How Fascinating

I recently watched a video from the Pop Tech conference.  A video of  Benjamin Zander, conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, describing the difference of living life as a conversation of possibilities rather than a downward spiral. What was most interesting was that in order to demonstrate his thinking ne brought on stage a young celloist, and walked him through a practice session.

One great moment that came out of the practice was Zander telling the young person that when they made a mistake, instead of constricting and pulling downward, they should instead spring upwards shouting “How Fascinating!”

Art does not discover truth, it makes it

This week I am reading Robert and Michele Root-Bernstein’s Sparks of Genius. They describe thirteen tools to combine internal imagination and external experience. 

Primary Tools

• observing – paying attention to what is sensed
• imaging – recalling senses
• abstracting – turning complicated things into simple ideas
• recognizing patterns – realizing two different things share similar properties
• forming patterns – creating new combinations of similar things
• body thinking – bodily sensations leading to formal thinking
• empathizing – a function of bodily thinking
• playing – becoming another person, place or thing
• dimension thinking – take what is flat and make it dimensional

• modeling – combo of dimension thinking, abstracting, analogizing and body thinking (e.g. making sketches in prep of a larger masterpiece)
• playing – combo of body thinking, empathizing, modeling (e.g. irreverence for conventional procedure)
• transforming – combo of observation, experimentation, abstracting, pattern making (e.g. move from feelings to communication)
• synthesizing – combo of observing, imaging, empathizing. 

Creativity and Flow

Sometimes life seems oddly coincidental. Ted Talks this month released a presentation by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, an author and academic I have been studying for class. This video provides a great introduction into the work which he is best know for, flow.

Flow cuts across cultures, ages, status, etc… They are defined by these seven characteristics:

• Focus, completely involved in what you are doing
• Ecstasy, being outside of everyday reality
• Clarity, knowing what needs to be done and how well things are going
• Knowing, the action is doable and skills are appropriate for the task. Possible, though difficult
• Serenity, no worries, going beyond boundaries of the ego
• Timeless, focus on the present, time passes by quickly
• Intrinsic, flow becomes its own reward, self-motvation. Feel part of something larger.

Everyday people can be plotted on a diagram to see their optimal flow area.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Flow Diagram

If we know the set point of your skills we can anticipate when you will be in flow. This is different for everyone. The Flow Channel is when your doing what you really like to do. The other areas become less positive. For example, you can move into flow by adjusting challenge and skill to appropriate levels. Control, for example, you feel comfortable but not challenged. Arousal is complimentary to control. The others around the pie become less optimal. Apathy is very negative. For example, you feel most apathy watching television (although flow can happen watching tv).

via Ted Talks

25 Steps to Creativity

I have been reading Mihaly Csikzentmihaly’s book on Flow and Creativity.

One of the things I like about the book is that it comes from the approach that creativity isn’t a born trait. That our brains are more simialr than different. It’s what we do with our brains that is important. For some it may be instinctual to be creative, but it can be cultivated.

In one of the last chapters he summarizes 25 steps to being a more creative person.

• Make time for the trivial. Taking a break can be great for creativity, as its related to how much time we leave ourselves for novelty. Be comfortable indulging in something for its own sake.
• We are our own worst enemy. Besides some of the external pressures of survival (eat, sleep, work), we stop ourselves from thinking outside the box. Essentially, we let our past baggage get in the way.
• Cultivate curiosity – Take some time to focus on things for their own sake. Kids are great at this. Remember, not everything has to have a specific return on investment (i.e. useful, attractive or precious).
• Be surprised everyday – This takes effort, but try to see new in something you see, hear, taste, touch, etc.. Stop and ponder a sign on the street, the color of someone’s hair. Try not to let expectations get in the way. And don’t assume you know what things are all about.
• Break your routine – We live predictable lives, which is helpful to reduce the amount of attention we pay to remedial tasks, but there is lots of opportunity to be inspired by the insignificant and the mundane.
• Write it down – Capture your thoughts in someway. What surprised you, what didn’t. This is a great way to begin to learn about you, which in turn leads to the practice of creative thinking. Look for patterns, things that you might want to explore in depth.
• Look forward to something – Wake up knowing at least one thing you want to do that day. It’s up to you. Visualize yourself doing the action. Again don’t edit your thinking or actions.
• Have a clear goal – This seems to be a lot of what Getting Things Done (GTD) is all about. Find what system works for you. One way to do it, is to write down your thoughts to find patterns.
• Explore what’s simple – Think about mundane tasks, and explore doing them differently. Take a routine and play with the sequence. Again, don’t assume their is only one way to do things.
• Increase the complexity – Things go stale because they are easy. Exploring ways to do things different is one way to add complexity, but there are others.
• Develop habits – Accomplish the impossible by creating day to day habits that break down your task into manageable bits. Again, this is what GTD tries to do.
• Remove the excess – Attention is a precious commodity. If you want more time to focus on creative activities, spend less time focusing on things that don’t matter.
• Embrace contradictions – For example, being open to mundane tasks, as well as not focusing on things that aren’t important. Get in the habit of moving between being open and closed to new things, thinking, seeing, etc…
• Learn your rhythm – Know how you work best. Morning, evening, with loud music, etc… Schedule your time accordingly, working around obstacles that you may not be able to control like work, meetings, etc…
• Reflect – write it down, come back to your thoughts later. Pay attention to what your thinking. Your body is a great feedbacks system. Find out ways to listen to yourself.
• Be physical – Activate your subconscious creative processes by walking, showering, swimming, driving, gardening, weaving, and carpentry.
• Shape your space – Don’t just watch Trading Spaces, change your own space. Your environment influences how you see the world. This means your home, work, your neighborhood, etc.. Shape the spaces you have control over.
• Cultivate a storing habit – Another GTD tactic. Find ways to capture information. Information in this sense is broad. Anything you want to come back to later. Things that matter to you.
• Self-monitor – Be aware of your inner states without having to become self-conscious. Keep a careful record of what you did each day and how it made you feel.
• Protect your creativity – Find what works for you and shape your time, space, and activity around it to help cultivate the habit. Again, be comfortable breaking it down again when change is necessary.
• Practice – Don’t just think about it, do it!
• Multiple perspectives – Look at things from as many points of view as possible. Make a game out of it. Try it at the office, in a casual conversation, when looking at a squirrel in the park. Make a habit out of not assuming the first thing you think of is the only way to think about it.
• Produce the unlikely – Try to be different. Don’t edit yourself from the fantastical. Let absurd ideas be heard.
• Be persistent – try again
• Start again – don’t think once you figured it out once, your done. Start again, and see if things happen differently the next time.

via Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention, by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi