Fredrik Härén's Blog, page 19

Sceptical Sceptical Dialogue. (The Creativity Explorer. Episode 150)

“Often, when I have an idea, I get this little voice in my head that tells me all the reasons for why it’s a bad idea. How do I get rid of that voice?”

 

That was the question I got in today’s coaching session. I think this is a common problem and in this text, I will share what I think the solution is.

 

My coachee gave me an example of how she would have an idea (like, “I should ask my boss for more hours at work”), and then this sceptical voice in her head would start coming up with reasons for why that would be a bad idea.

 

After listening to her sceptical voice she would abandon her idea, and then feel bad about it.

 

“I overthink things!”, she told me.

 

I replied: “I think you underthink things.”

 

Then I asked her what would happen if she used the sceptical approach also on the arguments she got from the “sceptical voice”.

 

I encouraged her to create a “sceptical sceptical dialogue” where both the positive idea voice in her head AND (!) the sceptical, negative voice in her head both got the same treatment.

 

She realized that if she questioned the sceptical voice’s arguments those arguments would often not be true to her anymore. You see, many people just take the sceptical voice’s arguments at face value – not realizing that they often do not make sense.

 

So, the next time you feel that the negative, sceptical voice in your head is killing your ideas, use sceptical questioning to question that negative voice. Create a “sceptical sceptical dialogue”.

 

Doing that will give the good ideas a much better chance of surviving.

 

Fredrik Haren – The Creativity Explorer.

 

ps. Thank you for reading my newsletter. I am now also sharing these posts as articles on LinkedIn where you can subscribe to them too. (There I post a bit more often than here as I do not want to overload your inbox)

 

Subscribe here: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/...

 

Would love to connect with you there.

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Happeness. (The Creativity Explorer. Episode 149)

There is a special kind of joy that comes from making things happen. That special kind of happiness you feel when you have created something.

 

Yes, true and pure happiness lies within and is not measured in accomplishments, but that should not stop us from also doing things that create that feeling of delight one feels after making something happen.

 

It could be something epic, like finishing a book, or building a house; but also something small like deciding to bake a cake for your grandmother or inviting your friends to attend a concert with you.

 

The world is, thank God, full of them: People who make things happen because they want to, because they feel like it and because it makes them happy.

 

Let’s call it Happeness. That joy that comes from making things happen.

 

That should be celebrated more, because nothing happens without people who make things happen.

 

What are you going to make happen today to bring you Happeness?

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Look for the Rhythm. (The Creativity Explorer. Episode 148)

A photographer does not look for a “good picture.”

 

On New Years’ Eve, I was lucky enough to be seated next to Martin Diehl, a professional photographer from Germany.

 

I asked him to give me an insight into the skill of taking great pictures.

 

He said: “You have to feel the rhythm of what you are taking a picture of.”

 

At first, I did not understand, but then I suddenly got it.

 

It’s not about finding a nice shot, or the right light, or the perfect composition. Those things are important, but that’s not where the magic is.

 

It’s about finding the rhythm. Every situation has a rhythm.

 

At a wedding, it might be the mother of the bride shedding a tear – because the rhythm of that wedding is the relief the mother feels for her daughter finding the right man.

 

When photographing a dog, the rhythm might be to take a blurry photo, if the dog is full of energy and refuses to stop moving.

 

When taking a portrait, it’s about finding the rhythm of that person. And that might not be of that person smiling at all. (Way too many amateur photographers are making people smile for photos)

 

Martin told me that when he did portrait photography he would spend a large amount of the time he had just talking to, listening to, and observing the person. To understand her essence.

 

Then when it was time to take photos he knew what photo to take because he had become aligned with the rhythm of that person.

 

Many people talk about “flow” when it comes to creativity, but I think it is equally important – perhaps even more important – to find the rhythm of what you are trying to create.

 

That is true for great photography, but I think that is also true for many other kinds of creative expression. I know it’s true for speaking or writing.

 

Search for the rhythm.

 

That will be the creative advice for today.

 

Would love to hear your views, you can comment on this email or on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/rhythm...

