Creative Streak

Fun Facts About Your Brain

Some fascinating fun facts on a Friday about your brain.

Your brain weighs about 3 pounds (1.3 kilograms), and roughly 2% of your total body weight. All of your skin weighs more than your brain.

Your brain is made of both grey matter (40%, comprising neurons which gather and transmit signals) and white matter (60%, comprising dendrites and axons, or the network which the neurons send their signals.)

There are 100 billion neurons in your brain, and each neuron has between 1,000 to 10,000 synapses.

Your brain is made up of 75% is water, and 60% fat. It's the fattiest organ in your body.

There are no pain receptors in your brain, so it can’t feel pain ... no matter how stupid that idea is you have.

You can't tickle yourself because your brain knows the difference between an unexpected touch and your own touch.

Why Clients Don't Buy Creative

As a creative director, sometimes I feel like a mother. I help birth an idea. I help nurture it along. I help dress it up and send it off into the world for the first time.

Then someone calls me and tells me the client hates the idea.

While I'm still smarting, here's some general thoughts on why clients don't buy creative.

1. The client couldn't visualise the strategy. Sometimes the problem here is that we have the wrong strategy. The "right" strategy means it eliminates, addresses or minimised one of the campaign problems of issues. If the client doesn't get the strategy (or agree with the issue), the idea won't make sense - no matter how brilliant it is.

2. The client didn't think the idea was exciting enough.  Or, thought we could do better work. First and foremost, the idea needs to wow ME. Then, I need to translate that WOW to the client in two ways:  in the presentation itself (through pictures, active words, etc.), and secondly, by my presentation style. (If you aren't interested in your topic, no one else will be either.) At the same time, I've seen and heard client deliberately throw cold water on a good idea, just to see how we'd re-act. When we don't stand up for ourselves, we might as well not have shown up.

Bits & Bytes, 11 July

During five weeks of vacation, I got 257 e-mails on creativity, innovation, websites, links. In a word: Oy.

On a cold, wet Sydney winter's Sunday afternoon, here's some of the ones which made me stop and think for a few minutes.

A Definition of an Insight

I liked this definition of an insight, from a post entitled “How to Find The Best Insights,” by G. Michael Maddock and Raphael Louis Vitón, CEO and president respectively, of Maddock Douglas.

"An insight — for the purposes of innovation — must embody a penetrating customer truth rich enough to generate significant ideas that can help build your business. Ultimately, an insight seeks to make someone's life simpler, more convenient, more economical, or even more worthwhile."

I Hear Voices In My Head ... and Sometimes They Give Me Good Idea

I wish I could hand a copy of this article to some of my high school teachers. “Discovering the Virtues of a Wandering Mind” (New York Times, 28 June 2010) reveals that “the doodling daydreamer is getting some respect.” It does on to say “A wandering mind can protect you from immediate perils and keep you on course toward long-term goals. Sometimes daydreaming is counterproductive, but sometimes it fosters creativity and helps you solve problems.” Amen.

The Four Agreements, Applied to Business

Many people deservedly know Don Miguel Ruiz from his appearance on Oprah Winfrey’s television show to speak about his philosophy in his book The Four Agreements. I was introduced to him by my friend Greg in New York who gave me the audio book as a gift.

But, true to the Aussie personality, friends here in Sydney scoffed at the New Age spiritualism and the "icky" motivational philosophy ... and I had to agree, during the moment.

But when I re-read the book again this weekend, I was struck again by its relevance to the business environment. If you could scrub clean the Aquarian elements from its core philosophy, you might agree its essential clear tenets which should describe the behaviour of the most effective leader, a strategic creative thinker, or an ideal team member.

Be impeccable with your word. Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

Don’t take anything personally. Nothing others do is because of you. What others day and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.

Don’t make assumptions. Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can do avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

Always do your best. Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.

If you like Ruiz' style and philosophy, you'll love his website.

If you're curious about the book, take a look here, on Amazon.

Overused Buzzwords and Marketing Speak in Press Releases

My good friend Suzanne Ross of The Aerie Company sent this link to me a few days ago. (Sorry, I've been off on holidays for five weeks, and just now getting back to a keyboard.)

