Creativity and Innovation
Being creative can involve cooking a meal from scratch, creating a novel marketing campaign, making up a bedtime story for your child, finding ways to cut costs, or even developing a creative solution to a negotiation impasse. Whatever you do, creativity helps you do it better.
Some people believe creativity to be the result of an abnormal chromosome that causes a muse-like effect, or of a neurological quirk. Others associate it with psychosis, temporal lobe seizures, or childhood trauma. And then there are those who believe it's about winning the genetic lottery: you're either born creative or you're not. However, as most creativity experts hold - including Jack Foster, Roger von Oech, Edward de Bono, and many others - creativity is a process that can be learned, practiced, and perfected.
By the time you finish reading this lens I can almost guarantee you'll be more creative.
photo credit: Lori GreigFabulous Creativity Resource:
This is my ebook on creativity (click on the book for more information):
Practical Creativity
Being More Creative Will Help You with All of the Following:
- Solve everyday problems more efficiently and effectively.
- Turn problems into opportunities.
- Create new products, processes, and services.
- Make creative, innovative, and entrepreneurial thinking part of your everyday work life.
- Generate ideas for creative pursuits such as writing, drawing, photography, and so on.
- Find creative ways to generate more income.
Four Steps to Unleash Your Creativity
To be more creative, start by following these four steps, roughly modeled after the five step technique set forth in the creativity classic, "A Technique for Producing Ideas"
by James Webb Young:1. Gather Information on Your Subject Matter
2. Digest the Information and Apply Creativity Techniques
3. Take Time for Incubation
4. Refine the Idea and Make it Real
These four steps are described in more detail below.
photo credit: jenn_jenn ""I write when I'm inspired, and I see to it that I'm inspired at 9:00 every morning." Peter De Vries"
Creativity Tip #1
Show up:
Schedule a regular time to practice your craft--whether it's writing or anything else--and show up, even if you're not feeling creative.
Example:
9 to 11:00 a.m. - Write
Step One: Gather Information on Your Subject Matter
The first step in unleashing your creativity involves gathering information about the topic at hand.Read everything you can on your subject matter:
- Go to the library and check out books;
- Go to your neighborhood bookstore and browse through interesting reading material;
- Read magazine articles;
- Subscribe to a newsletter;
- Surf the internet for information;
- Subscribe to blogs dedicated to your topic.
You can also talk to people who have knowledge on the topic and ask them lots of questions, go to a lecture, enroll in a seminar, and even take an online class. The more you know about a topic, the more likely you are to come up with creative ideas for that subject matter.
("Working it all out . . . ", courtesy of Lost in Scotland).
Creativity Tip #2:
Play Baroque Music
Baroque music-such as Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" and Pachbel's "Canon"-has been shown to synchronize brain waves at about 60 cycles per second, a frequency associated with increased alpha waves. In turn, alpha is a frequency of mind associated with enhanced creativity.
Step Two. Digest the Information and Apply Creativity Techniques
The second step involves digesting and working with the raw material that you gathered in the previous step.There are many books on creativity which offer the reader different creativity techniques to help in the generation of ideas, and at this point you can begin applying these techniques to your problem. Basically, there are creativity techniques that are expansive and "open" our mind, and there are creativity techniques that force your mind to focus.
Creativity Techniques that Open Your Mind
Some creativity techniques are intended to "open your mind" and encourage "free thinking", such as idea generation and brainstorming sessions, guided imagery, and other expansive techniques. For example, you can begin by releasing all of the preconceived ideas and assumptions you have about the topic and disregard fixed lines of thinking and rigid behavior patterns.
Creativity Techniques that Force Your Mind to Focus
Other techniques create constraints and force your mind to focus, such as setting time deadlines and other methods that force you to converge on a particular course of action. For example, in problem-solving contexts, the random word creativity technique has been shown to produce great results for those who apply it. Basically, a person confronted with a problem is presented with a randomly generated word and is told to make associations between the word and the problem as a creativity goad. By combining expansive and constraining creativity techniques you can come up with several different alternatives to choose from for solving the problem at hand.
("Ball of Whacks", courtesy of kevmaguire).
creativity tip #3
Read one page of the dictionary every day and write down any words that catch your attention in a notebook. When you need inspiration, look through the words you have written down.
Step Three: Take Time for Incubation
The third stage is letting go. You just drop the subject entirely, go do something else, and let the unconscious mind deal with the problem.Incubation is needed to handle complexity - during this relaxing period, people unconsciously and consciously combine ideas with a freedom that denies linear and rational thought (Boden 1990).
After a period of intense concentration, Albert Einstein would take a nap or find another way to detach from whatever he was working on. He found that during these mental breaks his unconscious mind would go on thinking about the challenge and surprise him with an insight when he least expected it.
Isaac Asimov was quoted as saying that when he got stuck writing a book he would simply put the project aside and start writing a completely different book. When he returned to the original project he would find that his unconscious mind had figured things out and the ideas would just flow.
Seymour Cray, the legendary designer of high-speed computers, used to divide his time between building the next generation super computer and digging an underground tunnel below his Chippewa Falls house. He would immerse himself in his work, and then he would walk away from it and let the ideas percolate.
Thomas Edison, a man with over 1,000 patents to his credit, would go down to the dock and fish.
Therefore, after a period of thinking hard about a problem, the next step is to either work on something entirely different, or to relax: practice deliberate frivolity, go to a museum, go to the movies, or go for a twenty minute walk. Many people have reported "Eureka" moments while taking time for incubation.
("Artist Under Bridge", courtesy of Randy Son Of Robert).
CREATIVITY TIP #4
Read "Wild Mind"
Step Four: Refine the Idea and Make it Real
The final stage is where you use trial and experimentation to test, edit, refine and polish the idea. In addition, at this step you need to make your idea real.In her inspiring book, A Creative Companion: How to Free Your Creative Spirit
, Sark tells the story of an Australian artist named Ken Done who created a painting he thought would look great on bed sheets. He took the idea to a sheet company but they turned him down because they just couldn't visualize bed sheets with his painting on them. Ken then went home, took a white bed sheet, painted his painting on it, and took it back to the sheet company. The bed sheet he painted looked so fabulous that the sheet company immediately placed a large order.It's not enough to come up with great ideas, you have to act to turn those ideas into reality.
In this lens you will find more information on how to apply these steps to become more creative.
