practical creativity
TRANSCRIPT
PRACTICAL CREATIVITY
DAN SAFFER@ODANNYBOY
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2008Interaction08
Two cello recitalsThree major design projects10+ speaking engagements
Started a design studioWrote a book
BY 2011, I WAS DONE.
JIM HARRISONTrying to teach creativity is the
major hoax of our time.
PRACTICAL CREATIVITYREFRAME CREATIVITY
BUILDING THE CREATIVE HABITFAILURE AND GETTING UNSTUCK
MICHAEL BIERUTI don’t think design involves that much creativity. It
involves creativity in the way doing a crossword puzzle involves creativity. You need some
imagination and knowledge. I think of artists as creative because they have to invent something out
of nothing. I think designers design because they can’t invent something out of nothing.
PRACTICAL CREATIVITYImagination + Knowledge
Outside Constraints x Time
IF YOU WANT TO BE MORE CREATIVE,
SPEND MORE TIME WITH THE PROBLEM.
STEVE JOBSWhen you first start off trying to solve a problem, the
first solutions you come up with are very complex, and most people stop there. But if you keep going,
and live with the problem and peel more layers of the onion off, you can often times arrive at some very
elegant and simple solutions.
THE THREE HARDEST PARTSOF ANY CREATIVE PROJECT
1. STARTING2. KEEPING GOING
3. FINISHING
CHUCK CLOSE:If you’re sitting around trying to dream up a great art idea, you can sit there a
long time before anything happens. But if you just get to work, something
will occur to you.
JOHN CLEESEWe don’t know where we get
our ideas from. What we do know is that we don’t get them
from our laptops.
IF YOU WANT TO BE SOMETHING DIFFERENT,
YOU HAVE TO DO DIFFERENT THINGS.
BUILDING THE CREATIVE HABIT
READ BOOKS
XXX
WHEN YOU’RE STARTING OUT, READ AS MANY
DESIGN BOOKS AS YOU CAN. ONCE YOU’RE
ESTABLISHED, READ AS FEW AS YOU CAN.
BLOCK OFF TIME FOR CREATIVITY
IT IS ESSENTIAL TO UNDERSTAND WHEN
YOU’RE THE MOST (AND LEAST) CREATIVE AND
USE THAT TIME WISELY.
START WITH A RITUAL
TWYLA THARP:It’s vital to establish some rituals—automatic but decisive patterns of behavior—at the beginning
of the creative process, when you are most at peril of turning back, chickening out, giving up,
or going the wrong way.
?? ???? ?KEEP A LIST OF BIG QUESTIONS
KEEPING YOUR BRAIN ON A LOW SIMMER
ALLOWS FOR SERENDIPITY.
KEEP NOTEBOOKS
TAKE WALKS
2014 STANFORD STUDYWalking indoors or outdoors boosted creative
inspiration. The act of walking itself, and not the environment, was the main factor. Creativity levels
were consistently and significantly higher for those walking compared to those sitting.
Give Your Ideas Some Legs: The Positive Effect of Walkingon Creative Thinking by Marily Oppezzo and Daniel Schwartz
FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHEAll truly great thoughts
are conceived by walking.
FILL THE WELLFILL THE WELL
EFFICIENCY CAN BE THE ENEMY OF CREATIVITY.
KILL YOUR DEFAULTS
MARCELA SAPONEIt's your job to do things that make you
uncomfortable. That is how you gain wisdom. It is your job to use everything you do as a learning
opportunity and to see how things are connected. That is how you build creativity.
CREATE A BAG OF LENSES.
TURN OFF THE STREAM
2015 SMART PHONE USE STUDYParticipants estimated an average of 37 uses
throughout the day, but the actual number was around 85
“Beyond Self-Report: Tools to Compare Estimated and Real-World Smartphone Use,” Sally Andrews
2011 UVA STUDYIn 11 experiments involving more than 700 people,
the majority of participants reported that they found it unpleasant to be alone in a room with their thoughts
for just 6 to 15 minutes.
BE COMFORTABLE WITH INTROSPECTION.
SCREEN SABBATICALS AND SHABBOTS
TIFFANY SHLAINThe idea is that one day a week, you need to get
your mind in a different mode, you need to not work. Every week, your brain—and your soul—needs
to be reset.
2016 STUDY ON ASSOCIATIVE ACTIVATION
A high mental load consistently diminished the originality and creativity of subjects’ responses
“Associative Activation and Its Relation to Exploration and Exploitation in the Brain,” Moshe Bar
MEDITATE
2014 LEIDEN UNIVERSITY STUDYThe advantages of particular types of meditation
extend much further than simply relaxation. The findings support the belief that meditation can have a long-lasting influence on human cognition, including
how we think and how we experience events.
Meditate to create: the impact of focused-attention and open-monitoring training on convergent and divergent thinking by Lorenza S. Colzato, Ayca Ozturk and Bernhard Hommel, '
HAVE A HOBBY OR SIDE PROJECT(S)
THE POINT OF A CREATIVE PRACTICE
IS TO HEIGHTEN SENSITIVITY.
YOUR BRAIN IS A RADIO
FAILURE AND GETTING STUCK
THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A HARDER TIME
TO BE CREATIVE FOR ONE REASON:
INSTANT FEEDBACK.
THINGS I’VE BEEN CALLED RECENTLY:
paternalistic scummisinformed
glibsensationalistic
reactionarywrong
a smart jerk
FOCUS ON MAKING A BODY OF WORK,
NOT ANY ONE INDIVIDUAL PIECE.
NEVER CELEBRATE FAILURE ITSELF.
CELEBRATE LEARNING FROM FAILURE.
A COMPLETE LIST OF THINGS THAT INHIBIT CREATIVITY:
1. EVERYTHING
WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU GET STUCK
HENRY DAVID THOREAUIt is the spirit in which you do a thing
which makes it interesting, whether it is sweeping a room or pulling turnips.
IF THE TASK IS BORING, MAKE THE WAY YOU DO THE TASK INTERESTING.
PAUL SAHREI think designers who aren’t selfish do
really awful work. I think there needs to be a motivation at the core of the work. There needs to be a motivation for the
designer to go beyond the point where most people would stop.
SYLVIA PLATHThe worst enemy
to creativity is self-doubt.
ACT AS THOUGH YOU ARE 10%
MORE COURAGEOUS.
ASK FOR HELP. IT’S NOT AN ADMISSION
OF FAILURE.
TWO UNSTUCK STRATEGIES1. Power through it.
2. Procrastinate.
POWER THROUGH IT WHEN YOU KNOW WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE AND
HOW YOU’LL DO IT.
PROCRASTINATE WHENYOU “HIT THE WALL”
SEARCH FOR THE FEELING BEHIND THE
PROCRASTINATION.
BEST WAYS TO PROCRASTINATETake a walk
Take a showerTake a drive
Go somewhere newDrink alcohol
JEFF BEENEAlcohol is for
generating ideas. Caffeine is for documenting
them.
SOMETIMES IT IS ONLY WHEN WE STOP TRYING
THAT THE SOLUTION ARRIVES.
PRACTICAL CREATIVITYREFRAME CREATIVITY
BUILDING THE CREATIVE HABITFAILURE AND GETTING UNSTUCK
BE WEIRD,BE UNUSUAL,BE CREATIVE:
THAT’S WHAT WILL SAVE YOU.
THANK YOUDAN SAFFER
@ODANNYBOY