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3. GATHER AN AUDIENCE.
4. DO A BAD JOB.
5. LOWER THE STAKES.
Athough “creative constraint” sounds like an oxymoron, one way to spark creative action is to constrain it.
Constraints can spur creativity and incite action, as long as you have the confidence to embrace them.
try embracing architect Mies van der Rohe’s maxim: “Less is more.” What constraints make your job “impossible”? Can you use those constraints as a source of creative license, as permission to think differently?
“Less is more.”
a few ways to use constraints to leap into action:
1. TACKLE A “DOABLE” PIECE OF THE PROBLEM.
We constrain our options by looking at how we can make progress right now.
2. NARROW THE GOAL.
3. CREATE A MILESTONE (AND CONNECT IT TO A SOCIAL CONTRACT)
build in as many “mini-deadlines” as possible to keep the team’s energy up throughout.
The reason for prototyping is experimentation—the act of creating forces you to ask questions and make choices.
The best kinds of failures are quick, cheap, and early, leaving you plenty of time and resources to learn from the experiment and iterate your ideas.
never go to a meeting without a prototype.
1. WORK FROM A SCRIPT.
2. USE VOICEOVERS AS A SHORTCUT.
3. GET ORGANIZED WITH A SHOT LIST.
4. PAY ATTENTION TO LIGHTING AND SOUND.
5. BE MINDFUL OF VISUAL RHYTHM AND PACING.
6. GET EARLY FEEDBACK.
7. SHORTER IS BETTER!
Embracing experimentation can help fuel the fires of innovation.
Check out this quote.
Try recasting your changes as experiments to boost reception and increase creative confidence. Some will fail (that’s why it’s called “trial and error”).
It’s hard to balance on the heart/dollar seesaw.
Money will always be easier to measure, which is why it takes a little extra effort to value the heart.
Check out this quote.
Work doesn’t have to feel like “Work with a capital W.” You should be able to feel passion, purpose, and meaning in whatever you do. And that shift in perspective can open up a world of possibilities.
people have one of three distinct attitudes toward the work they do: they think of it as either a job, a career, or a calling.
What matters most about your career or position is not the value that others put on it. It’s how you view your job. It’s about your dream, your passion. Your calling.
Yo-Yo Ma’s lesson is a reminder to us all—passion doesn’t preclude effort. In fact, passion demands effort.
world, collecting stories and experiences from different cultures. So far no one has offered to pay us to do those things. The third circle—what you were born to do—is about finding work that is intrinsically rewarding. The goal is to find a vocation that you’re good at, that you enjoy, and that someone will pay you to pursue. And of course it’s important to work with people you like and respect. The audience members that day all seemed to have the same burning question: how do you know what you were born to do? We believe the answer is related to what Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, an expert in the
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Take the time to ask yourself each day, “When was I at my best?”
Side projects can be rewarding for their own sake. But they may also lead to something that engages your creative energy at work.
successfully applying creativity in your work and life requires something more: the courage to leap.
Start writing the new story of your working life.
If you are stuck in a “looks good, feels bad” position or job, think about the overlap between your personal passions and the workplace options that might be available to you. Learn new skills. Start writing the new story of your working life.
You need teamwork—the right combination of leadership and grassroots activism—to achieve innovation at scale.
Among the principles are: 1) deep customer empathy; 2) going broad to go narrow (i.e., seeking many ideas before converging on a solution); and 3) rapid experiments with customers.
companies progress through five phases as they gain creative confidence.
The first phase, Mauro says, is pure denial:
Mauro calls the second phase “hidden rejection.”
the organization falls into that familiar “knowing-doing gap,” where words become a substitute for action.
the most effective way of learning how to innovate routinely is through practice and coaching.
To build a creative organization, you need to build creative confidence among key players.
Mauro calls the third phase on the way to organizational creative confidence a “leap of faith.”
Mauro calls the fourth phase the “quest for confidence.” In this stage, an organization buys into innovation and searches for the best ways to leverage creative resources in support of the goals of the enterprise.
The fifth phase is what Mauro calls “holistic awareness and integration.”
Karaoke confidence, like creative confidence, depends on an absence of fear of failure and judgment.
Here are five guidelines that can improve your next karaoke experience—and your innovation culture: • Keep your sense of humor • Build on the energy of others • Minimize hierarchy • Value team camaraderie and trust • Defer judgment—at least temporarily