("The Artist's Table", courtesy of dayrain (gone to dive =)).
For an in-depth view of the creative process, read my ebook "How to Be More Creative - A Handbook for Alchemists".
What Does It Mean to Be More Creative?
A Definition of Creativity
Dr. Edward de Bono is a leading authority in the field of creative thinking and is the originator of the term "lateral thinking". He explains that creativity is a skill that everyone can learn. He adds that even if some people may be better at being creative than others, like some people are better at playing tennis than others, when specific techniques are applied it becomes possible for anyone to generate new ideas in any field.While Dr. de Bono emphasizes creativity techniques, Rice Freeman-Zachery, author of "Living the Creative Life: Ideas and Inspiration from Working Artists", has this to say about how to be more creative: "Instead of looking at the world as it is, look at everything as being full of possibilities. Instead of seeing what is, look for what could be. If you're an artist, you look at everything as a possibility and inspiration because you know that ideas can come from anywhere."
Psychotherapist and creativity coach Dr. Eric Maisel, Ph.D. has been working with creative and performing artists for over twenty years and has written many books teaching others to be more creative, including "Coaching the Artist Within", "Fearless Creating", "A Writer's Paris", "The Van Gogh Blues", and others. He explains that everyone wishes to create, but some people nurture and honor this desire, while for others the urge to create is dimmed. Dr. Maisel encourages poets, filmmakers, human resource specialists, biochemists, and everyone else to make creativity their religion.
There are also those, such as Dr. Caroline Myss-a pioneer in the field of energy medicine and human consciousness-who argue that creativity is not just an artistic or intellectual inclination; instead, working with your creative energy is as essential to your health and overall well-being as breathing and eating. She has this to say about the creative energy:
"Creative energy is a basic survival instinct; it motivates us to become part of society, to become productive, bring things to life, and to distinguish ourselves from others by what we make, the crafts we pursue, the skills we develop in business or in cultivating friendships, the entrepreneurial ideas we conceive, the problems we resolve, and the children or communities we birth and nurture."
(This was taken from the introduction of my ebook, "How to Be More Creative - A Handbook for Alchemists").
photo credit: ClickFlashPhotos Living the Creative Life: Ideas and Inspiration from Working Artists
Living the Creative Life: Ideas and Inspiration from Working Artists
Amazon Price: $15.63 (as of 11/27/2009)
Rice Freeman-Zachery has compiled answers from 15 successful artists in a variety of mediums--from assemblage to fiber arts, and from beading to mixed-media collage--to questions such as:
- "Where do your ideas come from?"
- "How did you get started?"
- "What are your tricks for overcoming blocks?"
Roger von Oech
Roger von Oech is the founder and president of "Creative Think", a California-based consulting firm that specializes in stimulating creativity and innovation.
Books and Stuff by Roger Von Oech
Featured Lens: Roger von Oech
-
Roger von Oech - Creativity Whacks to the Head
-
Roger von Oech is an internationally-recognized creativity consultant who has worked with major companies from around the world, including Anheuser-Busch, General Foods, Hallmark Cards, Hewlett-Packard, NASA and Procter & Gamble. He's also the fo...
CREATIVITY TIP #5
Create Mindmaps
Write down the issue at the center of the paper. Now draw branches leading out from the central issue which represent the main associations that come from thinking of this issue, and smaller branches leading out from these for sub-associations. Use lots of colors & pictures.
Books on Mind Mapping
The Mind Map Book: How to Use Radiant Thinking to Maximize Your Brain's Untapped Potential
Amazon Price: $16.50 (as of 11/27/2009)
How to Mind Map: The Ultimate Thinking Tool That Will Change Your Life
Amazon Price: $11.70 (as of 11/27/2009)
Mind Mapping Software
Follow Pablo Picasso's lead: first learn the rules, and then break them.
Pablo Picasso's 1907 painting "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" was so radical for the time--both for the subject matter and the style--that Henri Matisse predicted that Picasso would be found hung behind the painting. Today it's one of the world's most famous modern art paintings.
How to Be More Creative - A Handbook for Alchemists
"How to Be More Creative - A Handbook for Alchemists" explains that creativity is not the sole domain of the arts but is important in any field, from medicine to business, and from engineering to developing a creative solution to a negotiation impasse. Whatever you do, creativity helps you do it better. Discover practical advice on how to be more creative in every life endeavor by reading my ebook.The ebook has 130 pages and 20 chapters and is chock full of value.
The purpose of this ebook is not just to give you information, but to transform you into a more creative and innovative person.
Print it out and place it in a ring-binder; you'll be creating a work file and adding lots of things to your binder, including creativity techniques, journal pages, quotes, photographs, ideas, and so on. At the end of almost every chapter in this ebook you'll find instructions on what to do with your work file.
Here's a .PDF file that contains the ebook's table of contents and the introduction:
"Table of Contents and Introduction"
Here's What People Are Saying About "How to Be More Creative - A Handbook for Alchemists"
Marelisa provides an excellent roadmap for moving beyond lineal thinking. Several techniques are discussed that will get your creative juices running like a tap. In her book, she also draws on several examples of famous personalities, like Edward De Bono and Randy Ingermanson, who offer valuable lessons on how to be more creative. Her book is well researched, with extensive links and rich resources.
For anyone who wants more creativity in their life, this is the book for you!
--- Evelyn Lim, life coach and writer to Attraction Mind Map, Singapore.
Eric Maisel, Ph.D.
Eric Maisel is a San Francisco-based creativity coach and trainer of creativity coaches. He has worked with creative and performing artists for more than twenty years and has written many excellent books on creativity.
"Make creativity your religion."
The Creativity Book: A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance
The Creativity Book: A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance
Amazon Price: $10.17 (as of 11/27/2009)
In "The Creativity Book: A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance", Maisel presents a complete one-year plan for unleashing your creativity. It includes two discussions/exercises per week, and culminates in a guided project of your choice--from working on your current novel to putting together a business plan for your new home business.
