Can comedy and rock'n'roll help business?

This from the BBC.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8414929.stm

Riffs, Myths and Creativity

Peter Cook. author of 'Sex, Leadership and Rock'n'Roll mixes ideas about business creativity and innovation with music. In this brief clip he discusses musical scales and their relationship with creativity at work.
http://www.youtube.com/academyofrock#p/a/DB73A1A7A782ACCF/0/BnFkXX5dVYs

John Kao and the Innovation Agenda

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/24/science/24prof.html?_r=1&ref=science

Sidewalk Menagerie

Joshua Allen Harris's recycled sidewalk menagerie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH6xCT2aTSo

Imagination

From my friend Joe Miguez - the Labyrinth man.

What is imagination?.....

" The faculty of imagination," wrote Dugald Stewart," is the principal source of human improvement."..... THE MINDS' EYE.--- Human imagination enables us to transcend mortal limitations of space and time, to experience what was, what can be , what can never be; It opens vistas that are not available to the senses."

By his imagination," writes Frank Barron, "man makes new universes which are never to the hearts desire."

The sorcery and charm of imagination and the power it gives to the individual to transform his world into a new world of order and delight makes it one of the most treasures of all human capacities.....

This is from the 2nd edition - Experiences in Visual Thinking by Robert H Mckim.

Music for Change

Music for change - check it out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xjPODksI08

Eureka Moments

A dream about Bartôk brought Malcolm Gillies his conceptual breakthrough, although it would take him another five years to finish writing it down.
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=409185

Expressive Lives

This collection of essays from DEMOS examines the idea of 'expressive life'.
It helps us to see creativity and heritage as the fabric of our society that gives meaning and value to our lives.
Contributors from across the creative and cultural sectors look at the effects of changes in our behaviour towards cultural institutions, developments in technology and the global exchange of different attitudes and beliefs.
These combine with political uncertainty and economic upheaval to put culture and creativity at the heart of debate about the future of our communities and international relations.

Go here for a free download:
http://www.demos.co.uk/publications/expressive-lives
and while you are there search the site.
There is really great material to be found.

Imagination First

I read a lot of books about creativity and innovation.
This one was recommended to me by my friend Joe Miguez. Imagination First is about cultivating the imagination based on the premise that imagination unlocks the power of possibility. Authors Eric Liu and Scott Noppe-Brandon offer a very simple continuum placing imagination first. They call this the ICI Continuum. Imagination [defined as the capacity to conceive of what is not] is followed by creativity [imagination applied], which is followed by innovation [defined as novel creativity].
The book then goes on to briefly describe 28 and a half practices to develop imagination. There are chapters like "Untie your tongue", "Talk about your work with someone who doesn't understand it" and "Design for the hallway: Let informal spaces thrive".
At the end of the book the authors comment; "In these pages we've offered you some new ways to see seeing. Now its up to you to find some new was of doing."
They continue. "But before any of this, changing yourself and the world demands a purpose-fed, positively charged, playful imagination. It demands imagination first."
I am inclined to agree! Well worth the read.

Recessionary Creativity

Tudor Rickards and Mark Batey discuss creativity in a recession (YouTube)