People ask me, 'Where's the best place to think up good ideas?', hoping that in the answer I might reveal the secret location of a magic glade of ideas where the Fountain of Enlightenment bubbles up from the Spring of Genius.
Of course, there are really almost as many good places as there are ideas to be thought of in them. On first glance it would seem that everybody has their own different, special place, but when we delve deeper into the question we find a few interesting facets to their commonality.
Many people would put it simply that the best ideas come from a peaceful, relaxing environment, perhaps in solitude. Some of the best places for this could be in woodland, in a sauna or in your own specially constructed den. The author Philip Pullman built a shed in his garden in which to write so that he could have peace and quiet and be surrounded by his research. But if the shed was the best place to write why did he write most of his famous trilogy in a cafe in the centre of Oxford?
Perhaps the answer has to do with how the brain works. It requires some form of stimulus and it requires a structure (rules) within which to work.
So what about a library? I've spent many hours in libraries not thinking about what I was supposed to be thinking about and not being very productive at all.
Could this be because the stimulus of the Library is so much less than the coffee shop? Less people, no noise, no nice smells. But the library has structure - perhaps too much. Being in an environment with so many rules that consciously need to be adheared to isn't conducive to a free mind. That's why children mess about in the places in which they're most tightly restricted, like giggling at funerals. I feel faint and dizzy in delicate glassware departments in shops, 'don't knock the cabinet!' says the voice in my head. I start to sway as my subconscious interprets the instruction as 'smash all the expensive things'.
So we need a place that is peaceful (we're not going to be too disturbed), is stimulating (but not too distracting), is structured (but not regimented). All of these the coffee shop provides. You have structure - a table and chair and a drink and no-one is going to kick you out, push you around or ask you what you're doing (choose your coffee shop with care).
Don't overlook the fact that change is sometimes better than a rest - if you work in a busy office you may get your best ideas in a peaceful place but if you work in solitude and silence you may find your genius is unleashed at a crowd of noise.
I know where my magic glade is. But that would be telling. Find your own.
Click here to read more about creativity.
www.aydinstone.com
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Thanks for the Memory
A paradigm is a model or example that helps us understand something complex. I want you to consider re-thinking your paradigm of what you believe memory to be. The reason is that memory is the playing field where the game of creativity takes place. Without it you can’t be creative and neither can you know what being creative is. Let me explain.
There are two types of memory, long and short. Short term memory holds data for up to 30 seconds and can only retain it after that by constantly re-entering it. This is why you forget a telephone number just after looking it up (unless you keep saying it).
Long term memory is associations. Nothing can exist in your memory unless it’s connected to a multitude of other things: it’s colour, taste, time, sounds, emotions, history, people, places. You can’t have a thing in memory (a memorand) just floating around, it has to have a place with in the network of associations. But that ‘place’ is not a ‘pigeon hole’. This is the first part of the memory paradigm that we need to re-consider. Our memory does not work like a computer which stores lists of data which can be wiped. The memorands in our memory cannot be wiped, but their associations can be reconfigured.
Now, do you feel you have good or bad memory? Most people assume they have a bad memory, but in fact they don’t. That’s like saying you have a bad hope or a bad electricity in your mains. There is no such thing as good or bad memory - only untrained memory.
If you have ‘forgotten’ something you’ve somehow messed up the process of Recording, Retaining or Retrieving the information. Usually it’s the first one, Recording (you didn’t hear the person’s name) or Retaining (you didn’t put the person’s name with associations into your long term memory) or it could be Retrieving is your weak point (you didn’t store the name with relevant associations so can’t recall it easily, although it is ‘in there’.
Can your memory be full? No, since associations can be infinite. Experts on memory suggest that there is no limit to human memory apart from the paradigm that creates limitations. Memory is a process not a ‘thing’. In fact I would go as far as saying you do not even have a memory, you ‘do’ memory, it’s an activity. Experts have also done experiments that have discovered that supposed long-lost memory is actually still there, just temporarily inaccessible.
Where is your memory? This may start to sound a little metaphysical but hang in there - we assume our memory is in our brains, where we also assume our ‘mind’ to be. Think about this - there is no evidence to suggest this is the case. No really, there isn’t! We surmise it is there, we extrapolate that it’s there, we have a theory that it is there. Have a think for a moment where else it could be. (This is easier if you play a musical instrument - it app ears that your fingers know what to do.) Then think about this: if you smashed your tv during the news, would you assume that the newsreader was dead? No, the broadcast would continue but you wouldn’t be able to receive it, that’s all. It’s just a theory, but no better than the one we have. (If you have proof of where memory is or where the mind actually is you deserve the Nobel prize.)