More Books by Eric Maisel
Creativity for Life: Practical Advice on the Artist's Personality, and Career from America's Foremost Creativity Coach
Amazon Price: $12.21 (as of 11/27/2009)
Affirmations for Artists
Amazon Price: $11.86 (as of 11/27/2009)
Fearless Creating: A Step-by-Step Guide To Starting and Completing Your Work of Art
Amazon Price: (as of 11/27/2009)
creativity tip #6
Ask Yourself Lots of Questions
Two books that can help you formulate good questions are the following:
- Barbara Ann Kipfer's "4000 Questions For Getting To Know Anyone and Everyone"
- "The Book of Questions" by Gregory Stock
Creativity on Wikipedia
Creativity is a mental and social process involving the discovery of new ideas or concepts, or new associations of the creative mind between existing ideas or concepts. Creativity is fueled by the process of either conscious or unconscious insight. An alternative conception of creativeness (based on its etymology) is that it is simply the act of making something new.
From a scientific point of view, the products of creative thought (sometimes referred to as divergent thought) are usually consider...
Create Your Own "Jackson Pollock"
- Jackson Pollock by Miltos Manetas
- Create your own Jackson Pollock-style artwork by moving your cursor and clicking to change the color of your paint.
"The painting has a life of its own. I try to let it come through." Jackson Pollock
Here Are the Latest Five Posts on My Blog
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byCreativity Tip #7
Go Back to Basics
Pick up a pen or pencil and paper. There's something about a good old-fashioned pen and a stack of papers, or a brand new notebook, that gets the creative juices flowing.
Return to Basics
"The simplicity of the typewriter is alluring to writers who may be overwhelmed (or underwhelmed) by increasingly elaborate technology. A typewriter is also appealing in its transparency - whack a key, and watch the typebar smack a letter onto a piece of paper. Try figuring that out with a laser printer. Many people also find typewriters charming ambassadors of a bygone era." photo credit: plindberg Awaken your sense of wonder. Julia Cameron, author of "The Artist's Way" suggests that once a week, for at least an hour, you take yourself on some small festive adventure. Explore something new, try something you've always wondered about.
The Artist's Way
![The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity [10th Anniversary Edition]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51CHAK9ASCL._SL75_.jpg)
The Complete Artist's Way: Creativity As a Spiritual Practice
The Complete Artist's Way: Creativity as a Spiritual Practice
Amazon Price: $19.77 (as of 11/27/2009)
This gorgeous cloth-bound edition includes "The Artist's Way", "Walking in This World", and "Finding Water".
The Basic Tools
"The Artist's Way" refers to two pivotal tools:
1. The Morning Pages
2. The Artist Date
Read more about them here.
Julia Cameron: Weathering Challenges to our Creativity
Julia Cameron: Weathering Challenges to our Creativity
Author and artist Julia Cameron leads a workshop at Wisdom House in Litchfield, Connecticut, on February 10 on weathing challenges to our creativity. Here she speaks with Jo-Ann Iannotti, O.P., during a break between workshop sessions.
Runtime: 544
13639 views
24 Comments:
curated content from YouTube
"If you stuff yourself full of poems, essays, plays, stories, novels, music, you automatically explode every morning like old faithful. I have never had a dry spell in my life, mainly because I feed myself well, to the point of bursting. I wake early and hear my morning voices leaping around in my head like jumping beans. I get out of bed to trap them before they escape."
-- Ray Bradbury
Creativity Tip #8
Remember there is more than one right answer. One of the worst aspects of formal education is the insistence it places on finding "the" correct answer.
Edward de Bono
Dr. Edward de Bono is a leading authority in the field of creative thinking and is the originator of the term "lateral thinking."
"Lateral thinking" involves approaching problems from diverse, unexpected angles and from different perspectives. Dr. de Bono meant to differentiate lateral thinking-in which you nudge the mind to make sudden turns- from vertical thinking, which is logical and sequential thinking.
He has written over 50 books in the field of creativity and thinking.
Edward de Bono's Six Thinking Hats
1. White Hat - State the facts and figures2. Red Hat - State the emotions.
3. Black Hat -State the negatives. Use judgment and caution.
4. Yellow Hat - State the positives.
5. Green Hat - Ideas that come by seeing things in a new light. Suggest alternatives, proposals, provocations.
6. Blue Hat - Sum up what has been learned. It controls the debate. To see it in action.
photo credit: Randy Son Of Robert Edward de Bono on Wikipedia
Edward de Bono (born May 19, 1933, in Malta) is a physician, author, inventor, and consultant. He is best known as the originator of the term lateral thinking and a proponent of the deliberate teaching of thinking as a subject in schools.
Books by Edward de Bono
Read More About Lateral Thinking
To read more on lateral thinking, visit my blog post: "Lateral Thinking - Think Out of the Box".
In addition, my ebook "How to Be More Creative - A Handbook for Alchemists" has a whole chapter devoted to the subject of lateral thinking.
Creativity Tip #9
Stop second-guessing yourself and try not to focus on how others will perceive your work.
Michael Michalko
Michael Michalko is a world acclaimed creativity expert. As an officer in the US army, Michael organized a team of NATO intelligence specialists and international academics to collect and categorize all known creative-thinking methods. His team applied those methods to many different situations and produced a variety of breakthrough ideas. After leaving the military, Michael facilitated CIA think tanks using his creative thinking techniques.
Stuff by Michael Michalko
Cracking Creativity: The Secrets of Creative Genius
Amazon Price: $13.59 (as of 11/27/2009)
Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Creative-Thinking Techniques (2nd Edition)
Amazon Price: $13.57 (as of 11/27/2009)
Thinkpak: A Brainstorming Card Deck
Amazon Price: $11.53 (as of 11/27/2009)
Interview with Michael Michalko
- Part 1
- Michael Michalko discusses the Koinonia technique.
- Part 2
- Here he discusses the abstraction technique, the Lotus Blossom Technique, and thought experiments.
- Part 3
- In this part of the interview he discusses Leonardo da Vinci's "Idea Box" (one of my all-time favorite creativity techniques).
- Part 4
- More on Michael Michalko.
Creativity Tip #10
Study and experiment with several forms of media: music, photography, writing or drawing. You can often learn concepts from all of these media which you can apply to other disciplines.
"The state of mind of the photographer while creating is a blank . . . [But] It is a very active state of mind, ready at an instant to grasp an image, yet with no image pre-formed in it at any time."