 

(Picture is self portrait by Martin Diehl.)

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Blank Ideation (WheelShare) (The Creativity Explorer. Episode 147)

Blank Ideation is when you let yourself ideate an idea all the way without ever thinking of executing it. Like you are shooting blanks. The purpose is not to “hit” something, it’s just to practice the process.

 

Like last night, when I (in a dream!), came up with an idea of a wheelchair ride-sharing service.

 

Instead of electric scooters scattered across town that people can rent by the minute, there should be electric wheelchairs.

 

The advantages of wheelchairs over scooters are:

 

More comfortable to sit

Safer to sit than to stand.

Easier to learn.

A bonus advantage would be that the city would be full of people in wheelchairs normalizing the sight of a person in a wheelchair.

 

Another advantage would be that older people could use the wheelchairs, and they would never jump on an electric scooter.

 

I even dreamt up the name: “WheelShare”.

 

When I woke up, I started thinking about the business model (Governments should be offered to buy credits to give to old people), the logo (two smiling, happy, wheelchairs next to each other?), the slogan (“Roll with us!”), etc.

 

It was not a long process, perhaps ten minutes, mostly with me lying in bed and while having breakfast.

 

But the purpose of Blank Ideation is not to create greatness or to spend a lot of time on it.

 

It’s to practice the art and skill of developing ideas.

 

So when you do get a great idea that you want to take all the way to finished product launched you are already used to the process.

 

And also because Blank Ideation is a lot of fun!

 

To, just for the heck of it, develop a whole business plan on the back of a breakfast napkin is just so enjoyable. Loads of fun without any of the work.

 

So enjoy some Blank Ideation during these holidays before you go back to the hustle and bustle of “regular life” when much of your creative energy will be used to solve everyday problems.

 

 

Fredrik Haren – The Creativity Explorer.

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The Graph of Missed Opportunities. (The Creativity Explorer. Episode 146)

A cautionary tale of missed opportunities.

 

In November I offered 100 university students one free coaching session while I was giving a speech for them.

 

It was my gift to them.

 

95% of the students applauded the gesture and seemed to value it.

 

All the students had to do was to send me a message on LinkedIn and I would offer them a slot.

 

23% of them did.

 

When they messaged me I, right away, wrote back and told them to suggest a day that would work for them in January.

 

5 of them did.

 

So just 5% of the students grasped the opportunity to get a 1500 USD coaching session for free.

 

100% of them were given the opportunity.
95% of them were excited about the opportunity
Just 23% acted on the opportunity
and
just 5% followed through on the opportunity.

 

I think this is a pretty normal spread for most opportunities.

 

Let’s call it “The Graph of Missed Opportunities”.

 

Lesson: Most people miss opportunities – not because they were not presented to them – but because they did not act or follow through on them.

 

Remember: “Missed opportunities are, actually, missed actions.”

 

I think this is very important to keep in mind when it comes to reflecting on why your best ideas or dreams do not materialize

 

As 2023 arrives, make sure to grasp more opportunities.

 

Fredrik Haren – The Creativity Explorer.

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“Dvinking”: Two People Thinking Together (Often while Drinking Gin) (The Creativity Explorer. Episode 145)

In celebration of Hernö Gin winning “Best Gin in the World” again (!) (they have won it every year since 2015!) I am posting this text from when I met with Jon Hillgren, founder of Hernö Gin last year.

 

I want to introduce you to a very useful word. It’s a word describing an important part of the creative process that we have all experienced, but never had a word for – until now.

 

The word is “dvinking”.

 

Let me explain.

 

If a group of people is sitting together to come up with new ideas we say that they are “brainstorming”.

 

If one person sits by himself/herself we say this person is “thinking”.

 

But there is a space in between. The time when just two people sit down in focused conversation for the purpose of together coming up with or developing some ideas.

 

That’s called “dvinking”.

 

It’s a word for one of the most valuable and most rewarding types of idea generation.

 

The word is derived from the Sanskrit word “dvi” (meaning “two”) and the English word “to think”.