So how about this for a new paradigm: You have an excellent memory, capable of unlimited storage and fantastic feats of recall and free association from your entire human experience. That’s much, much better. Thanks for the memory!
Click here to read more about creativity.
www.aydinstone.com
There are two types of memory, long and short. Short term memory holds data for up to 30 seconds and can only retain it after that by constantly re-entering it. This is why you forget a telephone number just after looking it up (unless you keep saying it).
Long term memory is associations. Nothing can exist in your memory unless it’s connected to a multitude of other things: it’s colour, taste, time, sounds, emotions, history, people, places. You can’t have a thing in memory (a memorand) just floating around, it has to have a place with in the network of associations. But that ‘place’ is not a ‘pigeon hole’. This is the first part of the memory paradigm that we need to re-consider. Our memory does not work like a computer which stores lists of data which can be wiped. The memorands in our memory cannot be wiped, but their associations can be reconfigured.
Now, do you feel you have good or bad memory? Most people assume they have a bad memory, but in fact they don’t. That’s like saying you have a bad hope or a bad electricity in your mains. There is no such thing as good or bad memory - only untrained memory.
If you have ‘forgotten’ something you’ve somehow messed up the process of Recording, Retaining or Retrieving the information. Usually it’s the first one, Recording (you didn’t hear the person’s name) or Retaining (you didn’t put the person’s name with associations into your long term memory) or it could be Retrieving is your weak point (you didn’t store the name with relevant associations so can’t recall it easily, although it is ‘in there’.
Can your memory be full? No, since associations can be infinite. Experts on memory suggest that there is no limit to human memory apart from the paradigm that creates limitations. Memory is a process not a ‘thing’. In fact I would go as far as saying you do not even have a memory, you ‘do’ memory, it’s an activity. Experts have also done experiments that have discovered that supposed long-lost memory is actually still there, just temporarily inaccessible.
Where is your memory? This may start to sound a little metaphysical but hang in there - we assume our memory is in our brains, where we also assume our ‘mind’ to be. Think about this - there is no evidence to suggest this is the case. No really, there isn’t! We surmise it is there, we extrapolate that it’s there, we have a theory that it is there. Have a think for a moment where else it could be. (This is easier if you play a musical instrument - it app ears that your fingers know what to do.) Then think about this: if you smashed your tv during the news, would you assume that the newsreader was dead? No, the broadcast would continue but you wouldn’t be able to receive it, that’s all. It’s just a theory, but no better than the one we have. (If you have proof of where memory is or where the mind actually is you deserve the Nobel prize.)
So how about this for a new paradigm: You have an excellent memory, capable of unlimited storage and fantastic feats of recall and free association from your entire human experience. That’s much, much better. Thanks for the memory!
Click here to read more about creativity.
www.aydinstone.com
Why Would a Locust Watch Star Wars?
This will test your powers of lateral thinking. Claire Rind, at Newcastle University showed Star Wars (Episode IV A New Hope - the original one) to locusts and in doing so won a 2005 Ig Nobel for her efforts.
Now why would she do that? The neuro-circuitry of locusts has been extensively mapped and Dr Rind was trying to track whether the locusts could detect imminent collisions. "We were studying the responses of visual stimuli. We found locusts have dedicated nerve cells specifically to detect collisions," says Dr Rind. So watching Tie-fighters and X-Wings fighting above the Death Star was just the thing.
But what is the point of it all? The research was part-funded by car-maker Volvo who plan to use the Star Wars research to design an artificial eye for its future cars. Who'd have thought it?
Click here to read more about creativity.
www.aydinstone.com
Now why would she do that? The neuro-circuitry of locusts has been extensively mapped and Dr Rind was trying to track whether the locusts could detect imminent collisions. "We were studying the responses of visual stimuli. We found locusts have dedicated nerve cells specifically to detect collisions," says Dr Rind. So watching Tie-fighters and X-Wings fighting above the Death Star was just the thing.
But what is the point of it all? The research was part-funded by car-maker Volvo who plan to use the Star Wars research to design an artificial eye for its future cars. Who'd have thought it?
Click here to read more about creativity.
www.aydinstone.com
What Makes a Genius?
When I'm doing my creativity workshops the biggest hurdle to overcome is people's belief that only certain people can be creative and only certain people can become genii. In fact people believe that certain babies are born genii. Unfortunately for this belief there is no evidence to back it up. There is no evidence that 'genius' is genetic. Certain tendencies are genetic but that's a very different thing. A tendency does not make a genius.
Look at children. They are rubbish at everything. They are no good at maths, they can't draw properly, they can't pl ay cricket or football very well and they certainly can't sing. I've even come across people who are shocked at that statement. But it's obvious! Children are rubbish at everything.... compared to adult standards.
I was the best artist in my primary school. I could draw better than the whole school. But that didn't make me a creative genius. If you were to look at my drawings from then they look rubbish. Good for an eight year old but appalling by adult standards. For some reason, when I first picked up a pencil I had a 'tendency' to be a tiny bit better at it than the other kids. Other kids had a tendency to be a tiny bit better at football than me. I am useless at football today but I'm a better player than the best kid in the school back then.
By having this tendency of being good at drawing and bad at football meant that I focused my attention on improving the thing I got praise for and avoiding the thing I got laughed at for. I knew I was good at art and I knew I was rubbish at football. That type of strong belief is powerful. Whether you think you're good at something or think you're bad at something you're always right.
We all agree Mozart was a genius. His father Leopold was one of Europe's leading musical teachers and a prolific and successful composer of instrumental music. When Wolfgang was about three years old Leopold gave him intensive musical training, including instruction in clavier, violin, and organ. Wolfgang had learned several pieces at the age of four and started composing at age five. Mozart clearly had a tendency, but not necessarily a 'talent' for music. He had a talent for concentration and learning. The environment was right and Mozart got better and better. So was Mozart born a music genius? We've no way of knowing. Had another baby been substituted without Leopold knowing would that baby have become a musical genius because of that training? Perhaps.
In the early 1970s in an underground bunker near San Diego, Robert Klark Graham set up a genius sperm bank. He collected samples from donor genii of the day and the women of America could pay up and then conceive a baby with half its DNA coming from a recognised genius. 217 children were conceived in this way. Now how many of those children, now in their 30s, are recognised as genii? The answer is the same amount that you'd find in any random sample of 217 people. Just having DNA isn't good enough. It may help you to be tall but it won't make you a basketball player.
Dedication and training is what makes a genius. Einstein said so. Leonardo Da Vinci said so. Since they are the people our society holds up to be genii in the first place we have no option but to believe them. We can all be genii. It's only our belief that we can't that prevents us.
Click here to read more about creativity.
www.aydinstone.com
Look at children. They are rubbish at everything. They are no good at maths, they can't draw properly, they can't pl ay cricket or football very well and they certainly can't sing. I've even come across people who are shocked at that statement. But it's obvious! Children are rubbish at everything.... compared to adult standards.
I was the best artist in my primary school. I could draw better than the whole school. But that didn't make me a creative genius. If you were to look at my drawings from then they look rubbish. Good for an eight year old but appalling by adult standards. For some reason, when I first picked up a pencil I had a 'tendency' to be a tiny bit better at it than the other kids. Other kids had a tendency to be a tiny bit better at football than me. I am useless at football today but I'm a better player than the best kid in the school back then.
By having this tendency of being good at drawing and bad at football meant that I focused my attention on improving the thing I got praise for and avoiding the thing I got laughed at for. I knew I was good at art and I knew I was rubbish at football. That type of strong belief is powerful. Whether you think you're good at something or think you're bad at something you're always right.
We all agree Mozart was a genius. His father Leopold was one of Europe's leading musical teachers and a prolific and successful composer of instrumental music. When Wolfgang was about three years old Leopold gave him intensive musical training, including instruction in clavier, violin, and organ. Wolfgang had learned several pieces at the age of four and started composing at age five. Mozart clearly had a tendency, but not necessarily a 'talent' for music. He had a talent for concentration and learning. The environment was right and Mozart got better and better. So was Mozart born a music genius? We've no way of knowing. Had another baby been substituted without Leopold knowing would that baby have become a musical genius because of that training? Perhaps.
In the early 1970s in an underground bunker near San Diego, Robert Klark Graham set up a genius sperm bank. He collected samples from donor genii of the day and the women of America could pay up and then conceive a baby with half its DNA coming from a recognised genius. 217 children were conceived in this way. Now how many of those children, now in their 30s, are recognised as genii? The answer is the same amount that you'd find in any random sample of 217 people. Just having DNA isn't good enough. It may help you to be tall but it won't make you a basketball player.
Dedication and training is what makes a genius. Einstein said so. Leonardo Da Vinci said so. Since they are the people our society holds up to be genii in the first place we have no option but to believe them. We can all be genii. It's only our belief that we can't that prevents us.
Click here to read more about creativity.
www.aydinstone.com
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
Music fans around the world were saddened this month to hear of the death of Sy d Barrett, the founder member of Pink Floyd. The story of his rise to fame, mental breakdown, subsequent disappearance and life as a recluse is well documented, most notably in the excellent book 'Crazy Diamond'. Why is the world still interested in an artist who burned so brightly for only one brief year and then hardly engaged in anything else again? Pink Floyd went onto even greater success post-Syd, a large portion of their songs are about him, especially on the LPs 'Wish You Were Here', 'Dark Side of the Moon' and even 'The Wall'. On the Pink Floyd greatest hits album, Syd's material comprises 30% of the CD where in fact he only too part on less than 5% of their musical output.
