The Critic and the Creative

“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” – Maya Angelou

The critic and the creative co-exist within each of us. We give too much credence to the critic, drowning out the voice and the call of the creative. Bound up and tangled in old narratives of “not good enough” and “unworthiness,” the critic stops us before we dare to start. Ignore the critic – both the internal and external ones. Create, execute, deliver.

We make the creative process unattainable by making it illusive and magical, requiring inspiration before starting. Daily work, repetition and practice are the required ingredients. Inspiration is a byproduct of the work rather than the fuel. Start and the inspiration will follow where first drafts make their way to final work ready to be released and set free.

“If we condition ourselves to work without flow, it’s more likely to arrive. It all comes back to trusting our self to create the change we seek. We don’t agree to do that after flow arrives. We do the work, whether we feel like it or not, and then, without warning, flow can arise. Flow is a symptom of the work we’re doing, not the cause of it,” states Seth Godin in his new book, The Practice: Shipping Creative Work. He continues, “The time we spend worrying is actually time we’re spending trying to control something that is out of our control. Time invested in something that is within our control is called work. That’s where our most productive focus lies. The practice requires a commitment to a series of steps, not a miracle. We don’t ship the work because we’re creative. We’re creative because we ship the work.”

Each day, we need to do the work by putting in time with a commitment to habits and rituals. “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.” – Twyla Tharp, The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life.

“Creators create. Action is identity. You become what you do. You don’t need permission from anybody to call yourself a writer, entrepreneur, or musician. You just need to write, build a business, or make music. You’ve got to do the verb to be the noun,” states Chase Jarvis, author of Creative Calling. He continues, “Fear is a gift, a precious instinct. Your primitive “reptile brain” is there to protect you and keep you alive. You can’t reason with it; it learns through action. But if you take action despite the fear and survive, it learns a tiny lesson. Over time, action by action, the volume of the negative voice goes down.”

Outline a plan this week. Put an hour on the calendar to start, to create the framework, the habits and rituals to start creating. Allow the process and work to unfold and guide you to the next step. Dwell in possibility and start again and again.

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” – Arthur Ashe

You are HERE

“You are here” maps show you where you are in relation to where you’ve been and where you are going. As we plan, plot and race to the next spot, we need to remind ourselves of the progress that got us “here” and the joy to be found on the journey to the next “here.”

The past six months of a worldwide pandemic, social unrest and political positioning have certainly turned the map upside down. There are days that feel like we’ll be “here” forever. While the immediate future is unknown and uncertainty is ruling the day, we can create certainty by tapping into our resilience, creativity and adaptability.

In The Power of Questions, Glenda Eoyang suggests three practices to engage with intractable issues:

1. See patterns not problems – when we can see patterns, we can shift them and create new patterns that serve us better;

2. Learn in action - the iterative process of Adaptive Action (WHAT? SO WHAT? NOW WHAT?) allows observations, understandings, and actions to evolve; 

3. Stand in Inquiry - No single answer is sufficient for complex issues. Questions can open our mind into new possibilities and ways to shift patterns.

Human Systems Dynamics Institute has developed models and methods to support the practices of Pattern Logic, Adaptive Action, and Inquiry.

“Look at the world around you. It may seem like an immovable, implacable place. It is not. With the slightest push — in just the right place — it can be tipped.” — Malcolm Gladwell

Asking questions and being open to new answers push us from the complacency of contracting into the possibilities of expansion. Expanding prompts creativity and innovation to create a new future filled with optimism and opportunity. Exercising our imagination can help us plan and prepare for a post -COVID life. In a TEDxMile High article on How to Expand Your Imagination in 8 Days, Kendra Sand offers ways to work your imagination muscles:

1. See adventure – new experiences requires your mind to think and neurons to connect in new ways;

2. Challenge perception - “When the brain processes vision, the vast majority of information is not coming from the eyes, but from memory. In fact, it is now estimated that visual perception is 80% memory and 20% input through the eyes. In other words, sensory information is not transmitted to the brain; it comes from it.” – Jennifer Bornstein;

3. Daydream – unconnect and stop consuming technology and media. Create quiet space for yourself each day to reconnect with wonder;

4. Speak up – imagination is linked to language and voice. Talk with a friend, allow your ideas to take shape by talking about them;

5. Play – relax, meditate and reconnect with the kid in yourself;

6. Find blue – a study from the University of British Columbia found that the color blue enhances openness, calm and peacefulness;

7. Star gaze - “Experiencing the night sky provides perspective, inspiration, and leads us to reflect on our humanity and place in the universe. The history of scientific discovery and even human curiosity itself is indebted to the natural night sky.” – Dark Sky Project

8. Take a walk – creative output increases with walking and wandering.

We are living through a very intense season of change and transformation right now. While we can’t control our external circumstances, we can change what we internalize and how we can change ourselves through actions now that will serve us well in the future. “You are Here” right now and imagine, create and move to your next “here.”

Mechanics AND Magic

“Creativity is an energy. It's a precious energy, and it's something to be protected. A lot of people take for granted that they're a creative person, but I know from experience, feeling it in myself, it is a magic; it is an energy. And it can't be taken for granted.” – Ava DuVernay

I get stuck. We all get stuck. Ruts, potholes and detours are a normal part of the journey. One way to get unstuck is to break the current pattern and get out of your head. If you are too close, step back. If you are too far out, zoom in. When tangled up in thoughts, move to action to see where it leads.

