April 3, 2012 Leave a comment
Need a little pick me up? Listen to futurist, Jason Silva talk about Imagination and it’s implications on human development and progress. Incredibly intelligent guy that delivers his ideas in a way that fills you with awe (and sometimes confusion).
April 2, 2012 1 Comment
A friend passed me this USA Today article about a new way that young Swedish workers are spending their lunch breaks, namely, participating in dance parties. The organization, dubbed Lunch Beat, hosts alcohol-free dance parties in various locations throughout Stockholm as a means of both blowing off steam and re-energizing workers.
Daniel Odelstad, the 31-year old organizer had this to say, “People are sober, it’s in the middle of the day and it is very short, effective and intensive,” he said. “You just have to get in there and dance, because the hour ends pretty quickly.” Attendees pay approximately 14 dollars to attend, which includes sandwiches. All remaining profits go to local charities. Evidently, the trend is spreading to cities across Europe. Very cool.
Thanks for the find CJ!
[Image via Silvio Tanaka]
February 14, 2012 Leave a comment
[Full disclaimer: I wrote this post over a year ago on another blog, and just had to re-post. It's still fresh, timely, and of the utmost importance for individuals and brands to fully realize. Enjoy and comment if you feel so inclined.]
I recently had the pleasure of reading Seth Godin’s newest book, Linchpin and I must say, it was a worthwhile read. The premise of the book is that our economy is changing to reflect a marketplace in which goods can no longer be made smaller, cheaper and more efficiently (we’ve maxed this out). Rather, what today’s consumer is more interested in is products, services and brands that are extraordinarily unique, and help them to portray the complex story of their lives as they ideally see it playing out. As a result, Seth argues that those workers (in any industry) who are capable of producing new ideas and ways of doing things are the individuals who are most likely to become ‘linchpins’ or indispensable employees in their own company.
The book then goes on to explain how a linchpin must think and act in her given field, as well as the obstacles that she can expect to encounter. Overall, Godin’s Linchpin can best be described as motivating, remind us all that we have a responsibility to go into our jobs ready to produce new ideas, services and ways of getting things done, all things that Seth describes as ‘art’.
This brings me to the topic of this post. The most inspiring and beneficial chapter of the book is rather inaptly called, “Is it Possible to do Hard Work in a Cubicle?”. The chapter successfully urges us to consider that, as Roy Simmons put it, “most artists can’t draw”. More specifically creating great art isn’t really about drawing, painting or sculpting. It’s about paving new ground, by doing, thinking or producing something “that resonates with the viewer, not just the creator”. Being an artist is about developing insight and being brave enough to communicate it to the world, without concern over how it will be received.
When we start to open up these terms, we naturally begin to feel a sense of responsibility to produce art, regardless of our specialty. However, doing so requires us to overcome what Seth and others before him deem to be ‘the resistance’, otherwise known as fear – fear of being rejected, fired, laughed at or otherwise failing at life.
If fear can be overcome then we become free to produce beautiful art, that extends beyond the visual, taking on the power to change it’s recipient for the better. Many of you may be thinking that there isn’t room for this in your job, and I would argue against that. Being an artist can be as simple as being the catalyst in a successful brainstorm session or finding a more efficient system for completing expense reports on time or mentoring a new employee as they learn the ropes at a new company – all actions that have the capacity to change an individual or organization for the better (the true essence of artwork).
Seth carefully goes on to point out that there is no map or set of directions for becoming an artist. Some are born with the creative fire inside themselves, others must learn to cultivate it. But, as our increasingly divergent culture continues to infiltrate every aspect of commerce, those individuals who produce art in their own right, will be the most highly valued, the most likely to succeed and (in my opinion) the most fulfilled.
[Photo by: Christophe Kiciak]
January 25, 2012 1 Comment
During a discussion about the evolution of music last week a buddy recommended that I watch a TED talk given by David Byrne in 2010 entitled, How Architecture Helped Music Evolve, a subject Byrne is clearly very interested in if you recall his Playing The Building Project. I watched it and you should too, but simply put, Byrne is talking about how the environmental conditions effect or determine the qualities of the product. Sounds a lot like how nature works. In this case, how the venue (concert hall, arena, bar) determined the musical styles that were produced there. It’s about context.
Byrne sort of concludes by asking whether, creative expression is influenced more by context than what traditional romantics might believe. I love this because I think the same is true with technology. For example, the electric guitar was invented to allow musicians to be heard in front of larger crowds, not for guys like Jimi Hendrix who eventually came along and did unthinkable things with it. So, in a way it seems like creative expression is sort of contained.