In 1967, Syd Barrett penned and performed on The Pink Floyd's first three singles and first album, 'The Piper at the Gates of Dawn' (recorded at the same time as the Beatles' Sgt Pepper, in the adjacent room) and then due to mental instability and depression, possibly triggered by copious amounts of recreational drugs, he left the band. Apart from two solo albums produced by his old friend (and Pink Floyd replacement) Dave Gilmore, he would never perform again. It would be like the Beatles having John Lennon leave in 1963 even before 'She Loves You' was made. Syd's story is a story of unrevealed potential.
1967 was the year rock music was born. It was when pop music suddenly wasn't about boy meets girl anymore. Syd's music personified the psychedelic revolution that spawned Bowie, T-Rex, heavy rock and even punk. (Both the Sex Pistols and Captain Sensible attempted to track Syd down i n the 70s to produce their albums). Syd's music was utterly creative with the childish perspective of 'See Emily Play', the transvestism of 'Arnold Layne' and the science fiction and fairy tale fantasy of 'Astronomy Domie' and 'The Gnome'.
But it's the clever poetry and ingenious use of creative language that is most unique in his songwriting. How those unusual words fit the melody in a loose kind of tightness or a tight kind of looseness in a way that previously only the greatest Jazz players could do with notes. Syd did it with words and mental pictures. Click here to read the words of 'Octopus' from his solo LP, 'The Madcap Laughs'.
There's an excellent review here of Syd's life and music (thanks to Alan Stevens)
"Oh where are you now, pussy willow that smiled on this leaf? When I was alone you promised the stone from your heart. My head kissed the ground, I was half the way down, treading the sand, please lift a hand.... won't you miss me at all?" from 'Dark Globe'
And now you know why my name is spelt with a 'y'.
Click here to read more about creativity.
www.aydinstone.com
In 1967, Syd Barrett penned and performed on The Pink Floyd's first three singles and first album, 'The Piper at the Gates of Dawn' (recorded at the same time as the Beatles' Sgt Pepper, in the adjacent room) and then due to mental instability and depression, possibly triggered by copious amounts of recreational drugs, he left the band. Apart from two solo albums produced by his old friend (and Pink Floyd replacement) Dave Gilmore, he would never perform again. It would be like the Beatles having John Lennon leave in 1963 even before 'She Loves You' was made. Syd's story is a story of unrevealed potential.
1967 was the year rock music was born. It was when pop music suddenly wasn't about boy meets girl anymore. Syd's music personified the psychedelic revolution that spawned Bowie, T-Rex, heavy rock and even punk. (Both the Sex Pistols and Captain Sensible attempted to track Syd down i n the 70s to produce their albums). Syd's music was utterly creative with the childish perspective of 'See Emily Play', the transvestism of 'Arnold Layne' and the science fiction and fairy tale fantasy of 'Astronomy Domie' and 'The Gnome'.
But it's the clever poetry and ingenious use of creative language that is most unique in his songwriting. How those unusual words fit the melody in a loose kind of tightness or a tight kind of looseness in a way that previously only the greatest Jazz players could do with notes. Syd did it with words and mental pictures. Click here to read the words of 'Octopus' from his solo LP, 'The Madcap Laughs'.
There's an excellent review here of Syd's life and music (thanks to Alan Stevens)
"Oh where are you now, pussy willow that smiled on this leaf? When I was alone you promised the stone from your heart. My head kissed the ground, I was half the way down, treading the sand, please lift a hand.... won't you miss me at all?" from 'Dark Globe'
And now you know why my name is spelt with a 'y'.
Click here to read more about creativity.
www.aydinstone.com
The Age of Ideas
Why is creativity so important? Why are larger businesses spending millions on particular types of training and ways of doing business that they wouldn't have given time of day to less than ten years ago? The answer is that if you do the same thing over and over again, you'll get the same results over and over again. If you make a million every month, whatever you're doing, make sure you keep doing it! But if you're not earning your desired potential, doing the same thing week after week is not going to improve things. That's one definition of insanity, to keep doing the same thing and expect different results.
That brings us back to our definition of creativity from Edward De Bono (who coined the phrase 'lateral thinking'). He said that creativity was 'doing something in a better way' or 'doing something better'. So if you're not getting what you want, you need to be creative and improve what you do, or do something else.
There are three threatening and ominous words why being more creative is now essential in modern business. They all begin with the letter A: Abundance, Automation and Asia.