As background, Adam Sherk - a search and PR strategist for Define Search Strategies (owned by The New York Times Company) - analysed the number of words used in press releases archived on PRWeb over the past four years. "Leader" and "leading" were the two most used words. I've included the top 20 words below, or click on the link above to see the entire list.

Used together, the words really do repel the reader. ("As the leader of our industry, we at Acme are leading yet again by producing the best and most unique solution from the most innovative team of innovators with award winning exclusive technology.")

It reminds me of something that John Bennett (my first journalism teacher at the University of Iowa) said in one the early classes: "It's easy to select a word to use, but far more difficult to select one with impact."

1. Leader
2. Leading
3. Best
4. Top
5. Unique
6. Great
7. Solution
8. Largest
9. Innovative
10. Innovator
11. Award winning
12. Exclusive
13. Premier
14. Extensive
15. Leading provider
16. Innovation
17. Real-time
18. Fastest
19. Easy to use
20. Dynamic

The brilliant comic is by Drew & Natalie Dee and . Go here to see to their website and BUY SOMETHING. (I have heaps of their T-shirts.)

Brainstorming Is Dead ... Again

Another week, another set of articles proclaiming - again - that the brainstorm is dead.

Don't buy it. Instead, the next time you need your team to develop ideas, consider these steps instead.

1. Determine the real goal of what your ideas need to accomplish. This goal may also be written as a problem. You may need your ideas to eliminate an issue, or fulfil a need.
2. Choose your brainstorm attendees wisely. (Go here if you want some tips to do this.)
3. In advance of the brainstorm, prepare some suitable research as background or thought starters for your potential attendees. Don’t overload people with information: less is (always) more. As much as possible, talk to the group of people who will interact with the ideas.
4. Also in advance of the brainstorm, ask these people to consider the goal or problem – perhaps even come up with their own ideas prior to the meeting.
5. Find a good facilitator to conduct your meeting. Don’t do it yourself. A qualified facilitator can help navigate some of the common problems with group dynamics, as well as inspire the group through creative exercises and techniques.
6. Decide what criteria you’re going to use to select the ideas. Keep these between you and the facilitator, revealing them at the end of the group brainstorming.
7. When you gather for the brainstorm, first listen to everyone’s ideas. Then, depending upon the ideas generated independently, use these ideas as a basis for more brainstorming.
8. Spend a reasonable amount of time – which means pushing through the first or second waves of creativity – until the group really starts to challenging itself. (Again, a good facilitator can help.)
9. Once you have a suitable amount of ideas, select the ideas – using your criteria – you want to take to the next level. Assign people to specific tasks with specific tight deadlines. And, decide if you need to schedule more meetings, perhaps with different people. If so, repeat the appropriate steps of this process.
10. Finally: sell or merchandise the ideas to the “client,” and get buy-in or approval to implement ... if not go directly to the implementation stage.

Bits & Bytes, May 29

Again, some miscellanea from around the Internet.

Adults, Play and Creativity

Two posts on ‘play’ for adults, particularly in business. On one hand, it’s fairly well-known that play is an important ingredient for adults, both in creative thinking and in learning. On the other, I know there's real hesitation from the Regular Person who doesn't understand what we often mean by that statement. A random search on Google has some questionable suggestions by creative experts, such as “Learn to cut loose, even at work!” or “When you’re writing your next report, think like a child!”

I'm not sure this is a good example of playing at work, but a few weeks ago, at a workshop for a financial services company in Melbourne, an executive and I were analysing how to improve her 78-page slide presentation for an upcoming meeting of the Board of Directors. Her immediate supervisor demanded she put all of his slides in the presentation, but then said "But feel free to make it your own." (Talk about Creative Paradoxes, see below.)

After getting our heads around the complex topic, we began to joke about how we might turn the presentation into something playful. “What would the Board of Directors never expect?” And, "What would make her presentation a surprise?” Or, “What if the Board were in control of the presentation, instead of her?”

