PRACTICAL CREATIVITY

DAN SAFFER@ODANNYBOY

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2008Interaction08

Two cello recitalsThree major design projects10+ speaking engagements

Started a design studioWrote a book

BY 2011, I WAS DONE.

JIM HARRISONTrying to teach creativity is the

major hoax of our time.

PRACTICAL CREATIVITYREFRAME CREATIVITY

BUILDING THE CREATIVE HABITFAILURE AND GETTING UNSTUCK

MICHAEL BIERUTI don’t think design involves that much creativity. It

involves creativity in the way doing a crossword puzzle involves creativity. You need some

imagination and knowledge. I think of artists as creative because they have to invent something out

of nothing. I think designers design because they can’t invent something out of nothing.

PRACTICAL CREATIVITYImagination + Knowledge

Outside Constraints x Time

IF YOU WANT TO BE MORE CREATIVE,

SPEND MORE TIME WITH THE PROBLEM.

STEVE JOBSWhen you first start off trying to solve a problem, the

first solutions you come up with are very complex, and most people stop there. But if you keep going,

and live with the problem and peel more layers of the onion off, you can often times arrive at some very

elegant and simple solutions.

THE THREE HARDEST PARTSOF ANY CREATIVE PROJECT

1. STARTING2. KEEPING GOING

3. FINISHING

CHUCK CLOSE:If you’re sitting around trying to dream up a great art idea, you can sit there a

long time before anything happens. But if you just get to work, something

will occur to you.

JOHN CLEESEWe don’t know where we get

our ideas from. What we do know is that we don’t get them

from our laptops.

IF YOU WANT TO BE SOMETHING DIFFERENT,

YOU HAVE TO DO DIFFERENT THINGS.

BUILDING THE CREATIVE HABIT

READ BOOKS

XXX

WHEN YOU’RE STARTING OUT, READ AS MANY

DESIGN BOOKS AS YOU CAN. ONCE YOU’RE

ESTABLISHED, READ AS FEW AS YOU CAN.

BLOCK OFF TIME FOR CREATIVITY

IT IS ESSENTIAL TO UNDERSTAND WHEN

YOU’RE THE MOST (AND LEAST) CREATIVE AND

USE THAT TIME WISELY.

START WITH A RITUAL

TWYLA THARP:It’s vital to establish some rituals—automatic but decisive patterns of behavior—at the beginning

of the creative process, when you are most at peril of turning back, chickening out, giving up,

or going the wrong way.

?? ???? ?KEEP A LIST OF BIG QUESTIONS

KEEPING YOUR BRAIN ON A LOW SIMMER

ALLOWS FOR SERENDIPITY.

KEEP NOTEBOOKS

TAKE WALKS

2014 STANFORD STUDYWalking indoors or outdoors boosted creative

inspiration. The act of walking itself, and not the environment, was the main factor. Creativity levels

were consistently and significantly higher for those walking compared to those sitting.

Give Your Ideas Some Legs: The Positive Effect of Walkingon Creative Thinking by Marily Oppezzo and Daniel Schwartz

FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHEAll truly great thoughts

are conceived by walking.

FILL THE WELLFILL THE WELL

EFFICIENCY CAN BE THE ENEMY OF CREATIVITY.

KILL YOUR DEFAULTS

MARCELA SAPONEIt's your job to do things that make you

uncomfortable. That is how you gain wisdom. It is your job to use everything you do as a learning

opportunity and to see how things are connected. That is how you build creativity.

CREATE A BAG OF LENSES.

TURN OFF THE STREAM

2015 SMART PHONE USE STUDYParticipants estimated an average of 37 uses

throughout the day, but the actual number was around 85

“Beyond Self-Report: Tools to Compare Estimated and Real-World Smartphone Use,” Sally Andrews

2011 UVA STUDYIn 11 experiments involving more than 700 people,

the majority of participants reported that they found it unpleasant to be alone in a room with their thoughts

for just 6 to 15 minutes.

BE COMFORTABLE WITH INTROSPECTION.

SCREEN SABBATICALS AND SHABBOTS

TIFFANY SHLAINThe idea is that one day a week, you need to get

your mind in a different mode, you need to not work. Every week, your brain—and your soul—needs

to be reset.

2016 STUDY ON ASSOCIATIVE ACTIVATION

A high mental load consistently diminished the originality and creativity of subjects’ responses

“Associative Activation and Its Relation to Exploration and Exploitation in the Brain,” Moshe Bar

MEDITATE

2014 LEIDEN UNIVERSITY STUDYThe advantages of particular types of meditation

extend much further than simply relaxation. The findings support the belief that meditation can have a long-lasting influence on human cognition, including

how we think and how we experience events.

Meditate to create: the impact of focused-attention and open-monitoring training on convergent and divergent thinking by Lorenza S. Colzato, Ayca Ozturk and Bernhard Hommel, '

HAVE A HOBBY OR SIDE PROJECT(S)

THE POINT OF A CREATIVE PRACTICE

IS TO HEIGHTEN SENSITIVITY.

YOUR BRAIN IS A RADIO

FAILURE AND GETTING STUCK

THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A HARDER TIME

TO BE CREATIVE FOR ONE REASON:

INSTANT FEEDBACK.

THINGS I’VE BEEN CALLED RECENTLY:

paternalistic scummisinformed

glibsensationalistic

reactionarywrong

a smart jerk 

FOCUS ON MAKING A BODY OF WORK,

NOT ANY ONE INDIVIDUAL PIECE.

NEVER CELEBRATE FAILURE ITSELF.

CELEBRATE LEARNING FROM FAILURE.

A COMPLETE LIST OF THINGS THAT INHIBIT CREATIVITY:

1. EVERYTHING

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU GET STUCK

HENRY DAVID THOREAUIt is the spirit in which you do a thing

which makes it interesting, whether it is sweeping a room or pulling turnips.

IF THE TASK IS BORING, MAKE THE WAY YOU DO THE TASK INTERESTING.

PAUL SAHREI think designers who aren’t selfish do

really awful work. I think there needs to be a motivation at the core of the work. There needs to be a motivation for the

designer to go beyond the point where most people would stop.

SYLVIA PLATHThe worst enemy

to creativity is self-doubt.

ACT AS THOUGH YOU ARE 10%

MORE COURAGEOUS.

ASK FOR HELP. IT’S NOT AN ADMISSION

OF FAILURE.

TWO UNSTUCK STRATEGIES1. Power through it.

2. Procrastinate.

POWER THROUGH IT WHEN YOU KNOW WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE AND

HOW YOU’LL DO IT.

PROCRASTINATE WHENYOU “HIT THE WALL”

SEARCH FOR THE FEELING BEHIND THE

PROCRASTINATION.

BEST WAYS TO PROCRASTINATETake a walk

Take a showerTake a drive

Go somewhere newDrink alcohol

JEFF BEENEAlcohol is for

generating ideas. Caffeine is for documenting

them.

SOMETIMES IT IS ONLY WHEN WE STOP TRYING

THAT THE SOLUTION ARRIVES.

PRACTICAL CREATIVITYREFRAME CREATIVITY

BUILDING THE CREATIVE HABITFAILURE AND GETTING UNSTUCK

BE WEIRD,BE UNUSUAL,BE CREATIVE:

THAT’S WHAT WILL SAVE YOU.

THANK YOUDAN SAFFER

@ODANNYBOY