The 'threat' from Asia appears to be obvious. They can make stuff cheaper. But that is not where the real threat lies at all. There are millions of highly skilled graduates coming out of China, India and now South America that are all competing in a global market for our jobs. But it's not call centre jobs that they're going to take - it's any job that doesn't have to be done face to face. That means almost any business service. That means any technological service. That means any skilled or knowledge based job. They are probably more motivated. They are probably better qualified and trained and yes, for now, they are happy to do it cheaper.
Automation used to mean that a car factory worker lost his job to a robot. 'Well that's all right', you say, 'no robot can replace me'. Well think again. Computer systems are now so complex that within 5 to 10 years a large proportion of knowledge-based workers will be replaced with automated artificial-intelligence computer systems. This means jobs that we once thought were fairly secure: accountants, lawyers, doctors. In the same way that few people now go to a bespoke tailor, in the future few people will go to a bespoke lawyer. The computer system will be cheaper and quicker.
Abundance is the fact that there is so much stuff everywhere. America spends more money on bin bags than half the world spends on everything. That's one nation spending more on the receptacle for the things they don't want than 90 countries spend in total.
There is so much choice, there are so may options, so many suppliers, so many variations. There are hundreds if not thousands of people or businesses that do exactly what you do. There used to be a time when a prospective author, actor or musician could send their material off to a production company and it would be read. Not so now. Publishing houses call the mountain of letters that come through their doors every day 'the slush pile'. Record companies have a much stronger description. It would require a full time dedicated team just to wade through that stuff.
So it doesn't get done and the genius of tomorrow goes undiscovered. Getting your product noticed on the high street is a similar challenge. If you want to buy a shirt, how can you decide from the thousands available? Price is not a motivator. Think back to when you last bought a pen, a car, a suit, dinner, a drink or a hotel. Did you choose the cheapest? Of course not. So how did you decide? This is why we have seen the rise in the esoteric black art of branding in the last two decades. Branding gets the product ahead. Branding is a creative process - it is holistic, irrational and emotional and completely out of the comfort zones of most logical, rational, linear businesses.
Not long ago, about fifteen years or so, we were told that we were leaving the 'Industrial Age' and we were entering the 'Information Age'. Well the Information Age didn't last long. In fact it's all over. We now all have access to the same information. They used to say 'Information is power' well it isn't. Information is potential power. Taking action based on that information is power. We are now in the 'Conceptual Age'.
The future belongs not to those who know things but to those who do different things, differently. Those who do better things in a better way. Learn to be creative and get ahead. The is the age where creativity is going to be prized higher than all other attributes. This is the Age of Ideas.
Click here to read more about creativity.
www.aydinstone.com
That brings us back to our definition of creativity from Edward De Bono (who coined the phrase 'lateral thinking'). He said that creativity was 'doing something in a better way' or 'doing something better'. So if you're not getting what you want, you need to be creative and improve what you do, or do something else.
There are three threatening and ominous words why being more creative is now essential in modern business. They all begin with the letter A: Abundance, Automation and Asia.
The 'threat' from Asia appears to be obvious. They can make stuff cheaper. But that is not where the real threat lies at all. There are millions of highly skilled graduates coming out of China, India and now South America that are all competing in a global market for our jobs. But it's not call centre jobs that they're going to take - it's any job that doesn't have to be done face to face. That means almost any business service. That means any technological service. That means any skilled or knowledge based job. They are probably more motivated. They are probably better qualified and trained and yes, for now, they are happy to do it cheaper.
Automation used to mean that a car factory worker lost his job to a robot. 'Well that's all right', you say, 'no robot can replace me'. Well think again. Computer systems are now so complex that within 5 to 10 years a large proportion of knowledge-based workers will be replaced with automated artificial-intelligence computer systems. This means jobs that we once thought were fairly secure: accountants, lawyers, doctors. In the same way that few people now go to a bespoke tailor, in the future few people will go to a bespoke lawyer. The computer system will be cheaper and quicker.
Abundance is the fact that there is so much stuff everywhere. America spends more money on bin bags than half the world spends on everything. That's one nation spending more on the receptacle for the things they don't want than 90 countries spend in total.
There is so much choice, there are so may options, so many suppliers, so many variations. There are hundreds if not thousands of people or businesses that do exactly what you do. There used to be a time when a prospective author, actor or musician could send their material off to a production company and it would be read. Not so now. Publishing houses call the mountain of letters that come through their doors every day 'the slush pile'. Record companies have a much stronger description. It would require a full time dedicated team just to wade through that stuff.