Innovator vs. Pseudo-Innovator

 A cold, wet wintry day in Sydney is perfect for going through old stuff ... namely 11 boxes (I kid you not) of old articles on communications, creativity and innovation I've kept since I got my first job in 1984. I'm always amazed how some of the principles remain true after 25 years, others perhaps not so much.

One stand-out from this morning's gleaning is entitled "The Innovator vs. the Pseudo-Innovator", from the January 1980 edition of Executive Skills, an old newsletter from the American Management Association. It's interesting to me because the traits of an innovator have a natural affinity to the characteristics of a creative person. I cringe every now and then because I read a trait I don't follow consistently (so it's a good list, sort of like an Eighteen Commandments of Creativity). I'm not 100% sure I agree. For instance, "... prefers complexity." Personally, I prefer ideas which are simple, although I also understand the joy (among us INTPs) to reduce complexity to simplicity.

Anyway, an interesting read nonetheless. Any thoughts? Any others you'd add? HTML

The Traits of an Innovator vs. Those of the Pseudo-Innovator

The Innovator: ... is intellectually curious

   The Pseudo-Innovator ... is cynically curious

I ...is constructively critical

   P-I ...is corrosively critical

I ...seeks to improve the operation

   P-I ...seeks to impress others

I ...has firm convictions but listens to the ideas of others

Forrest Gump and Creativity

Forgive me, but it's a cold, wet winter day in Sydney. This morning, a friend sent this to me for two reasons. The first is he knows I love jokes about creativity. The second reason will be obvious when you read it. Enjoy!

Forrest Gump Goes to Heaven.

The day finally arrived. Forrest Gump dies and goes to Heaven.

At the Pearly Gates, Forrest is met by St. Peter himself. As he approaches him, he notices the gates are closed.

St. Peter said, "Forrest, it is certainly good to see you. We have heard a lot about you. I must tell you, though, that the place is filling up fast. So, like Australia, we've decided to administer an entrance examination before you can enter. The test is short, but you have to pass it before you can get into Heaven."

Forrest responds, "It sure is good to be here, St. Peter, sir. But nobody ever told me about any entrance exam. I sure hope that the test ain't too hard. Life was a big enough test as it was."

St. Peter continued, "Yes, I know, Forrest, but the test is only three questions.

First: What two days of the week begin with the letter T?

Second: How many seconds are there in a year?

Third: What is God’s first name?"

The Value of Creativity, At Last

Did you hear that cry of vindication? You should have. Thousands of consultants worldwide threw their hats in the air as a new global survey found that the most important leadership quality was ‘creativity.’ If you haven’t seen it, read the article now.

The survey Capitalising on Complexity: Insights from the Global Chief Executive Officer Study is notable for a variety of reasons.

First, the findings came from the highest level: 1,500 chief executives from every region in the world. Collectively, they ranked creativity higher than other competencies such as integrity, global thinking, influence, openness, dedication, focus on sustainability, humility and fairness.

Second, it was conducted by IBM’s Institute for Business Value. Not only is the endorsement by IBM significant, it’s rich with irony. Remember the phase “No one gets fired for hiring IBM?” You couldn’t find a more non-creative declarative sentence, so clearly, the brand overhaul of IBM’s reputation is nearly complete.

Third, the release of the survey after one of the worst economic period in history makes it extremely surprising. A senior manager at IBM Global Business Services said that “(CEOs) didn't fall back on management discipline, existing best practices, rigor, or operations. In fact, they (did) just the opposite.”

Creative Jolt: Breaking Habits

The inspiration for this post comes from a well-known quote by American actor Alan Alda: “Be brave enough to live creatively. The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover is yourself."

Part of out of curiosity, I did a quick survey of (non-creative) friends and colleagues and found a decidedly non-startling fact: most people come and go to work the same way, every time. It's efficient, said one. It saves time, said another. I don't even think about it, said a third. In fact, one person offered a day organised entirely by rote. Same route to work, same coffee shop, same order, same routine at her desk, same place for lunch, etc.

"I'm going to get a lecture now on not being creative, aren't I?" she laughed.