I land on the side of a lot of doing – the mechanics of things. I know that I need more magic, to wander and wonder each day amidst the need for order. It’s not a choice between right brain or left brain, work or play, action or reflection. We need more “ands” rather than “ors” to maneuver between opposites and weave both into our being. Clarity comes from both reflection and action.

When we enter the creative zone – the magic, there’s a natural ease, flow and space. We open up to mystery in the ordinary, see the same differently and enter the unknown with curiosity. Staying in the present invites and welcomes ideas, connections and insights as our preconceived notions and rules fade to the background.

When we put our guard down on order, allowing creativity to ensue, time stands still and rushing ceases. While I would have rather had something other than a pandemic to hit the brakes on busy, it certainly has put us all in a space where we have to think differently, challenge our assumptions and be open to what comes next since it’s difficult if not impossible to predict and clearly delineate the near future.

There is a comfort and certainty in mechanics. Structure helps make sense of the abstract and it can also bind us if we aren’t checking the validity of the systems we abide by. Frameworks of processes and procedures create efficiencies and consistency. It also leads to “check the box” living.

As we begin to reopen and re-enter the #otherside, we have an opportunity to create a hybrid for ourselves where we don’t go back and we dare to create something unfamiliar and new. We can integrate both magic and mechanics into our days to go deeper and find meaning beyond busy. To dream and then to execute on those dreams. To work and play. To produce and to do nothing. Moving between divergence and convergence. Right brain to left brain, and back again.

Design Thinking can help us redefine how we look at things, how we make old things new and fresh. There are five stages to the design thinking process.  

1. Empathise

2. Define

3. Ideate

4. Prototype

5. Test

We certainly have had a master class this past three months on empathy. While we are all in this pandemic together, those generous professionals on the front lines of health care and service businesses have been risking a lot serving the rest of us who have had the opportunity to work from home (albeit on nonstop zoom meetings).

While I’m not thrilled to wear a mask, I will to honor and respect others who have sacrificed more than me and have a different and valid perspective. That’s the heart of empathy. To understand there’s more than me and to allow others to express themselves as they wish. Empathy is one of the domains of emotional intelligence – where we move from self-awareness into outer-awareness and connectedness. When we allow diverse vantage points, we can expand our horizon to allow all voices to be heard.

Empathy and defining the problem create the baseline for new scenarios and possibilities.  There are several ideation methods that the Interaction Design Foundation outline:

1. Brainstorming – You build good ideas from each other’s wild ideas;

2. Braindumping – Brainstorming done individually;

3. Brainwriting – Like brainstorming, but everyone writes down and passes ideas for others to add to before discussing these.

4. Brainwalking – Like brainwriting, but members walk about the room, adding to others’ ideas.

5. Challenging Assumptions – Overturn established beliefs about problems, revealing fresh perspectives.

6. Mindmapping – Mind mapping is a creative and logical means of note-making.

7. Storyboarding – You develop a visual problem/design/solution-related story to illustrate a situation’s dynamics;

8. SCAMPER – Question problems through action verbs (“Substitute”, “Combine”, “Adapt”, “Modify”, “Put to another use”, “Eliminate”, “Reverse”) to produce solutions

9. Analogies – You draw comparisons to communicate ideas better.

Prototyping and testing allows for the new ideas to be put into action to see what works and what doesn’t based on user testing. When the design is vetted and tested, adjustments can be made followed by models, processes and procedures to operationalize and execute new ideas consistently.

Design Thinking weaves both “magic” and “mechanics” together to come to new understanding and framework to move into uncertainty creatively and with rigor. Let go of the “or” and embrace “and” along with “what if” and “why not.” Mechanics AND magic.

“Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way.” – Edward de Bono

Play Time - Bring It On!

“Now this relaxation of the mind from work consists on playful words or deeds. Therefore it becomes a wise and virtuous man to have recourse to such things at times.” – Thomas Aquinas

Where we focus our finite time, attention and capacity defines the quality and depth of our days. The actions of experimenting and exploring help us discover what is most important to us. Our core values should drive how and what we spend our time on to make our days meaningful and fulfilling.

“Doing more with less” is empty mantra that corporate America has been serving up for decades, which accounts for the 34% employee engagement rate as measured by Gallup. While the numbers have improved, 53% are in the “not engaged” category. The sheer volume of what’s expected will not be solved with more technology or multi-tasking schemes. How about “doing less with more” and creating lasting value?

Engagement in an activity, whether it be work, a side gig or a hobby that requires passion and commitment which compels us to put effort into the activity.

One important way to re-engage and rediscover your passion is play. In “Adults need recess too. Here’s why you need time to play”, Tolu Ajiboye describes how playing games, exercising, hobbies and laughter facilitate creativity and problem-solving skills as well improve our cognitive health and happiness.

“Clinical psychologist and chief of the Division of Psychology at Ellis Hospital, Dr. Rudy Nydegger, says there are two basic tenets of play. ‘First, it is something that we do for recreation that is purely for enjoyment and/or entertainment — it is something we do just for fun," he says. "Second, it is something that is intrinsically motivating. In other words it is something that we want to do and is not something we need to be coerced or 'bribed' into doing. It is voluntary; we do it just because we want to.’”

Integrating play into our days not only makes life more fun and each us more fun to be around, it can improve the outcomes of our efforts and relationships. Don’t wait for vacation to get more play time in. Commit to it every day.

Do less and play more. Recess has begun, let the games begin.