Tag Archives: creativity

Allowing for Serendipity

by on January 15, 2005 in Creative, Life, Media

It’s funny how events sometimes happen in our lives, almost as if they have been planned and directed by someone else. Sort of like being in our own Truman Show. For instance: You sit down for a cup of coffee at Starbucks expecting to just be with yourself, but joyfully, you’re pulled into an amazing set of conversations that entertain, inform, even alter your worldview. It’s serendipity and when you’re open to all that the universe has to offer, it can lead to really great stuff.

As an aside, when I looked up the word serendipity at dictionary.com to make sure my spelling was accurate, I discovered the word’s origin:

We are indebted to the English author Horace Walpole for the word serendipity, which he coined in one of the 3,000 or more letters on which his literary reputation primarily rests. In a letter of January 28, 1754, Walpole says that “this discovery, indeed, is almost of that kind which I call Serendipity, a very expressive word.” Walpole formed the word on an old name for Sri Lanka, Serendip. He explained that this name was part of the title of “a silly fairy tale, called The Three Princes of Serendip: as their highnesses traveled, they were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of….”

I like that…making unexpected discoveries through accident and sagacity. Here’s an idea for allowing serendipity into your life:

Ditch the script. Some of us have an easier time living spontaneously than others. That’s okay; we’re all made up differently. But, we all have the capacity to be spontaneous. If you find surprises and the unexpected scary, find the place where you are comfortable and hang out there. Notice what it’s like, what you are feeling and sensing. Then take a step toward discomfort (sort of like that first step into a cold pool of water). Again, be aware of what’s going on inside you and what’s going on outside. Take your time, but resist the urge to immediately go back to comfort. True growth occurs in places of discomfort.

What else has worked for you? Where else have you experienced a moment of serendipity in your life? Here’s hoping you make another accidental discovery today.

More Myths of Creativity

by on December 13, 2004 in Career, Creative, Work

In the December issue of Fast Company, there’s a thought-provoking article on Teresa Amabile who has researched and compiled six myths about creativity in the modern organization. From experience, she’s dead on with most of these myths.

Her third myth, “Time Pressure Fuels Creativity”, points to what I think is a more systemic problem plaguing not only work, but life as well. We allow ourselves to be busy for no other reason than it offers status. We own “busyness” like a badge of honor. Why? Perhaps its because if we slow down, we might actually have time to reflect on who we are and where our life is heading. In this case, the actual act of reflection isn’t the terrifying part…it’s what we fear we’ll find as a result. Consider this recent essay in Harper’s Magazine by Mark Slouka which extols the virtues of idleness. He talks about the slow disintegration of a democratically-literate society, but could easily be addressing the same disintegration of a soulful, conscious individual.

I would also like to add a seventh myth: Creativity Can Be Managed. Many organizations love their streamlined processes, their rational objectives, their linear methodologies for execution. But creativity thrives on chaos. It thrives on those mysterious connections that only come from improvisation and sudden inspiration. The very thought that the creative process can be controlled and managed is an illusion. The faster an organization gives up this idea, the faster they will encourage groundbreaking, world-changing results.

On Curt’s Post: Create a Sangha

by on December 13, 2004 in Career, Creative, Life

Curt Rosengren’s latest post is a brilliant reminder that we don’t have to take the journey toward more purposeful and soulful work alone. It’s sometimes easy to forget, though, particularly when we blaze a path where few have gone before.

Consciously creating your Sangha, both by identifying the people currently in your life that will support your journey and by reaching out and creating new connections, can have an amazing impact on what you are able to achieve.

If it’s a matter of just getting started in creating your support network, find a couple of people who will be your biggest fans. For instance, my wife is my rock. She’s both my most vocal supporter, but also my source for reality-checks. I can be a very "blue sky" dreamer-type and she offers the kind of "green grass" practicality that helps me assess my decisions. Yet, most importantly, as my rock I can hold on to her when everything else in my life seems to be caught up in the maelstrom. I have a spouse, but it could easily be a good friend, sibling, mentor, or parent.