-- Minor White
Taking Flight: Inspiration And Techniques To Give Your Creative Spirit Wings
Mixed-Media Artist
Taking Flight: Inspiration And Techniques To Give Your Creative Spirit Wings
Amazon Price: $15.63 (as of 11/27/2009)
Kelly Rae Roberts is a mixed-media artist who neglected her creative dreams until she was 30 years old. In this book she shares how she finally allowed her creativity to take flight and will help you do the same, with fully-illustrated how-tos, prompts and quotes, encouraging stories, and examples from the artist's work.
You'll learn, step-by-step, 28 of the author's and contributing artists' favorite mixed-media techniques and ways that they can be applied to your own personal artwork.
Creativity Tip #11
Create a "swipe file". This is basically a collection of items of interest which you found noteworthy and which you can refer to in order to help jump-start your creativity.
Borrow Ideas From Others but Make the End Product Your Own
Michael de Meng has the following to say about creativity: "In my view, creativity is a rampant thievery mixed with reinterpretation . . . I see the act [of creativity] as being like a martini shaker, in which you add all those ingredients that you like or admire. Three parts Picasso, two parts Joseph Cornell, seven parts Mexican Folk Art, a splash of abstract expressionism, and garnish with a twist of Daidism."
More Awesome Books on Creativity
Stimulated!: Habits to Spark Your Creative Genius at Work
Amazon Price: $14.93 (as of 11/27/2009)
The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
Amazon Price: $9.32 (as of 11/27/2009)
The Zen of Creativity: Cultivating Your Artistic Life
Amazon Price: $12.24 (as of 11/27/2009)
The Succulent SARK
Have wild imaginings, transformative dreams, and perfect calm.
SARK is a fabulous author who writes wonderfully creative books that will inspire you to be an artist of life. Her creativity advice includes things such as: eat mangoes in the bathtub; to get past your inner critic you have to slide on your stomach under the gate with your identification papers in your mouth; make little signs that say "yes" and post them all over your house; and basically do whatever it takes.SARK also suggests that just for a day you hide all the clocks in your house, that you invite someone dangerous to come over for tea, that you watch snails, and that you plant pots and pots of brightly colored flowers.
She calls her home "the magic cottage"; it used to be a tool shed and is 180 square feet in size. The magic cottage is surrounded by a garden three times its size. Here are some of the books SARK has written while having breakfast in bed, soaking in the tub, or swaying from a hammock in her garden as her cat Jupiter looks on:
(The "Dreamy Pink Balloons" photograph is courtesy of Pink Sherbet Photography).
Some of SARK's Whimsical Books
"The muse is in . . . meet Jill Badonsky."
Jill Badonsky
Jill Badonsky is a nationally recognized workshop leader, artist, performer, and humorist.
The Nine Modern Day Muses (and a Bodyguard): 10 Guides to Creative Inspiration for Artists, Poets, Lovers and Other Mortals Wanting to Live a Dazzling Existence
Amazon Price: $16.15 (as of 11/27/2009)
The Awe-manac: A Daily Dose of Wonder
Amazon Price: $15.56 (as of 11/27/2009)
Here's More on SARK and Jill Badonsky
Lens by Marelisa Fábrega
-
Succulent Creativity - SARK and Jill Badonsky
-
SARK and Jill Badonsky are two fabulous women whose books will help you be more creative. I've created one lens for both of them because they share a very similar style: whimsical, fun, and inspiring. When she was 10 years old, SARK--Susan Kennedy--...
Creativity Tip #12
Be curious about everything. You never know when random, seemingly unrelated ideas will come together to form a new idea.
Curiosity is looking for lots of possibilities.
Albert Einstein illustrated this point when asked what made him different from other people. He responded: most people stop looking when they find the proverbial needle in the haystack. I would continue looking to see if there were other needles.
"Art is work. It is not inspiration." Twyla Tharp"
Twyla Tharp - "The Creative Habit"
Discipline is essential to the flourishing of one's creativity.
Twyla Tharp, one of America's greatest choreographers, began her career in 1965, and in the ensuing years has created more than 130 dances for her own company as well as for the Joffrey Ballet, the New York City Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, London's Royal Ballet, and American Ballet Theater. She writes about the creative process in her book, "The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life"
."Creativity is not a gift from the gods given to select individuals", says Twyla Tharp. She maintains that it's the product of preparation and effort, and it is within reach of everyone who wants to achieve it. All it takes is the willingness to make creativity a habit, an integral part of your life: "In order to be creative, you have to know how to prepare to be creative."
("Ballerina Resting", courtesy of Ruth Christie).
The Creative Habit
The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life
Amazon Price: $11.21 (as of 11/27/2009)
An empty room, a bare desk, a blank canvas can be energizing, not demoralizing. And in this inventive, encouraging book, Twyla Tharp shows us how to take a deep breath and begin!
Creativity Tip #13
Exercise during your lunch break.
Abraham Maslow
"The key question isn't "What fosters creativity?" But it is why in God's name isn't everyone creative? Where was the human potential lost? How was it crippled? I think therefore a good question might be not why do people create? But why do people not create or innovate? We have got to abandon that sense of amazement in the face of creativity, as if it were a miracle if anybody created anything."
100 Simple Ways to Be More Creative on the Job
- Find the most creative people at work and ask for their ideas.
- Brainstorm daily with a co-worker.
- Tape record your ideas on your commute to and from work.
- Present your biggest challenge to a child.
- Take your team off-site for a day.
- Listen more carefully to your inner muse.
- Play music in your office.
- Go for a daily brainstorming walk.
- Ask someone to collaborate with you on your favorite project.
- Exercise during your lunch break.
Ebook: How to Be More Creative - A Handbook for Alchemists
by Marelisa Fábrega
Here's more praise for "How to Be More Creative - A Handbook for Alchemists" :
The word 'alchemist' - what does that mean? "A person who turns something common into something special." In this ebook, you'll find a myriad of ways in which to creatively apply this in your life - and really become an alchemist! Marelisa has created a fantastic ebook which is a resource on many, many ways to get the creative thought process really revved up in your life! And what truly makes this great is both the number of different methods on being creative, and the easy to follow understanding of each of these. If you're looking to really increase your creativity factor, then this is just what you can use! Marelisa has created an amazing resource on creativity techniques that everyone can apply to all areas of their life right away!
Lance from "The Jungle of Life", Wisconsin, USA
Creativity Tip #14
Constantly ask:
"What if . . ."
"Why not . . ."
"How else can this be done?"
"How can this be improved?"
"What other alternatives are there?"
Monet's Canvas
"I didn't fail 10,000 times. I successfully eliminated 10,000 combinations that wouldn't work."
Thomas Edison
Edison was awarded a total of 1,093 patents. Among his most famous inventions were the phonograph, the mimeograph, fluoroscope, alkaline storage battery, dictating machine and motion picture cameras and projectors.
Where do ideas come from?
- A + B = C
- To have a creative idea simply connect two unrelated things; that is, A+B= C.
- How to Unleash Your Creativity
- In a discussion with Scientific American Mind executive editor Mariette DiChristina, three noted experts on creativity, each with a very different perspective and background, reveal powerful ways to unleash your creative self.
""The most potent muse of all is our own inner child." - Stephen Nachmanovitch"
Cultivate Your Creativity: Connect With Your Inner Child
Charles Baudelaire described genius as "no more than childhood recaptured at will." Creativity is also something that you can recapture at will by getting in touch with your inner child. If it's been a long time since you invited your inner child out to play, you can reconnect with him or her by doing the following:1. Color. Buy crayons and a coloring book-the big thick kind filled with all kinds of images that you loved as a child--and sit down for an afternoon of coloring. It's OK if you color outside the lines.
2. Play. Spend some time thinking about what you loved to play with as a child. Did you play jacks, draw with chalk on the sidewalk, build a fortress with Legos, or create "baked goods" with Play-Doh.
3. Go to the playground. Play hopscotch, jump rope, climb on the swings, and climb on the jungle gyms.
4. Draw your goal. Grab some crayons, markers or colored pencils. Imagine a goal that you'd like to meet, and draw a picture of what it will look like when you've reached this goal.
5. Go for a walk.Go on a nature walk and look at everything with wonder like a child would. Be curious and aware. Gather leaves, feathers, rocks, and flowers and take them home with you.
6. Make a cootie catcher. Did you forget how? Go here.
7. Read Dr. Seuss' books. Few things will help you reconnect with your inner child as much as sitting down and rhyming along with the magical Dr. Seuss.
("Little Artist", courtesy of bo_gazi).
Creativity Tip #15
Disrupt your habitual thought patterns. Take a different route to work, try food you've never eaten before, listen to a music genre you normally don't listen to, and so on.
Creativity Technique: Play
"When we engage in what we are naturally suited to do, our work takes on the quality of play and it is play that stimulates creativity."
-- Linda Naiman
Tim Brown, CEO of Ideo
Tim Brown: The powerful link between creativity and play
http://www.ted.com At the 2008 Serious Play conference, designer Tim Brown talks about the powerful relationship between creative thinking and play -- with many examples you can try at home (and one that maybe you shouldn't).
Runtime: 1680
33594 views
50 Comments:
curated content from YouTube
Want to Know More About IDEO?
The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from IDEO, America's Leading Design Firm
Amazon Price: $19.77 (as of 11/27/2009)
The Ten Faces of Innovation: IDEO's Strategies for Defeating the Devil's Advocate and Driving Creativity Throughout Your Organization
Amazon Price: $19.77 (as of 11/27/2009)
Look at Some of the Things They Do at Google
These are some of the things they do at Google--a company known for innovation--to stimulate their employee's creativity:- Employees Shooting Pool in the Google Lounge
- The Google Idea Board
- The Google Treadmill Pool
- Google Employees Taking an Afternoon Volleyball Break
- The Google Slide
("Google Logo", courtesy of keso).
Creative Workspaces
- How to Make Your Desk a More Creative Space
- Do you consider yourself a creative person? Find out how to make your workplace desk a creative workspace that will inspire and amplify your creative talents. This video is funny, informational, and inspirational. Make your common desk, uncommonly special and unique
- Creative Cubicles
- Every office has one. From the desk that looks like a tropical oasis to a workspace that would make Martha Stewart blush -- we want to see the creative cubicles that occupy your office.
- Writer's Rooms
- Take a look at the rooms in which some of the world's best literature has been written.
- Make Your Workspace More Creative
- One of the best things you can do to increase your creativity is to create an environment which gets your creative juices flowing. In order to help inspire you in putting together a workspace you can look forward to entering each day, below you'll find pictures of creative cubicles from CNN's iReports, as well as photographs of the spaces in which some of the world's most famous writers have created some of their best work.
Creative Cubicle From CNN iReports
More on Play as a Creativity Technique
Read my blog post: "Creative Thinking Techniques: The Playful Edition".
In addition, my ebook "How to Be More Creative - A Handbook for Alchemists" has a whole chapter devoted to play.
London Business School Professor on Play and Creativity
- Is Creative Culture Linked to Play?
- Babis Mainemelis, Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior at London Business School discusses the link between creative culture and play.
Challenge Your Assumptions
Creative Technique
Farmers in Japan figured out how to grow square-shaped watermelons. A fat, round watermelon takes up a lot of room. Instead of just assuming that watermelons had to be round, they began inserting melons in square glass cases while they were still growing on the vine. The end result was a square watermelon which fits conveniently in the refrigerators in which they're transported. What assumptions are you making that are stopping you from finding a solution to your problem? (Source.) photo credit: solution_63 Creativity tip #16
Learn to notice patterns. "The genius," said American painter Ben Shahn, "is merely the one able to detect the pattern amidst the confusion of details just a little sooner than the average man."
Lincoln Steffens
"Nothing is done. Everything in the world remains to be done or done over. The greatest picture is not yet painted, the greatest play isn't written, the greatest poem is unsung. There isn't in all the world a perfect railroad, nor a good government, nor a sound law. Physics, mathematics, and especially the most advanced and exact of the sciences are being fundamentally revised. . . Psychology, economics, and sociology are awaiting a Darwin, whose work in turn is awaiting an Einstein."
Tell the World: "I'm an Artist"
Artist at Work Magnet
Price: 5.50
Vintage Artist Tote Bag
Price: 16.99
Mommy is a Artist Bib
Price: 12.99
"Kiss me i'm an... Arist." green tee
Price: 21.00
Creativity Tip #17
Strive for Excellence, Not Perfection
"Perfectionism is not a quest for the best. It is a pursuit of the worst in ourselves, the part that tells us that nothing we do will ever be good enough . . . that we should try again."
- Julia Cameron
"You are in an ecstatic state to such a point that you feel as though you almost don't exist."