So it doesn't get done and the genius of tomorrow goes undiscovered. Getting your product noticed on the high street is a similar challenge. If you want to buy a shirt, how can you decide from the thousands available? Price is not a motivator. Think back to when you last bought a pen, a car, a suit, dinner, a drink or a hotel. Did you choose the cheapest? Of course not. So how did you decide? This is why we have seen the rise in the esoteric black art of branding in the last two decades. Branding gets the product ahead. Branding is a creative process - it is holistic, irrational and emotional and completely out of the comfort zones of most logical, rational, linear businesses.
Not long ago, about fifteen years or so, we were told that we were leaving the 'Industrial Age' and we were entering the 'Information Age'. Well the Information Age didn't last long. In fact it's all over. We now all have access to the same information. They used to say 'Information is power' well it isn't. Information is potential power. Taking action based on that information is power. We are now in the 'Conceptual Age'.
The future belongs not to those who know things but to those who do different things, differently. Those who do better things in a better way. Learn to be creative and get ahead. The is the age where creativity is going to be prized higher than all other attributes. This is the Age of Ideas.
Click here to read more about creativity.
www.aydinstone.com
Put Grandma in the Playpen
What would be a realistic but unusual answer to this problem?
Grandma is knitting but her three year old granddaughter keeps playing with the wool. Father suggests putting the child in the playpen. Mother comes up with a better idea - what is it?
Some people suggest taking the child out of the room or telling Grandma to stop knitting. Better than that is to give the child a spare ball of wool. All these solutions are acceptable - but a bit boring, a bit obvious. The point of the exercise is not simply to solve the problem, but to solve it in a realistic but unusual way. A better answer is then to put Grandma in the playpen. Doing that would mean Grandma could carry of knitting without interruption and the child can be in the room with everyone but doesn't feel imprisoned. It works, it's simple, but something odd is going on.
Grandmas don't belong in playpens you cry! That's a convention yes, but not the law. There's nothing to say we can't do it. The point of this problem and the solution is that there are many answers to the problems in your life and in your business. Most are obvious - they are the ones your competition have already thought of. You cannot afford to be obvious.
So when you have a problem and you need a solution don't be concerned with convention. Don't be concerned with what's expected. Don't be concerned with what people will think. Don't even be concerned with what's possible. If you put constraints like these on your ideas or if you judge your ideas during th e brainstorming phase you might was well give up and join the legion of mediocrity because these things will prevent you from having the best ideas at best, but will more than likely totally kill the process at worst.
Working out what is actually possible and allowed is done later, in the planning phase, not in the creative ideas phase. Learn to play, to make new associations, swap things around, wonder, be silly, experiment. These are the attributes that will enable you to solve the problem with a unique solution and to think of that elusive winning idea.
Click here to read more about creativity.
www.aydinstone.com
Grandma is knitting but her three year old granddaughter keeps playing with the wool. Father suggests putting the child in the playpen. Mother comes up with a better idea - what is it?
Some people suggest taking the child out of the room or telling Grandma to stop knitting. Better than that is to give the child a spare ball of wool. All these solutions are acceptable - but a bit boring, a bit obvious. The point of the exercise is not simply to solve the problem, but to solve it in a realistic but unusual way. A better answer is then to put Grandma in the playpen. Doing that would mean Grandma could carry of knitting without interruption and the child can be in the room with everyone but doesn't feel imprisoned. It works, it's simple, but something odd is going on.
Grandmas don't belong in playpens you cry! That's a convention yes, but not the law. There's nothing to say we can't do it. The point of this problem and the solution is that there are many answers to the problems in your life and in your business. Most are obvious - they are the ones your competition have already thought of. You cannot afford to be obvious.
So when you have a problem and you need a solution don't be concerned with convention. Don't be concerned with what's expected. Don't be concerned with what people will think. Don't even be concerned with what's possible. If you put constraints like these on your ideas or if you judge your ideas during th e brainstorming phase you might was well give up and join the legion of mediocrity because these things will prevent you from having the best ideas at best, but will more than likely totally kill the process at worst.
Working out what is actually possible and allowed is done later, in the planning phase, not in the creative ideas phase. Learn to play, to make new associations, swap things around, wonder, be silly, experiment. These are the attributes that will enable you to solve the problem with a unique solution and to think of that elusive winning idea.
Click here to read more about creativity.
www.aydinstone.com
Laterally Thinking
Lateral Thinking, Blue Sky, Out of the Box - we hear these phrases bandied about but what does it all really mean? The term 'Lateral thinking' was first coined by Edward De Bono who described it as the process to achieve pattern switching from one way of thinking to another. Ok, but what does that mean and why should we care?
All thinking is an associating process. We think of one tho ught and that leads to another thought and that leads to another and so on. If you could be bothered you could trace your line of thought back throughout the day and you'd see that you live in a continuous associative stream of consciousness.
