Inspiring Stories

A great Kiwi initiative - Capturing Our Most Inspiring Stories

From March 1st to July 10th 2011 we’re running a series of two-day intenstive workshops for energetic young Kiwis aged 13-26. Workshops are hands-on, fun, and focus on good storytelling and documentary filmmaking. During the workshop, participants kickstart a short film project.

Then working in small teams, participants go beyond the workshop to produce a short 2-4 film about a young person making a difference in their community. The films are showcased online, celebrated at the Film Festival in November at the NZ Film Archive, and then shared throughout schools & communities across New Zealand!


http://www.inspiringstories.org.nz/

Start Me Up - Lessons from the Rolling Stones

Let’s look at an example of the getting started process, brilliantly executed. The Rolling Stones, in their early years (1962-1965), masterfully merged everything good I’ve ever read and observed about change and getting started. They were open to change from the start, they immersed themselves in the learning process, they used mistakes and feedback to fuel their progression, and they worked and practiced all the time to get good at things they weren’t so good at at first.http://gooddisruptivechange.com/start-me-up/

Workplace to Playspace

Pamela Meyer, Ph.D. describes the transformative experiences that led her to shift from a mindset of workplace to one of playspace. Playspace is a space of high engagement and acceptance, where one can play off new ideas and perspectives and people can play new roles. With more play in the system, and room for improvised play, playspace reclaims play for whole people to engage in their whole lives.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFry4_cnIu4&feature=share

How 20 bad ideas can kick-start your imagination.

It’s quite simple, really. The general premise is that it’s impossible to come up with 20 good ideas. But it’s equally impossible to come up with 20 bad ideasMore here: http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2011/06/26/creativity-20-bad-ideas/

Creativity - the final differentiator

Does being ctreative go hand-in-hand with being creative?
http://blogs.forbes.com/gyro/2011/06/24/creativity-the-final-differentiator/

Creative Education - Guerilla Classrooms

In Milwaukee, the fourth-poorest city in America, educators have launched a "guerrilla classroom" initiative that transforms urban locations into impromptu classrooms for parents and children.
http://bigthink.com/ideas/39025

Cultivating Creativity

A bunch of articles from Psychology Today on creativity.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/collections/201106/cultivating-creativity

Top 10 Innovation Challenges for 2020

From Marci Segal
http://networkedblogs.com/jK677

10 ways the workplace crushes creativity

And what to do about it.
Mark McGuiness - always worth reading!
http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/2011/06/24/workplace-creativity/

Storytelling Lesons from Bill Cosby

What makes Bill Cosby one of the most compelling entertains of our time is his ability to connect with people and deliver his messages naturally in the form of story. He's the master storyteller. He does so well what most leaders and presenters of all kinds should do: tell real stories from your own life in a way that is relevant and engaging to your audience.
http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2011/06/storytelling-lessons-from-bill-cosby.html

45+ Useful Yet Free eBooks For Designers And Developers

Some great stuff here: http://www.smashingapps.com/2011/06/02/45-useful-yet-free-ebooks-for-designers-and-developers.html

Teaching Creativity?

Is it possible?
http://rs.resalliance.org/2010/08/31/teaching-creativity/

Are artists and writers slaves to a corporate logo?

The validity of the pursuit of wellbeing through creativity seems to be accepted without question by the educational establishment, the business and political worlds and the media in general. Arts organisations consider it a major part of their brief to encourage and invest in the development of creativity and we find frequent references to the 'creative industries'.
This from Catherine Czerkawska.
http://www.scottishreview.net/CatherineCzerkawska132.shtml
and a comment from Chris Freemantle
http://chris.fremantle.org/2011/06/05/creativity-leadership-wellbeing/
and another response here:
http://wordarts.blogspot.com/2011/06/creativity-and-wellbeing-few-more.html

Creativity and Evolution of the Mind

A DIALOGUE BETWEEN JASON SILVA AND TECHNO-ECOLOGIC SCHOLAR RICHARD DOYLE
Richard Doyle is an explorer of the exciting and confusing rhetorical membrane between humans and an informational universe, he argues that in co-evolution with technology, we find ourselves in an evolutionary ecology that is as vital as it is unexplored.
http://bigthink.com/ideas/38972

Thinking Twice About Creativity

Thinking Twice About “Creativity”By Andy Boynton, with William Bole

Last year, when IBM asked more than 1500 CEOs what leadership qualities they valued the most, the results of the survey were a bit surprising. Such likely possibilities as dedication and “influence” rated fairly low in their estimations, but one attribute of a leader rose to the top of the rankings by corporate chiefs. Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed put their money on “creativity.”

More here: http://blogs.forbes.com/andyboynton/2011/06/21/thinking-twice-about-creativity/

An insight into creativity - Christian Bach

From Christian Bach owner of RockNRoll Animation:
"A few months back I was approached by the good people at Intel about being a featured artist in their Visual Life series. The project is truly amazing; It is a video series trying to inspire people to use their technology in an intuitive way and push the creative envelope."
More here: http://networkedblogs.com/jHqPN

Creativity Habit: Collecting

In my book The Creative Edge Workshop I identified 6 habits that creative people exhibit. Collecting is one of them. More at this link: http://blogs.psychcentral.com/creative-mind/2011/06/collecting-and-creativity/
And my book is still available from
http://www.publishme.co.nz/shop/
Search for The Creative Edge Workshop

Workaholism and Creativity

http://gigaom.com/collaboration/is-workaholism-killing-your-creativity/

Ken Robinson vs. The Black Swan

An interesting perspective!
http://savageminds.org/2011/06/19/the-conservatory-in-creativity-or-ken-robinson-vs-black-swan/

Opening to your creativity

Tama J Kieves shares 3 pratices to tap into the creative flow in the middle of a busy, chaotic life.
http://awakeningartistry.com/blog/content/3-practices-help-you-open-your-creativity-even-middle-crazy-life

Creativity and innovation in business

Business may thrive on innovation, but there is also some research on the perception that leaders should not be “too” creative.http://blogs.psychcentral.com/creative-mind/2011/06/creativity-and-innovation-in-business/

Curing people with creativity

Dr H T Chidananda, former head of pathology department, Mysore Medical College and director of Shimoga Institute of Medical Sciences, has ventured into simplifying medical science to the masses through the medium of art and words. He has creatively put together a visual representation of the causes, symptoms and cure for various diseases through his painting and has written a few lines in Kannada to explain the painting.
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-06-16/mysore/29665176_1_painting-diseases-symptoms

Blocks to Creativity

Do you experience any of these?
http://www.cidionline.org/journals/motispritaional/109-do-you-recognize-these-10-mental-blocks-to-creative-thinking.html

Creative Habits

Creativity is the act of turning new and imaginative ideas into reality. Creativity involves two processes: thinking, and then producing. Innovation is the production or implementation of an idea.From Linda Naiman.
http://ahopefulsign.com/living-to-learn/seven-habits-of-highly-creative-people

Creative Blocks

More from Mark McGuiness and Lateral Action
http://lateralaction.com/articles/smash-your-creative-blocks/

Necessity, not scarcity, is the mother of invention

This from Theresa Amabile and Steve Kramer
http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/03/necessity_not_scarcity_is_the.html

The Origin of Creativity

According to John Cleese!!
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2011/06/john-cleese-on-the-origin-of-creativity/

Killing creativity in the workplace

According to Todd Fluhr, some companies intentionally stifle internal creativity, but they don’t realize it. Find out what changes he made to a department to help promote and nurture creativity, which in turn increased productivity.

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/tr-out-loud/dont-hire-and-then-kill-creativity-in-the-workplace/4122

Brainsets and Creativity

Creativity researcher Shelley Carson uses the idea of 'brain set' as a take-off on 'mind set' in her book Your Creative Brain.
http://blogs.psychcentral.com/creative-mind/2011/06/shelley-carson-on-brainsets-and-creativity/

Creativity for Introverts

How creative are you now, compared to when you were a child?

A) More creative

B) About as creative

C) Less creative

More here: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/quiet-the-power-introverts/201105/creativity-introverts

Innovative Italy

Italy of beauty, unique design, rich cultural and historical heritage and the comprehensive genius of Leonardo is well-known. What may be less known is another typical Italian quality – inventiveness.
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=128729

Succeeding in the Music Industry

Grammy award winning music producer and engineer 'Bassy' Bob Brockmann shares some of his lessons learned and future thinking with Ande Schurr.