Creativity and Flow
One of the greatest benefits of the flow state is that it's the most creative state to be in. Here's a quote about the flow state:
"Being in the flow" is definitely worth striving for. I know when I'm there. I'm tapped into something that is far beyond my ability." - Aleta Pippin (painter)
Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi has written several books on the flow state, but the two that are most connected to creativity are the following:
Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention
Amazon Price: $11.51 (as of 11/27/2009)
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (P.S.)
Amazon Price: $10.19 (as of 11/27/2009)
Writing in Flow: Keys to Enhanced Creativity
Amazon Price: (as of 11/27/2009)
"Have fun, think like a child again, open your mind to new possibilities . . ."
How to Get Ideas
How to Get Ideas
Amazon Price: $13.57 (as of 11/27/2009)
Jack Foster spent thirty-five years working in the creative department of major advertising agencies; the first ten as a writer, the last twenty-five as a creative director. He helped create advertising for over a hundred companies including Carnation, Mazda, Sunkist, Mattel, ARCO, Suzuki, Denny' s, and Universal Studios. He won dozens of advertising awards, including being named Creative Person of the Year by the Los Angeles Creative Club.
Interview with Jack Foster
- Ideas: The Wheels of Progress
- Vern Burkhardt (VB): What is your key message in How to Get Ideas?
Jack Foster: The key message is that all of us are very creative. If we simply allow ourselves to be more creative we will be more creative. Most of the time we hold ourselves back, but if we can convince ourselves that we are a fountain of good ideas we will become a fountain of good ideas. The same is true in all facets of life, certainly in all facets of our personality. We make ourselves. We invent ourselves.
Creativity Tip #18
Break it down. Break a problem down into its smallest components and rebuild it from the ground up, questioning at every step whether that's the best way to do it.
Use Visual Thinking
-
Visual thinking school
-
Visual thinking is about using pictures to help you solve problems, think about complex issues and communicate more effectively. Are you ready to work on your visual thinking skills? You don't have to be an artist. This site is different ev...
Learn to Draw
The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain: A Course in Enhancing Creativity and Artistic Confidence
Amazon Price: $25.60 (as of 11/27/2009)
The Natural Way to Draw: A Working Plan for Art Study
Amazon Price: $10.88 (as of 11/27/2009)
Perspective Without Pain
Amazon Price: $14.95 (as of 11/27/2009)
Leonardo's Ink Bottle: The Artist's Way of Seeing
Amazon Price: (as of 11/27/2009)
Create Mandalas
Constraints and Limitations
Composer Stephen Sondheim once said:
"If you ask me to write a song about the ocean, I'm stumped. But if you tell me to write a ballad about a woman in a red dress falling off her stool at three in the morning, I'm inspired."
Stimulating Creativity with Constraints and Limits
While thinking "outside the box" is often used as a synonym for creativity, thinking "inside the box" with limitations of time, money and other resources often helps the mind to focus and respond with innovative solutions to problems. Composer Stephen Sondheim once said:"If you ask me to write a song about the ocean, I'm stumped. But if you tell me to write a ballad about a woman in a red dress falling off her stool at three in the morning, I'm inspired."
Two examples of how you can allow your creativity to soar by setting limits are the "Three Units for a Good Tragedy" explained below and "The Houdini Solution" explained in the next text module.:
The Three Unities for A Good Tragedy
In an interview published on "Heads up! on Organizational Innovation", creativity guru Roger von Oech explains that constraints force the innovator to think and look more deeply for opportunities. As an example, he explains that he was watching a Roman Polanski's 1962 film titled "Knife in the Water". One of the DVD's special features had an interview with Polanski and his screenwriter in which they both stated that they forced themselves to stick with Aristotle's "three unities for a good tragedy":
- All action takes place within 24 hours;
- All action occurs in the same place; and
- There is a limited number of characters
This made them think more deeply about plot and character rather than taking cinematic shortcuts. That is, these three limits helped them create a much better film than they would have put together had they not set any limits.
photo credit: freeparking The Houdini Solution
This lens by Ernie Schenck, author of "The Houdini Solution", explains that creative breakthroughs occur because of limitations, not in spite of them.-
The Houdini Solution: Put Creativity And Innovation To Work by Thinking Inside The Box
-
I know what you're thinking. You can't be creative unless you're willing to think outside the box. All the creative gurus want you to think that. But they are dead wrong. I know. I'm an advertising creative director. I've spent my entire...
To Be More Creative, Think Within the Box
The Houdini Solution
Ernie Schenck is an advertising and creative director, as well as the author of the book "The Houdini Solution". He argues that the best way to come up with great ideas is not to think outside of the box, but instead to think within the box. He explains this concept in his squidoo lens, houdinisolution, and quotes psychologist and creativity expert Rollo May as follows:- "Creativity requires limits, for the creative act arises out of the struggle of human beings and against that which limits them."
Schenck argues that you don't need to wait for "the muse" to appear or for your life circumstances to change; instead, work with the circumstances in which you currently find yourself and use any existing parameters or limitations as a vehicle to give your creativity direction. He adds that by the time you finish reading "The Houdini Solution" you'll understand the following:
- "The biggest secret of truly productive creative people is that they embrace obstacles, they don't run from them. In their mind, every setback is an opportunity, every limitation is a chance. Where others see a wall, they see a doorway."
One of the examples used by Schenck to illustrate his point is that of Jack White, a guitarist and songwriter and the leader of the Grammy Award-winning rock band, White Stripes. These are some of Jack White's self-imposed restrictions:
* No computers.
* No digital recording technology.
* No bass guitars.
* No studio equipment invented after 1968.
* No clothes that aren't red, white or black.
This forced creative captivity nurtures innovation and results in music that is more centered on talent than on technology.
How many of us are waiting for something to happen or for some obstacle to be removed before embarking on our creative endeavors? Start using any limitations in your life as a way to mold your creativity, instead of using them as excuses for not getting started.
photo credit: Ratherbewalking Ray Bradbury's Creative Solution
In his book "The Houdini Solution: Why Thinking Inside the Box is the Key to Creativity"
, Ernie Schenck explains that in 1950 Ray Bradbury--author of "Fahrenheit 451", among many other successful books--was working on his next book: "The Illustrated Man". Like most of Bradbury's books, it was a collection of short stories. However, Bradbury's editor felt that the book would do better as a novel. How was Bradbury going to turn a collection of completely different short stories--in which the characters were all different and there was no cohesive plot line--into a novel?Bradbury had written a short story called "The Illustrated Man". What Bradbury did was that he wrote a prologue in which a young wanderer meets an out-of-work carnival performer whose body is covered with tattoos. This is "The Illustrated Man". The young wanderer discovers that each tattoo is a vision of some future event as told by each of the short stories. Suddenly, the stories are related. Now there was a common protagonist throughout all the stories and a common narrative thread. Very resourceful!