Probably the harder part of creating your support network is developing new connections. Putting yourself, your ideas, your dreams out there to new contacts can be frightening. One place to start is with the folks you already know and trust. Ask them to suggest other individuals they know with whom you might connect. You’ll continue to build your network steadily outward from your core of biggest fans above.

And if you’re feeling particularly adventurous, you can take more dynamic action and create more networks outside of your familiar contacts. This is going to those places where other people who share your passion hang out. You might find these as networking events (a word on ‘networking’ below) or professional society meetings or a local coffee shop. The point is that creating a bold life of passionate work means getting out of your comfort zone and taking a risk. Consider the words of Andre Gide, French critic, essayist, & novelist:

One doesn’t discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.

And that word on networking…the concept has developed a kind of nasty connotation which is unfortunate. Rather, consider networking to be an act of relationship building, one that may not exactly bear fruit immediately. Purposeful networking is an act of cultivation, of nourishing the relationships with your contacts. It means that you give as well as receive, which is where we circle back around to Curt’s posting on creating your own sangha. As others support your dreams and work, it’s up to you to do the very same for them.

Reclaiming our Creativity

by on December 11, 2004 in Creative, Life

Odd how themes emerge when you’re conscious of them. I came across this old article in Fast Company on Dee Hock and his management principles. Dee Hock was the Founder and CEO of VISA International and more recently founded Terra Civitas. Among the ideas that caught my eye was this one on creativity:

The problem is never how to get new, innovative thoughts into your mind, but how to get old ones out. Every mind is a room packed with archaic furniture. You must get the old furniture of what you know, think, and believe out before anything new can get in. Make an empty space in any corner of your mind, and creativity will instantly fill it.

I’m also thinking about how many of us tend to “lose” our creativity as we mature into adults. I have two daughters (ages 2 and almost 6) and they amaze me with some of the things that they conjure up. They tell the most interesting stories. They draw these fabulous pictures. They dress up and pretend to be fascinating creatures. And fortunately, they pull me into their world. They are my links to the creative reservoir within me. However, I’m considering the very real possibility that its going to be me who will need to return the favor in the not too distant future. They may need me to inspire their own sense of wonder and creativity. Sadly, there’s something about our schools that can help children forget they are creative, imaginative people. Or it could just be a natural struggle of growing up.

So, to all the creative and imaginative dreamers out there…here’s a heart-felt desire to more fully reconnect with you.

Finding Your Voice

by on December 6, 2004 in Career, Creative, Media, Work

I seem to be very conscious of this notion of voice lately (see: What’s Your Voice from a few days ago).

I continue to be influenced by Stephen Covey’s work, but have yet to pick up his latest book, The 8th Habit. Based on this interview, I think maybe Santa could bring me a copy when he comes to visit later in the month (granted that he reads blogs and needs some additional ideas). Covey equates having a voice with a deeper connection to one’s work:

People have basically lost their voice. They’re alienated from their work. We’re in a knowledge age, yet our management principles are from the industrial age. They’re the authoritarian, command-and-control models. Just take the accounting system: It calls people an expense. Performance-appraisal systems are just repugnant to the dignity of people. You give them some nice words, slip in the knife and call that “areas for improvement” and then a few nice words at the end.

By the way, his 8th habit is: Find your voice and inspire others to find theirs.

Another article that caught my eye was one from Alaska about a sculptor named Sylvester Ayek who is trying to return to his Inupiaq roots.

Ayek says, he’s leaving Anchorage in pursuit of balance, something he can find only in the Bush. That’s where he finds solace, center and sustenance, a solitude in whose heart he regains equilibrium as he tries to maintain his footing in two worlds — worlds that continually pitch and roll beneath his feet. “If I’m in the city, I’m just an artist,” Ayek says. “But out there, I can be a hunter, fisher, gatherer and an artist. I get some sense of good order when I’m in nature, in the middle of nowhere, by myself.”

What struck me about this was the reminder that we are so much more than the labels that we attach to ourselves or those that we allow to be attached from others. In our work, we can be more than what a job description says. Once we have an idea of what our voice is, then its time to add another element to it.