Bob talks about engaging an audience, the role of music and succeeding in the industry.

http://www.thebigidea.co.nz/news/columns/how-freelancers-can-succeed/2011/jun/87602-gem-and-grammy-collecting

The Repair Workshops

Unsure what to do with that broken stereo? Those one-armed sunglasses, or that conked-out iPod? Well it’s time to clean out the cupboards, get creative and do your bit for the environment at the same time.
http://www.environmentvictoria.org.au/content/repair-workshops
A very creative initiative. Have a read of the Repair Manifesto.

Self-doubt is useful!

Shared by Mark McGuiness of Lateral Action.
http://www.petershallard.com/self-doubt-is-useful-and-other-counter-intuitive-psychological-truths/

How to sharpen your Ninja memory skills

This from Mark McGuiness at Lateral Action. Always interesting!
http://lateralaction.com/articles/memory-technique/

Creativity 101: Creative Person

What are the chrateristics of a creative person?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka0GZhg5yRE

Harvard Creativity Study

Opportunity to participate in a Harvard study on the foundations of creativity. More here: http://www.hogafish.com/2011/06/12/participate-in-a-harvard-study-on-the-foundations-of-creativity/

Genius Awakening

An intertesting take on profiling. Very similar to the ones that I hold the New Zealand Agency for. You can check my ones out at www.wholebrainthinking.com.au and have a look at the video clip here: http://www.geniusawakening.com/video1_access.php

Idea, creativity and innovation

Many arguments have sprung up and still attracting hot debate all over the world on the above subjects’ interrelationships and interdependence. Many authors, scholars and everyday researchers have attempted to and still attempting to characterize these 21st century’s buzz words in order to fine-tune their practicability in their everyday use. This from Lanre Adeboye
http://www.cidionline.org/journals/corporate-development/115-idea-creativity-a-the-process-of-innovation.html

Finding creative people is easy

Instead of searching for creativity, we should be fostering it in people we already work with—and redefining what it is
http://www.theatlantic.com/life/archive/2011/06/finding-creative-people-is-easy-and-heres-how/240069/

Invention at Play

What do the inventors behind Post-it Notes, robotic ants, Kevlar and the telephone have in common with children? Play! And check out the on-line exhibition.
http://americanhistory.si.edu/exhibitions/exhibition.cfm?key=38&exkey=92

The Mute Button

Another Improv Everywhere
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BZi1wN6Nbc&feature=youtu.be

The Business of Creativity

Shared by Alan Black . . . . . .
Fredrik Härén, renowned writer and speaker of creativity shares his quest to inspire innovative thinking.
http://www.capitalandinside.com/index.php/advocate/changemakers/798-business-of-creativity

Finding your deep creativity

http://integrallife.com/member/sally-kempton/blog/finding-your-deep-creativity-three-easy-steps

Do the work - an interview with Steven Pressfield

Steven is a bestselling novelist, Hollywood screenwriter and author of the creativity classic The War of Art. This from Mark McGuiness at Lateral Action.
http://networkedblogs.com/ixFQX

One of my favourite creatives!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTcRxIgPvx0&feature=related

Malcolm McLaren: Authentic Creativity

Shared by Alun James . . .
How does one find authentic creativity? In his last talk before passing away, Malcolm McLaren tells remarkable stories from his own life, from failing school to managing the Sex Pistols. He argues that we're living in a karaoke culture, with false promises of instant success, and that messiness and failure are the key to true learning.
http://www.ted.com/talks/malcolm_mclaren_authentic_creativity_vs_karaoke_culture.html

10 awesome videos on creativity

At 99%, they try to demystify the creative process. To show us the real inner-workings of how ideas are made to happen by sharing the thought processes and creative practices of great achievers. Here, with the help of their readers, they've rounded up some of the best videos on idea execution from artists, writers, designers, storytellers, researchers, and chocolatiers.
http://the99percent.com/articles/7001/10-Awesome-Videos-On-Idea-Execution-The-Creative-Process

7 rules for making more happiness

Using simple, delightful illustrations, designer Stefan Sagmeister shares his latest thinking on happiness -- both the conscious and unconscious kind. His seven rules for life and design happiness can (with some customizations) apply to everyone seeking more joy.
http://www.ted.com/talks/stefan_sagmeister_7_rules_for_making_more_happiness.html