I woke up and told myself. I’m going to do this. I'm going to sit down. I'm going to learn what it takes to have a great website. I'm going to learn how to create great social media. Learn what it takes to hone my skills as an MC. Publish great content that can sell my skills as an artist, an entertainer. Every single day, I wrote out a list of what I needed to do. I’d probably get shot down. I would struggle. I would no doubt come up against another wall that would knock me down, but I kept getting up. I kept taking one small step forward every chance I could get and I could see myself turning my friend’s idea into a reality.
Culture is Feeling
Organisations fool themselves into believing that they want to be transformative, innovative and adaptive. They also fool themselves into believing that by changing the top-down message, the mandate from the executive, that innovation will flow like the ancient Saharan rivers of gold. Unfortunately, corporate culture is focused on operational excellence and efficiency. This is the very antithesis of the collective hearts, minds and habits of the organisation's people and their mutual perception of 'this is how we do things'. Top-down mandates can only ever command compliance, they can never influence confidence, belief, enthusiasm or creativity.
All for One and All Will Fall
When Alexander Dumas wrote his swashbuckling classic The Three Musketeers, he coined the phrase synonymous with this band adroit nobleman 'All for One and One for All'. It is thought by some to be the truest and most symbolic example of teamwork. We (the team are all in this together). Fast forward several centuries and our work lives are still all about 'the team' in many respects, only this time it's about getting things done and getting them done within our allotted hours of work. But what exactly are we all in for? What are we striving to achieve in the modern workday. The modern work week. Are we all in for the work or just to work?
Creativity & Emotional Intelligence are Strange Bedfellows
Lets be honest. Creativity can be a cranky, moody, tempestuous individual at times. Never satisfied. Always looking for the different angle, always searching for something new, quick to judge and often speaks before applying a social filter. Conversely, Emotional Intelligence (EQ) can be stable, happy, and diplomatic person who does their work, doesn't rock the boat and follows the company line. They are a jolly bunch even when things aren't going so well. EQs are admired by workmates because of their serenity and ability to remain cool under pressure. They are perfect employee... Or so we thought.
Is the Art of Oracy dying?
No doubt Trump's own zealotry and self-idolatry would shelter his ego from harm, for even a seven-year-old primary school student would cringe at the redundancy and inaneness of his attempt at a logical thought process in pursuit of his own brand of Twitteroracy.
Failing to act is acting to fail
We must give in to our curiosity. Just like kids in playground having a ride on new swing for the first time or a puppy experiencing new surroundings. There is excitement, there is trepidation, but there is a willingness to be positive and to come out the other side, bigger, stronger, with greater confidence and feeling safe.
Thank you, Mr Watkins
Poetry, beauty, romance and love are all about the heart. True creativity comes from the heart. Its about feeling. When you feel, you know. You get the shivers. Mr Watkins gave me the shivers, because every time I walked into his classroom, I new it was going to be a great adventure.
Creativity versus Innovation?
For all the definitions of creativity and innovation that abound, from an organic perspective, creativity is the art of conception. Innovation is the art of successful gestation. Scott Berkun goes on to suggest that the best definition of innovation is significant positive change. When we create we are looking for the original, the new. When we innovate we want to put these new and original ideas into place.
Opinion & Perspective
Opinions and Perspectives are simply that. Not fact and not truth. Given this presumption, though, society's common thinking is that perception or perspective is truth. Is fact. Each and every one of our world's views' provides us with a frame of reference from which we develop these perceptions, these 'truths'. What we see, hear, smell, touch, taste and feel (don't forget the sixth sense) construct our own opinions and perceptions. They are our warm security blankets.
Creativity leads to Mastery
We have the opportunity to change the way we learn. We can be creative in the way in which we learn. We have time on our side and we can dictate the curriculum. It is this very creativity that enables us to ultimately become masters at our craft, masters of our own direction. Creativity unlocks the potential for mastery.