Playing 'word association' is easy - if we had a room of people and I said apple, the next person may say tree, the next could be woodland... etc. It's very easy because that is how the mind works. If we were to play 'word disassociation', we'd find it a lot harder. The only way to do it is to associate to something else to get away from the word. It's like our mind has rail tracks on which our thoughts travel. We're essentially heading in a set direction which, like a train, is hard to deviate from without crashing.
This is why so many people do exactly the same things, say exactly the same things and come up with exactly the same solutions when faced with a problem. They don't have any new ideas because they're travell ing on the same straight tracks as they always have.
So when we talk about lateral thinking or pattern changing we're essentially talking about jumping off the tracks onto another railway line that is going in a different direction. This is only possible if the rail network of neurones (brain cells) in your brain is a complex network of intersections instead of a set of parallel tracks.
Einstein's brain is stored in a jar in Kansas City. It has been studied by many experts for decades. It is by all accounts a very average male brain, the same weight and size as most. But it differs from the average in one important respect. When samples were studied under the microscope it was noticed that the neurones had dramatically more connections to each other than in the average brain.
So how do you form these connections? Like a muscle, the brain needs to be exercised. To make new connections you need to make new associations between disparate things . You need to fantasise, experiment. Force yourself to change habits of action, speech and thought. Do things differently. Do different things. Connect the new experience back to something you've done before. Learn to disassociate! Break out of that pattern of thinking by being random. Play!
Here's a lateral thinking task to end with. What would be a realistic but unusual answer to this problem?
Grandma is knitting but her three year old granddaughter keeps playing with the wool. Father suggests putting the child in the playpen. Mother comes up with a better idea - what is it?
Click here to read more about creativity.
www.aydinstone.com
All thinking is an associating process. We think of one tho ught and that leads to another thought and that leads to another and so on. If you could be bothered you could trace your line of thought back throughout the day and you'd see that you live in a continuous associative stream of consciousness.
Playing 'word association' is easy - if we had a room of people and I said apple, the next person may say tree, the next could be woodland... etc. It's very easy because that is how the mind works. If we were to play 'word disassociation', we'd find it a lot harder. The only way to do it is to associate to something else to get away from the word. It's like our mind has rail tracks on which our thoughts travel. We're essentially heading in a set direction which, like a train, is hard to deviate from without crashing.
This is why so many people do exactly the same things, say exactly the same things and come up with exactly the same solutions when faced with a problem. They don't have any new ideas because they're travell ing on the same straight tracks as they always have.
So when we talk about lateral thinking or pattern changing we're essentially talking about jumping off the tracks onto another railway line that is going in a different direction. This is only possible if the rail network of neurones (brain cells) in your brain is a complex network of intersections instead of a set of parallel tracks.
Einstein's brain is stored in a jar in Kansas City. It has been studied by many experts for decades. It is by all accounts a very average male brain, the same weight and size as most. But it differs from the average in one important respect. When samples were studied under the microscope it was noticed that the neurones had dramatically more connections to each other than in the average brain.
So how do you form these connections? Like a muscle, the brain needs to be exercised. To make new connections you need to make new associations between disparate things . You need to fantasise, experiment. Force yourself to change habits of action, speech and thought. Do things differently. Do different things. Connect the new experience back to something you've done before. Learn to disassociate! Break out of that pattern of thinking by being random. Play!
Here's a lateral thinking task to end with. What would be a realistic but unusual answer to this problem?
Grandma is knitting but her three year old granddaughter keeps playing with the wool. Father suggests putting the child in the playpen. Mother comes up with a better idea - what is it?
Click here to read more about creativity.
www.aydinstone.com
Saturday, April 22, 2006
A Different Perspective
I grew up in Durham the North-East of England. I didn't go 'down south' to London until I was 13 but my Dad worked in London and I knew where it was. When I pictured where it was, I visualised myself standing in Durham, looking south with Wales on my right with Cornwall further beyond, far right, Scotland behind and London and the South East far ahead and left. France was way off in the distance, beyond the horizon.It's an interesting way to see the country and makes total sense. My internal map of the country was what it looks like when you are looking in the direction you are go ing in. But that's not the 'map' that we're familiar with. In fact, many people would say that it's just plain wrong to view the country 'upside down'. But what makes it upside down? 'North and South!' I hear you cry... but what does that mean?
A compass will let us know magnetic north - but that's way off from the Earth's axis upon which it spins. But why should we align the globe with the axis vertical? As the Earth moves through the Solar System it is not vertical, it's not perpendicular to the rotation around the sun, it's on a considerable tilt. Anyway, who knows if we're picturing the Solar System upside down or not? Why put north at the top and not at the bottom? Why picture the Earth as a spinning top and not like a wheel with a horizontal axle instead of a vertical axis, with the equator vertical? Why not do that?