To read more on how to increase your resourcefulness, read my blog post The Key to Success: Resourcefulness (Creativity + Determination).
Small Spark of Insight v. Sudden Blast of Inspiration
An Excerpt From "How to Be More Creative - A Handbook for Alchemists"
Excerpt:
R. Keith Sawyer, Washington University psychologist and author of "Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation", argues that the sudden creative flash is a byproduct of doing the work. In an interview for Time magazine he explains that researchers use cleverly designed experiments to study the "creative flash".
In one experiment, subjects were asked to look at words that came up one at a time on a computer screen and to think of the one word that was associated with all of them. After each word they had to give their best guess. Here's an illustration:
- red
- nut
- bowl
- cup
- basket
- jelly
- fresh
- cocktail
- candy
- pie
- baking
- salad
- tree
- fly
Although most of the test subjects indicated that they had no idea what the answer was until about the twelfth word, their guesses got progressively closer to the correct solution: fruit. That is, even when an idea seems sudden, our minds have actually been working on it all along.
Sawyer refers to the first airplane ever flown to illustrate his point that creative breakthroughs are the result of progressive thought, even if the idea that finally solves the problem seems to be the product of a sudden spark. He explains that on the 8th of December of 1903, Samuel Pierpont Langley-who was one of the leading scientists of the time-launched his flying machine with much fanfare, only to watch it promptly plummet into the Potomac River.
Nine days later, Orville and Wilbur Wright-both bicycle mechanics-got the first plane off the ground. Why did they succeed when a famous scientist had failed just days before? Because Langley hired other people to execute his concept, while the Wright brothers did it themselves. Sawyer adds the following:
"Studying the Wright's diaries, you see that insight and execution are inextricably woven together. Over the years, as they solved problems like wing shape and wing warping, each adjustment involved a small spark of insight that led to others."
He admonishes that we should get to work instead of waiting for that one full-blown moment of inspiration. As we work-by gathering data, letting the ideas ferment, conducting experiments, and gradually modifying our approach-we begin to get those tiny little sparks of insight, one after the other.
"Includes enough fun and informative resources to take your creativity as far as you want to take it."
- Hunter from "HunterNuttall.com" posted a review of my ebook here.
- Chris Edgar from "Purpose Power Coaching" interviewed me about my ebook; you can listen to the 19 minute interview here.
Another Review
Melissa Donovan from "Writing Forward"--named by Writer's Digest as one of the "101 Best Websites for Writers"--wrote a review of my ebook here.
Creativity Techniques
There are hundreds of creativity techniques out there which you can use to help jumpstart your creativity.
Creative Thinking Technique: The Idea Box
You can overcome routine thinking and stimulate creative thought by using specific techniques that will help both stimulate and constrain your mind so that it can solve problems more effectively and generate more ideas. The Idea Box is one of the most interesting creative techniques that there is.Idea Box - A Morphological Analysis
Idea Box is a Morphological analysis technique developed by Fritz Zwicky in the 1940's and 50's as a method for systematically structuring and investigating the total set of relationships contained in multi-dimensional problems. It's an extension of attribute listing. Variations of this technique are described by Arthur VanGundy in his book "Techniques of Structured Problem Solving" and Michael Michalko in "Thinkertoys".
You choose the number of parameters for your challenge and list variations for each parameter. By combining different variations of the parameters you create new ideas. The box is a matrix in which you insert all of the different parameters so that you can see them clearly. If you choose 10 elements with 10 possible variations for each, there will be 10 billion possible combinations, so keep this in mind so that you're idea box isn't too complex.
The general procedure to implement this technique is the following:
Step 1. List all the major elements involved in the issue or problem. For example, the major elements of a product you're trying to improve could be the material, the shape, and added features.
Step 2. Each variable is then listed under each element. So under "material" the variables could be wood, steel, plastic, and so on.
Step 3. Start combining the variables together to try to come up with some novel ideas.
Step 4. Analyze the ideas and decide which one to pursue.
For more information on this technique, refer to my blog post "Three Incredibly Effective Creativity Techniques". In addition, part of the book "Thinkertoys"--including an explanation of this idea with a great example--is available for free here.
photo credit: pedrosimoes7 Creativity Tip #19
Follow Hugh Macleod's advice (he blogs over at "The GapingVoid"):
Hang a sign in a prominent place where you'll be sure to see it every day that says "Create or die!".
Here's a GapingVoid Cartoon
by Hugh MacLeod
Three Audacious Creativity Tools
- The Big Dip
- "Idea Sandbox" has a free problem solving tool called "The Big Dig". You just click to scoop suggestions, such as: "Consider double-checking that you're solving the right problem. Is there a more significant one you're overlooking?"
- Gator Break
- Take a Gator Break. Here's one: "If at first an idea is not absurd, then there's no hope for it." - Albert Einstein
- Creativity Prompts
- Get free creativity prompts that will help you look at a problem from different perspectives. How would a bounty hunter meet this challenge? How would a mortician meet this challenge?
Here are some free "Eyewire Creativity Cards" which you can cut out and glue on heavy-stock paper for when you're having a creativity crisis. For example, here's one:
Reconsider the old. Redesign something you see all the time (a stop sign, a penny, etc.). This forces you to look at old things in a new way-and challenges you to try different design approaches.
Writers' Corner
Great Resources for Writers
Creativity Tip #20
Follow Ernest Hemingway's advice: "Write the truest sentence you know."
Writer's Block 101
-
Writer's Block 101
-
Writer's block is the temporary loss of the inspiration and/ or creativity that causes one to loose the ability to begin or continue writing. There can be several reasons as to why writer's block starts; it's just a matter of figuring out which reaso...