 

If you have not heard of the word before you may be forgiven because I just co-created it with Jon Hillgren, founder of Hernö Gin. Hernö gin has been voted “Best Gin in the World” multiple times. I met with Jon in the Hernö Gin Bar (Yes, they have their own bar in Stockholm).

 

In the company of two glasses of Hernö Gin (of course) we talked about creativity, ideas, dreams and gin.

 

It was a conversation where we shared ideas, built upon each other’s ideas, got inspired by each other stories and created some new ideas as well. After a great hour or so I said to Jon: “There should be a word for what we have been doing – two people sitting and thinking together and discussing ideas while drinking gin.”

 

We both exploded with ideas and suggestions for what this new word should be and, in the end, landed in “dvinking”. (“dinking” has some negative connotations, and I personally love a word with Sanskrit roots.)

 

So to “tvink” is “two people thinking together (often while drinking gin)

 

Example: “I really enjoyed dvinking about new business ideas with you.”

 

After interviewing 100,000’s people about when they get their best ideas I know that a huge percentage (around 20%) will reply “when I am talking to friends” and many will add “in a bar”.

 

Now we have a word for this very powerful and effective creativity activity.

 

That word is dvinking.

 

The next time you dvink with a good friend (over a glass of gin, wine – or water) enjoy the moment and now know you have a word for what you are doing.

 

Comment on: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/dvinking-two-people-thinking-together-often-while-drinking-haren

 

Keep Exploring Your Creativity.

 

Fredrik Haren.

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Creativity to the Power of Computers. (AI Jokes and More) (The Creativity Explorer. Episode 144)

People have for years been saying that “When AI comes we have to do what the computer can not do, which is to be creative.”I never really understood that. I think AI will be able to do many things that we look at as creative. (And now we are seeing Ai create things like songs and illustrations and design buildings that many people would describe as “Creative”.)With the launch of Chat GPT (https://chat.openai.com/chat) we have reached another milestone in AI  (they seem to come very rapidly lately)For fun I asked the AI chatbot to write me a joke about Creativity. It came up with:

“Why was the idea arrested? Because it had a lot of great concepts, but no substance.”

“Why did the idea go to the doctor? Because it was a little sketchy.”Not bad. Not great, but way better than what I could come up with in a few seconds…I also asked it to “Write a short manifesto about the potential of AI to help humans become more creative.”It gave me this:“AI has the potential to help humans become more creative by providing new tools and methods for generating and evaluating creative ideas. With its ability to analyze and interpret large amounts of data quickly and accurately, AI can help humans identify patterns and trends that may not be immediately apparent, providing new inspiration and insights for creative problem-solving. Additionally, AI can be used to evaluate and assess creative ideas based on specific criteria, helping humans to refine and improve their ideas in ways that would not be possible without the assistance of AI.Furthermore, AI can help to democratize creativity by providing new and affordable tools and platforms for individuals and communities to generate and share their creative ideas. By leveraging the power of AI, everyone can have access to the same level of support and guidance for their creative endeavors, regardless of their background, experience, or resources.In conclusion, the potential of AI to help humans become more creative is vast and exciting, and it is up to us to seize this opportunity and use AI responsibly and ethically to unlock our full creative potential.”I also asked it to be answer the question in fewer words:“AI can augment human creativity by providing new ways to generate and evaluate ideas. AI algorithms can identify patterns in data, and evaluate creative ideas based on criteria like novelty and usefulness. AI can also democratize creativity by providing affordable tools and platforms. Overall, AI has the potential to help humans become more creative.”The AI development will create amazing advances for humanity. It might also create some really bad things. We will soon find out.I know one thing for sure, playing around with the latest AI tools has fueled my creativity this week. Go and play with it! Explore it.Fredrik Haren – The Creativity Explorer.

