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Act stupid

Oyvind Solstad — Mon, 30 May 2005 08:10:00 +0000

Joyce Wycoff has been an inspiration for years. Always inspiring! Read her post about ad agency Wieden + Kennedy:

“Act Stupid. “Our philosophy is to come in ignorant every day. The idea of retaining ignorance is sort of counterintuitive, but it subverts a lot of [problems] that come from absolute mastery. if you think you know the answer better than somebody else does, you become closed to being fresh.” states Jelly Helm, creative director.”

And this little gem, dedicated to every boss out there.

“If you say an idea is bad, you’re creating conflict–you’re breaking an improv rule. You want an energy flow that moves you forward, as opposed to a creative stasis.”"

Print out and put it these five places:

The first place your eyes will fall when you wake up in the morning
On your bathroom mirror
On your computer monitor, at the bottom of the screen
Somewhere visible in your car
On your tv

Leave it there for a week. Repeat in a month, and after half a year.

Free your ass and your mind will follow

Oyvind Solstad — Mon, 30 May 2005 02:00:00 +0000

Great advice from Jason Santa Maria. The subject is: How to maintain motivation:

“I suggest you get out of the house; go for a walk or a bike ride. I love going out for an afternoon by myself to ride or walk around and take photos. It’s a great time for my mind to wander and reflect on problems away from my work situations. By the time I get back to work, I am refreshed and ready to go. Free your ass and your mind will follow.”

The 6 myths of creativity

Oyvind Solstad — Mon, 30 May 2005 01:55:00 +0000

It’s a Fast Company article from 2004, but still interesting reading:

“[...] Creativity is positively associated with joy and love and negatively associated with anger, fear, and anxiety. The entries show that people are happiest when they come up with a creative idea, but they’re more likely to have a breakthrough if they were happy the day before. There’s a kind of virtuous cycle. When people are excited about their work, there’s a better chance that they’ll make a cognitive association that incubates overnight and shows up as a creative idea the next day. One day’s happiness often predicts the next day’s creativity.”

Creativity test

Oyvind Solstad — Fri, 27 May 2005 03:30:00 +0000

Marcus Vorwaller blogs about an interesting article in Scientific American MIND.

“Relaxation – Personally this has been the best tip of them all for me. I found that for months of my life I was so busy (or thought I was so busy) that I never took time to sit and meditate. When I finally did, it was like a floodgate of ideas were unleashed. It’s amazing what your mind will do if you give it time and room to work.”

Twelve Ways to Think Differently

Oyvind Solstad — Fri, 20 May 2005 08:05:00 +0000

“So how can we learn to broaden our thinking, to think differently? This is not just a matter of critical thinking, creative thinking, ‘outside the box’ thinking. It is about opening up our minds to the world and all its possibilities.” Read more at Salon.

Technorati tags: creative

Enjoyment = Flow = Innovation

Oyvind Solstad — Fri, 20 May 2005 07:25:00 +0000

“The more I learn about innovation, the more I believe that the organizations who innovate year over year over year are those who treat people well, who build cultures where enjoying one’s work — routinely reaching a state of flow — is not the exception, but the rule.” Read more at metacool.

Technorati tags: creativity / Innovation