauding, I concluded it was safe to unplug my ears. “You are fond of Bach?” I knew as much about Bach as I know about nuclear fission. “Well,” I said uncomfortably, and hesitated. “I don’t know anything about Bach,” I said awkwardly. A look of perplexed astonishment washed across Einstein’s mobile face. “Now,” he said. “So!”
4 Ideas for Cultivating Creativity I had the pleasure of interviewing several artists and authors on how to break out of a creative rut. (Here’s that piece.) In addition to sharing valuable tips and techniques, they also shared their wisdom on cultivating creativity in general. 1. One of the biggest myths about creativity is that it’s bestowed on a lucky few, and the rest of us don’t have a creative bone in our bodies. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. Miller has witnessed the many different ways people channel their creativity. 2. “Creativity begets more creativity,” said Jolie Guillebeau, an artist who’s been painting every day since February 15, 2010. “When I’m creative, then I think of more ideas and more inspiration, which leads to more creating, which leads to more ideas.” 3. Sometimes creativity brings up uncomfortable feelings, said Keri Smith, an illustrator and author of several bestselling books on creativity, including Finish this Book. And that’s a good thing, she said. 4.
You are the creative type David Kelley: Creativity isn't something that only a few can do, it's natural human behaviorHe says sometimes creativity gets blocked and we lose the confidence to createA series of small successes can help people develop creative confidence, he saysKelley: Creativity can turn the world around, as it did at an MRI unit for sick children Editor's note: David Kelley founded the global design and innovation firm IDEO and led the creation of the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University. He spoke at TED in March 2012. (CNN) -- Creativity, the ability to see things differently and come up with new breakthroughs, isn't some God-given gift to be enjoyed by the lucky few. Albert Bandura is one of the great psychologists: Only Freud, Skinner and Piaget have been cited more. One day we met on campus and got to talking about this methodology he'd developed to cure phobias, called "guided mastery." Watch David Kelley's TED Talk: How to build your creative confidence
Resources for Developing Creativity and Innovation Links to a variety of sites with articles on creativity research by multiple authors, plus courses, programs & books for developing creativity and innovation. Sites / Blogs- – - - Creating in Flow – “Insights and advice about all forms of creative expression” – By Susan K. Perry, PhD, a social psychologist, writer, and writing consultant. Creativity at Work: Developing creativity and innovation in organizations Founder: Linda Naiman – a creativity and innovation consultant. And All That Jazz – “A creativity researcher’s take on the highs and lows of pop culture and the arts.” By James C. Cognitive psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman, Ph.D. Articles on creativity (listed on his site) His blog on The Huffington Post His Psychology Today blog: Beautiful Minds Milena Z. Life as Art – “How our world shapes who we are and how who we are shapes our world” Mindbloggling – “Current ideas about cultural evolution and the creative processes that power it.” Psychology Today blog by Liane Gabora, Ph.D.