This, then got me thinking about how it feels like the live music experience, which I personally feel like is undergoing a sort of resurgence, hasn’t benefited from a re-imagined or updated architecture. Even new venues (one was recently built near my house that will host all sorts of amazing bands this year) haven’t been modernized in any way. The design and layout are the same and more focus goes into the placement of concessions than crafting a space that allows for emotional connection and sensory immersion. So, I’m now wondering what the concert venue or, more appropriately, concert experience of tomorrow might look like.
Any ideas?
January 19, 2012 1 Comment
Last night I watched, PressPausePlay, a documentary that addresses how technology is impacting our culture and it’s art forms. The film primarily focuses on music, arguing that greater access to better technology is making it easy for anyone to create art. But, at what cost?
They interview a variety of thought-leaders and artists, including Seth Godin, Andrew Keen, Moby, Bill Drummond and a bunch more.
I have to say, author, Andrew Keen, as always, makes some startling but compelling points about the cultural dark age he believes we’re heading towards. Keen postulates that technology and social media are leading everyone to believe that they’re an artist of some sort. The result is a sea of mediocrity that obscures the ability of the limited number of truly talented individuals in this world to shine through, ultimately destroying our beloved art forms when the world eventually becomes accustomed to sub-part art. Pretty ominous stuff.
However, I don’t agree with this. My first thought is, how can more people creating, building and making things possibly have a negative outcome on our society? Art, when practiced diligently, can lead to self-actualization, a greater appreciation of life and an overall sense of purpose.
Furthermore, and perhaps more compelling, is that the democratization of art and culture should be more effective at bringing the high quality work to the surface, not less, as Keen argues in the film. Allow me to explain. No more than 15 years ago, record studios and the radio stations determined what music you got to hear. If you had adequate buying power, you could drop 15 bucks on a band’s CD. Now with sites like iTunes, Spotify, Soundcloud and countless others, you can listen to tons of music for free without having to make a financial commitment of any kind.
January 16, 2012 Leave a comment
I talked about Todd Henry’s, Accidental Creative in a post about defining your work style not that long ago. Having completed the book, I am now going back to indentify the areas in my own creative, strategic and on-going learning process that need the most work.
A section that I found to be particularly useful was Henry’s chapter on “Stimuli”. It goes about the way you’d expect. You are what you consume. If you read and watch garbage, your mind will be filled with the same.
So, given the overwhelming flow of fantastic books, articles, blog posts and research studies baiting the curious mind, how do we sift through it all to ensure optimal inspiration and benefit across a variety of disciplines, relevant both to our professional and personal interests? Furthermore, how do knowledge workers consume the material that will benefit them the most at solving the critical problems they’re faced with everyday?
Ultimately we’re looking to expand the mental framework with which we use to understand and interpret the world. So, as Henry points out, make the box bigger, and you’ll be more likely to synthesize information from disparate reaches of our world in your own problem solving.
Henry offers some helpful recommendations which I’ll supplement with some of what I’ve come across during my own research and personal experience.
First, what’s the basic blocking and tackling you need to do to stay up to date in your field? Henry refers to this as the mental vegetables in your content diet. These are the websites, magazines and writers that you need to be following weekly or even daily to ensure you’ve got all the information you need. For me, being a strategist in marketing, these are sites like PSFK, Harvard Business Review, Ad Age, Mashable, etc. This should account for around 25% of your reading.
November 30, 2011 Leave a comment
During a pitch yesterday to a prospective client, it dawned on me how crucial it is to present ideas or opinions in a) compelling, b) organized and c) digestible ways. All too often we come up with great solutions, that fall flat when our enthusiasm prevents us from sharing them in a logical and emotionally-compelling fashion.
While, an entire book could be written on this topic (and many have, including the hugely popular Made To Stick, by the Heath Brothers, which I haven’t read) this is a blog and so I’ll share a quick series of questions that will help to organize how you present ideas in the future. But, in reality, it’s not any more complicated than this.
The best pitches, regardless of how planned or even informal they may be, will simultaneously strive to appeal to the listener’s emotional and rational minds. And, don’t be mistaken, this format doesn’t just apply to presenting ideas in the traditional corporate sense. They can be used when asking for a raise at work, making a statement at a PTA meeting, or just trying to convince someone of your point of view.