More Ways to Get Unblocked
- Mixing It Up Down Under: Creativity Unblocked
- "When I can't begin or when I can't progress it is usually my inner perfectionist raising her ugly-but-well-maintained head. I have become too precious about the project, sometimes it is just an idea but already I see it as sooooo wonderful that I could not possibly do it justice. I become blocked."
- Good To Know Issue #1
- What is your biggest stumbling block to creativity (or expressing yourself artistically) and what works for you in overcoming these setback(s)?
- 12 Places to Find Awesome Writing Ideas
- We look high. We look low. Sometimes it feels like we've been looking forever and will keep on looking forever more. They are out there and we know it. But where are they hiding? Why do they keep escaping us? How can we catch them?
Rudyard Kipling's Room
Your Sacred Dance
Read my blog post: "Creating in the Dark - Your Sacred Dance"
Nothing is Original
More Creative Links
- 25+ Audacious Creativity Tools
- Here you'll find over twenty-five different tools to help kick your creativity into high gear. You'll find a wide range of tools, such as creativity cards, tools to scribble, idea markets and a random word generator.
- Mind Maps: Everything You Need to Know
- A mind map is a whole-brain method for generating and organizing ideas which is largely inspired by Leonardo da Vinci's approach to note-taking.
- 20 Creative Thinking Techniques
- You can overcome routine thinking and stimulate creative thought by using specific techniques that will help both stimulate and constrain your mind so that it can solve problems more effectively and generate more ideas.
- 75 Creativity Quotes
- Seventy-five quotes to jumpstart your creativity.
- 54 Tips For Writers, From Writers
- Who better to get writing tips from than famous writers?
"There is a vitality, a life-force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost."
-- Martha Graham
Sites to Visit When You Need Business Ideas
- Springwise.com
- Springwise scans the globe for the most promising business ventures, ideas and concepts that are ready for regional or international adaptation, expansion, partnering, investments or cooperation. They track more than 400 global offline and online business resources, as well as taking to the streets of world cities, digital cameras at hand. To ensure true 'glocal' coverage, the central office is in close contact with more than 8,000 Springspotters in over 70 countries worldwide
- Trendwatching.com
- Trendwatching.com is an independent and opinionated trend firm, scanning the globe for the most promising consumer trends, insights and related hands-on business ideas.
Creativity Tip #21
Feel the fear, and then do it anyway.
"I've been absolutely terrified every moment of my life -- and I've never let it keep me . . ."
from doing a single thing I wanted to do." Georgia O'Keefe
Did you enjoy this lens?
Then you'll love my ebook (click on the book for more information):
Here Are Some of the Methods, Tips, and Resources You'll Find Inside:
* Learn how to move sideways to solve problems by taking different perspectives, questioning your assumptions, and trying different points of entry. Stop trying to solve problems by digging deeper in the same hole.
* Create a "toolbox" of creativity techniques you can use to solve just about any problem.
* Discover the secret formula behind the amazing creativity of the world's most famous product design firm.
* Get lots of ideas on how to break out of your routine to look at problems and challenges with fresh eyes.
* Find out how to play your way to new ideas and laugh your way to solving problems.
* Learn how to approach almost anything creatively and how to see life as a series of opportunities for everyday creative acts: whether you're deciding what to wear, fixing dinner, or entertaining your child. The world-renowned psychologist Abraham H. Maslow called this kind of creativity "self-actualizing creativity".
* This ebook will teach you the secrets to get your ideas to reproduce like rabbits.
* Discover how to use visual thinking to get unexpected results (it's how Einstein developed the theory of relativity).
* Learn the traits that highly creative people share (it doesn't matter if you don't have these characteristics now, just fake it 'till you make it).
* Join the debate: is creativity work or inspiration? Learn how to skyrocket your creativity by answering that it's both.
* Learn tips on how to turn your ideas into reality.
* Get step-by-step instructions on how to enter the most effective creative state there is: the flow state.
* Discover even more ways to get your creative synapses firing.
Follow me on Twitter
- Marelisa
- aka Marelisa
- 3,354 followers
- 2,493 following
-
- RT @TweetRightBrain: Are You a Visual Thinker? - Associations Now Magazine http://bit.ly/2odP8m
-
- Self-confidence (this is funny) http://digg.com/u1GeZm
-
- Home Videos Channels Change Player Size @Vered I think you'll find this interesting: TV advertising - sexist? http://digg.com/d1yZ4L
-
- The Trouble Tree http://digg.com/u1GeYF
-
- Achieving Your Goals: The Hannibal Barca Approach | Abundance Blog at Marelisa Online http://bit.ly/2xOuE
Here's my favorite link:
Thank you for visiting! Please sign my guestbook:
-
Reply
- BusyQueen BusyQueen Nov 3, 2009 @ 12:43 am
- A wonderful lens about creativity and thanks for sharing your knowledge.
-
Reply
- mukunda22 mukunda22 Oct 21, 2009 @ 9:55 am
- Ah, the Creative Process is one of my favorite topics.
####Blessed####
-
Reply
- LizWertz LizWertz Aug 27, 2009 @ 3:59 pm
- Great lens Marissa with good balance of text and graphics and creativity!
-
Reply
- seashell2 seashell2 Aug 23, 2009 @ 8:56 pm
- Very inforamtive and interesting lens! Thanks for sharing!
-
Reply
- LoKackl LoKackl Aug 19, 2009 @ 11:15 am
- Great lens. great service. You've really "got it down!" Thanks
- Load More
Love This Lens?
- Rate this lens:
- Email it
- Favorite it
- Lensroll it
Top Stories
Personal Growth from SelfGrowth.com-- SelfGrowth.com is the most complete guide to information about Personal Growth on the Internet.
LensMasterWorld.com
by Marelisa
I blog over at Abundance Blog at Marelisa Online.
I hold a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Georgetown Universit... (more)
Explore related pages
T.R.I.Z. Problem Solving and Innovation- T.R.I.Z. is a method of inventive problem solving. How do people and organisatio...
Personal Innovation, Creative Thinking and Problem Solving
- Whether you're experiencing a personal or a professional challenge, the ability...
How to create time for creativity- This lens gives tips and information for getting more done and be...
Travel Insights- Stressed-out people often crave a break. Rather than put it off, this healthy li...
DeSai Innovation & Learning- DeSai Innovation & Learning creates "Living Organizations." DeSai...
Blue Sky Thinking- Become a part of a Creative community, where people come to meet and share in th...