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Incurious (The Creativity Explorer. Episode 143)

“An incurious life is not a life. It might sound harsh, but it is true.”That was the message I got to bring home with me after having a beer in Tirana with Dritan Mezini, co-founder of Duapune, the largest recruitment site in Albania.Dritan is a very curious person and we had a lovely conversation about the need for curiosity to live a fulfilling life.And I learned a new word: “incurious”/ɪnˈkjʊərɪəs/ adjective: incurious not eager to know something; lacking curiosity. “as for who had written it, she was oddly incurious”The opposite of curious.What an important word.Do all you can to avoid becoming incurious!That was my insight from my recent visit to Albania.Keep Exploring. Discover your creative potential.Fredrik Haren – The Creativity Explorer.ps. And if you are curious, I suggest you check out the video to hear him deliver the message himself:https://www.linkedin.com/posts/fredrikharen_incurious-creativity-albania-activity-7003673657365401600-i-oW?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

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Creative Traffic Lights (The Creativity Explorer. Episode 142)

Look at old things in new ways.This text was inspired by a recent visit to Tirana. Albania.As I was exploring the city before my speech I noticed something different with the traffic lights.Instead of a “human standing still” at the red light for pedestrians, there was a “t”.Turns out that Tirana is the “European Youth Capital 2022” and Tirana went all in. They have had (and are having) a huge amount of events and that little “t-logo” is everywhere.Even on traffic lights!ps. Another interesting thing with the traffic lights in Tirana is that even the pole itself is lit up – making it even easier to see that it is red (or green). (And of course, they have the countdown clock, which is quite common in many countries, but that many countries still do not have.)Everything can be re-thought, re-developed, and improved.Even traffic lights.Never think that just because something has been around for a long time that there is no room for improvement.What old thing is it time for you to look at with fresh eyes?Fredrik Haren – The Creativity Explorer, just back from Tirana, Albania.ps. Keep Exploring Your Creativity to Discover Your Full Creative Potential.As always, comment on this post on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/creative-traffic-lights-look-old-things-new-ways-creativity-haren

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A Non-Negative Mindset – The Mindset for Creativity (The Creativity Explorer. Episode 141)

A negative mindset kills creativity.But so can a positive mindset; it sounds counterintuitive, but let me exemplify.Let’s take the accident on Apollo 13 when there was an explosion and rupture of an oxygen tank.A negative mindset (“Oh, no, we are all going to die!”) would have killed creativity.But a positive mindset (“Eh, it’s ok, this is nothing to worry about.”) would have killed not only creativity but the astronauts as well.So what kind of mindset should you have then?The answer is: a “non-negative mindset”.I learned about a “non-negative mindset” from Ervin Kalemi, the founder of Publer, a social media management platform founded in Albania.Ervin, who is Albanian, created Publer when he lived in the USA, but he moved back to Tirana to develop it into a company. I met with him at a café on the bank of one of the lakes in Tirana close to his office.When he moved back to Albania many people in his home country thought he had failed because he moved back from America. And when the company was still young they made fun of the small business he had.He still remembers how a friend of his dad laughed at him when he found out that Ervin, at the time, had just 50 paying customers. “This will never work”, he was told.Today Publer has over 100,000 customers, of which more than 10,000 are paying customers…Ervin looks at me and gives me a weary smile: “There is so much negativity here in Albania. That inspires me. I like the ups and downs of life. It’s challenging me.” Ervin tells me that his favorite thing as a child was rollercoasters.“All the rejections made me stronger”, Ervin told me. “I turn them into challenges.”If someone tells you they do not think you can jump over a cliff, you can choose to accept that as a fact, or you can look at it as a challenge. As if someone just challenged you to jump over the cliff.I asked Ervin how he built up immunity to negative comments from others to keep a productive, non-negative mindset focused on solving the problem.His top 3 list went:– Focus on what you want to do, not on what others are thinking.– Try to be a problem solver– And make sure you are spending your energy on solving the right problem.And then I added a fourth one:– Don’t worry about small things. And remember: What others think is always a small thing.In a world of negative people, rise above and become a non-negative person. A non-negative person is a person who focuses his or her creativity on solving problems, instead of being the problem, talking about the problem, or talking about people trying to solve the problem.The non-negative mindset when an oxygen tank explodes in space is: “We need to fix this, so how do we do that?”Always try to keep that mindset.

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