October 30, 2011 Leave a comment
With the eve of Halloween upon us, I figured I’d share the most innovative (and nerdiest) costume I’d seen this year. Mark Svartz and Brian Moore, both designers at BBH, developed fully functional Google Map Guy costumes that not only show their exact position on a Google Maps interface, but also provides a real-time Street View look at their activities using an iPhone camera in their chest pockets. Extremely original in a way that only advertising creatives can be. Check out their site, Google Street Boo, for a “making of” video and to track their weekend.
October 30, 2011 Leave a comment
With well over a month of protesting under it’s belt, the Occupy Movement doesn’t seem to be losing steam. Protestors, originally labeled by the media as disorganized, extremists without a clear objective are starting to show some wherewithal. Make no mistake, the Occupy Movement is far from making any tangible strides towards narrowing the growing inequality gap between citizens and the omnipotent banks that control our country. The U.S. now ranks 4th in the world in income inequality as measured by the Gini coefficient.
The movement’s objective?
#OWS is fighting back against the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations over the democratic process, and the role of Wall Street in creating an economic collapse that has caused the greatest recession in generations. The movement is inspired by popular uprisings in Egypt, Tunisia, Spain, Greece, Italy and the UK, and aims to expose how the richest 1% of people who are writing the rules of the global economy are imposing an agenda of neoliberalism and economic inequality that is foreclosing our future. (via OccupyWallStreet.org)
As great as this sounds, if the Occupy Movement is going to create any tangible benefits for America’s working class, it has to start getting clear on it’s list of demands. Mike Taibbi, contributing editor for Rolling Stone, has been doing a tremendous job of covering the events and takes a solid crack at a top 5 list of demands.
Anyway, there’s a lot happening out there everyday and even more misinformation making it’s way through both traditional and nontraditional news sources. However, this week a collaboration between The FearLess Revolution and Boulder Digital Works resulted in the creation of Occupationalist.org, an impartial, real-time view of the Occupy Wall Street movement as told through a multitude of sources. The site features tons of constantly updating content including posts from the deeply moving Tumblr, “We Are The 99%” as well as Twitter conversations broken down by city, news, photo and video feeds, enough information to ensure that any reader is able to form an independent and unbiased opinion about the events as they unfold.
September 22, 2011 1 Comment
So, I’m reading Todd Henry’s, The Accidental Creative, which is a book for anyone who must come up with creative and novel solutions to problems in their field on a never-ending basis. The challenge we face in this position is the need to constantly be inventive and brilliant, amidst an increasingly distracting and chaotic world. Henry, in his book identifies many of the problems holding us back from reaching our maximum potential and then proposes a series of principles to live by that will allow us to create effectively amidst the turmoil.
The piece I stumbled upon yesterday, pertains to identifying how you tend to operate or work at you job. Henry breaks these tendencies into 3 main types, which I’ll describe:
Drifter: this individual goes with the wind, working on whatever they feel like in a given moment. Easily distracted and operating often in very shallow levels of thought, due to their distraction. Finishing projects is challenging and are often put off until the last possible moment. The scattered nature of this type’s work can lack purpose because they are missing a systematic and organized approach. This isn’t to say these people aren’t productive, it just means there missing some critical components to be maximally effective.
Driver: this person is almost the opposite of the Drifter, as they are overly focused on outcomes. They naturally break projects down into their smallest component parts, in order to complete the work as effectively as possible. These individuals are propelled by checking off their to-do lists. While they are incredibly skilled at reaching their objectives efficiently, their rigid systems for accomplishing work, narrow their focus to a point that causes them to miss key opportunities. Henry says it best that Drivers “are too microscopically focused on the objective and are often reluctant to redirect their energy when new opportunities emerge in the course of their work.”
Developer: this type contains the best of both the driver and the drifter and represents what we strive for in our creative processes. The developer is extremely clear on the objectives before undertaking a project, but is capable of pulling back and refining their course as new information and insights become available. They are able to become hyper-focused at the ground level when it’s time to complete the real ‘work’, but periodically zoom out to higher altitudes to look for new opportunities, insights and areas of synthesis. Because of their flexibility, Developers, are most likely to experience moments of creative insight.
I found this to be extremely helpful as I often find myself bordering on the Drifter type, checking my Twitter feed, reading blogs, jumping back into actual work, checking my phone. I very frequently move from one task to the next without any rhyme or reason to the progression. That being said, it would be reductionistic to say that we are only one type. Obviously different tasks, challenges and environments will elicit different behaviors, but being aware of these types can help you to become more aware of how your behaviors may be helping or hurting you.
Image via Simple Square blog
