Crazy ones What makes you laugh? What makes you adore? What touches you? What sticks? Most of the time it is something out of the ordinary or extraordinary or beyond order, something with an emotional trigger. It’s how we remember best. It’s the brain that wakes up from routine. The brain is a funny thing. It’s always busy saving energy, so anything that can be ‘automate’, it will. Labels, patterns, structures, It’s also predominantly a left brain operation. Beyond the ordinary is where artists find their inspiration. And yet, most of us try not to be out of the ordinary, but try to blend in. Being ordinary is a safe comfort zone. But that’s not where the magic happens, that’s completely outside comfort zones. It’s where inventions are made, where the best jokes come from, it’s the birth place of creativity. It’s also where great brands come from, brands created by extraordinary people. People with a vision and the bravery to resist the usual and be different (thank you Steve Jobs). Interesting is the fact that ordinary people admire extraordinary people, but the balance has to be right. Every company deserves one ‘crazy’ person, to stir things up, let in new air, new ideas (and get the freedom to do so). It’s good for business, because if you keep doing the same, don’t expect a different outcome. This one’s for inspiration:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z4NS2zdrZc&t=2s Make the extraordinary happen!
Less Profit, More Happiness
Less Profit, More Happiness It sounds like a contradiction, but it’s not. The ideas is simple: Companies should define a profit ceiling. Anything they earn above, is used for positive investment like education, sustainability, pollution, improve farmer’s prices, equal opportunities, culture, the community, you get the idea. Now what happens? Employees who work for companies like that are proud (purpose) and more productive, more creative and willing to share ideas. Because they’re happy and proud, they will talk about it with at parties, social media, friends and family, (company branding) and attract new, like minded employees. For Social Media, these companies have more to tell than just about their products or servies. They can show their ‘human’ side, which is more suitable for the channel and more interesting, which creates positive awareness. Consumers are more inclined to buy products from companies that do good for the world and if the quality is good, will probably talk about it plus there’s already an increased visibility, so sales go up. Bottomline: happy people (employees, suppliers, consumers, stakeholders), sales go up, production cost go down, profit goes up…. so more money that’s going to be positively invested. In other words, we should invest in happiness. It’s (almost) a perpetuum mobile.
9 Quantum Creativity Strategies
9 Quantum Creativity Strategies If the brain is a muscle, and it is possible to train it or even to stretch it. Here are some interesting ways to train the brain: Strategy 1. Fail tremendously No creative succeeds without first failing – as fails are part of the process of testing one’s assumptions. Each failure you encounter will actually supercharge your creativity by generating new information and remodeling the problem that needs to be solved. Strategy 2. Define The Problem Many people jump jump straight to solutions which result often in finding the wrong solution or a superficial one for the wrong problem. I call it the hierarchy pf problem. In most cases there’s a problem creating the problem, creating the problem. The art of defining the problem is going to the root, removing the ‘trouble’ (=from from the French word troubler, meaning ‘cloudy’), that’s a creative process on its own and the solution will present itself in creativity. Strategy 3. Challenge Your Creativity Assumptions It’s natural and necessary to make assumptions about the reality of our everyday world. But the result might be that we see what we expect to see. Challenging your assumptions is a catalyst for creativity. It allows to look beyond what is obvious or accepted. Truly creative people in all fields automatically tend to challenge both their own assumptions, and the commonly accepted ones. Strategy 4. Alternative Perspective We’re stuck in patterns and habits. A great way to kick start creativity is to look at a problem from the vantage point of another profession/person/entity. How would a mechanical engineer look at it, an architect, a product designer, a chef cook, your mother? This approach can lead to some remarkable creative insights and breakthroughs. Strategy 5. Accept Ambiguity In general people don’t like things that seem to be vague, or could have more than one meaning or application. As a result they tend to be rigid and highly predictable thinkers. Not creative. People who can think ambiguously are fluid and flexible thinkers. The ability to think ambiguously can yield amazing creative insights. This is ability is experienced (and built) when you indulge in wordplay or humor. Strategy 6. Read, listen, watch more An excellent way to build your creative muscles is to read, listen, watch and explore outside your normal area of interest. This can be especially useful when you are struggling to solve a creative problem. Read comics, Science Fiction or just magazines, listen to scientific, philosophical, stand-up comedy podcasts, stroll the Internet, walk through a mall, and keep the ‘problem’ in mind and find these creative solutions. Strategy 7. Walk a mile in their shoes We have the tendency to project things on ourselves and our own experiences. By changing your point of view in a literate way and putting yourself in the shoes of the other, creates a complete new perspective of things. I often use my mother and try to look at the problem or solution from her perspective, but in general, just don’t think as yourself. Strategy 8. Take a nap Creative thinking best occurs when your brain is in certain states called alpha and theta, they are the source of inspiration and creativity. That’s why many people (Newton, Einstein, Picasso) have creative ah-ha experiences during a nap, a stroll, or some other mentally-relaxing activity. Strategy 9. Meditate Silence your thoughts. It’s between the silences where crazy ideas are born. There are many ways to meditate and it easy. Just focus on breathing in and letting out slowly for example, or feel your heartbeat, listening to birds and sound of the wind, remove the ‘voice’. Or go running or biking and get into a flow.