Creativity and innovation techniques, tips and tools
On the creative power of discipline We tend to think of creativity and routine as being polar opposites. Creativity is about freedom and spontaneity, while routine is about structure, discipline and constraint. Here's [...]
Overcome mental fatigue (burnout) and boost your brain power with these easy practices In a world of change that never stops, where the demands of everyday life can drain your creativity and leave [...]
Explore the power of breath and its connection to inspiration and creativity Do you ever feel stuck in a rut, bored with your routine, or lacking motivation for your goals? If so, you [...]
How to run a successful brainstorming session and avoid the traps that cause brainstorming to fail This step-by-step guide will help you navigate the creative process and provide some structure [...]
Creative Acts for Curious People includes more than eighty assignments that take you deeper into the famed d.School approach to design thinking.
Why you need to sharpen your powers of observation Highly successful Innovators including artists, designers, scientists, and entrepreneurs, tend to be keen observers of the world around them. Observing is one of the keys [...]
One thing I know for sure is that my creative practice keeps me grounded and connected to my innermost self, and the larger world. I subscribe to Joni Mitchell's creative practice, which she [...]
Shifting from reacting to creating It’s so easy to be reactive about problems and the pressures they cause in today’s fast-paced world. If you are reacting, you are putting out fires, but you aren’t [...]
Marilyn Norry on writing women's history, starting with your mother It never occurred to me to write my mother’s story until I met Marilyn and attended one of her workshops on how to do just [...]
Try this powerful question-storming technique to enhance creative problem-solving Give your team a brain jolt to kickstart creativity, by asking them to question-storm 50 questions in 15 minutes about your topic. It's a jolt [...]
It has been said that every moment and every day offers us a fresh new beginning. "In the beginner's mind, there are many possibilities, but in the expert's mind there are few." —Shunryu Suzuki Someone [...]
Light the Dark: Writers on Creativity, Inspiration, and the Creative Process What inspires you? That is the question Joe Fassler asked 48 of the most celebrated authors in the world--including Elisabeth Gilbert, Amy Tan, Neil Gaiman, William Gibson, and Stephen [...]
Question orthodoxies and reframe flawed assumptions that rule your business Assumptions are beliefs we take for granted and accept as true. Most of our assumptions are unconscious -- and for good reason. We would be terribly [...]
Try These Creative Rituals to Add Meaning and Magic to Your Holiday Season I believe we are starved in North America, for soul-nourishing rituals and celebrations that give us access to the numinous [...]
Creative leadership depends on how well you create emotional connections with others and your ideas. "Everyone communicates," writes leadership guru John Maxwell, "but very few people connect." What are the distinctions between communicating and connecting? Jon Hauser, [...]
What is it about new creative projects that are so exciting and yet so hard to begin? Have you ever been flooded with ideas at the onset --but lost your resolve when faced with [...]
If you are interested in unlocking your creativity, you will love David Usher’s new book Let the Elephants Run. You can flip through the book for a quick hit of visually stunning images and quotes, [...]
Marshall Goldsmith, a renowned business coach, observes when people initiate a personal campaign to improve themselves — for example, shed a bad habit, exercise more, be nicer to their co-workers, learn a new [...]
Creative Anarchy: How to Break the Rules of Graphic Design for Creative Success When I was a designer of marketing communications in a former life, I was always on the lookout for great ideas [...]
I participated in a haiku workshop recently at Vancouver’s Cherry Blossom Festival in Vandusen Gardens. Poet Michael Dylan Welch led us on what he called a "haiku walkabout" to capture seed ideas for a [...]