There's no worthwhile reason at all really.
Until recently the BBC weather map of Britain was not aligned north-south. It was til ted to make the shape of the British Isles sit up square on the map. Why did they do that? Convenience, that's why.
Why is Europe in the centre of most maps of the World (known as the Mercator map)? It the same reason that modern maps in America have America at the centre of the map: convenience. If you're sailing off from the coast of Spain you want to be able to see you're route clearly so you put Spain in the middle.
This is all very well from the perspective of Spain, but by choosing one way of seeing the world, having only one 'convenient' perspective is always going to mean that you're going to miss something. For example, the World is a globe, not a flat map. Try getting orange peel to lie flat, or try papering a football. The curvature will cause distortion which is sort of overlooked when you come to draw your map. That's why Antarctica looks like a really wide territory at the bottom of the World map. But it has other effects too.
By cente ring the map on the countries of the northern hemisphere it has given us a distorted view of the scale of countries in the southern hemisphere such as Africa. Poorer countries suffer enough without being made to look artificially small (and therefore less important?) on a map. In the 1970s the Peters map was produced which showed the continents to scale but they looked unfamiliar and stretched. Both maps are entirely wrong as well as being completely correct, each from a certain perspective.
We couldn't live our lives if we couldn't take most things for granted, but now and again it is extremely useful to question why we think a certain way, why a thing is done a certain way and why we look at the world the way we do. Whom does it serve to have things the way they are?
If you want to think new thoughts, new ideas and create new possibilities your perspective in some area must change. Look at the world differently, get your information from a different source, consider other points of view and find that alternative perspective.
Oxfam have produced a fascinating and fun web resource which explores the concepts of how we see the world.
Have a look at www.oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet/mappingourworld
Click here to read more about creativity.
www.aydinstone.com
Want to See Some Magic
Did you see 'The Apprentice' where twelve hopefuls audition to work for Alan Sugar and a six figure salary? What a highly entertaining and illuminating television programme. I've been watching with a mixture of 'how could they get that so wrong' to 'I'm so glad I'm not there'. The fifth episode brought to a head a subtext that has been bubbling under for the previous four weeks. All of the tasks have demanded a whole manner of skills such as leadership, perseverance, management and negotiation. But in all of the tasks from selling fruit and veg, designing a calendar for Great Ormand Street hospital, getting good deals, running a themed restaurant to producing an advertising campaign, both teams, especially the losing ones, have been let down by a serious lack of creativity.
It was never so obvious than in the fifth episode when Paul's team had booked actors and studio time to film an advert for which they had no idea what it was. They actually spent five hours in the 'Blue Sky Room' at Satchi and Satchi only to come up with nothing.
Interesting then that after they knocked off for the night and went back to the house, Paul was visited by inspiration. It took a change of scenery and a more restful moment of silence and solitude for the idea to come.
A shame it wasn't such a great idea. It was a start, but they didn't have the time or inclination to think of anything else.
How come these so called 'top entrepreneurs' are so lacking in the ability to think of ideas? Creativity seems like an illusive mist to most people who think that having a 'divergent phase' with flip charts is what is needed. One of the reasons is that creativity is not a gift, it is a skill. Like any skill it has methods that need to be mastered. Like any skill the methods need to be practised. Just knowing the lines of a play aren't enough. It's the rehearsal that makes it work.
You can learn how to negotiate, how to project manage and how to sell. There are courses on all of those. You can practice those in your field of work. But as the Apprentice shows, don't leave out creativity from the mix. Learn the techniques and use them to get the ideas to get ahead.
Think new thoughts. Find better ways of doing things. Find better things to do. That's what people overlook. That's what creativity is and that's what Alan Sugar did to get where he is today.
And that's magic.
Click here to read more about creativity.
www.aydinstone.com
It was never so obvious than in the fifth episode when Paul's team had booked actors and studio time to film an advert for which they had no idea what it was. They actually spent five hours in the 'Blue Sky Room' at Satchi and Satchi only to come up with nothing.
Interesting then that after they knocked off for the night and went back to the house, Paul was visited by inspiration. It took a change of scenery and a more restful moment of silence and solitude for the idea to come.
A shame it wasn't such a great idea. It was a start, but they didn't have the time or inclination to think of anything else.
How come these so called 'top entrepreneurs' are so lacking in the ability to think of ideas? Creativity seems like an illusive mist to most people who think that having a 'divergent phase' with flip charts is what is needed. One of the reasons is that creativity is not a gift, it is a skill. Like any skill it has methods that need to be mastered. Like any skill the methods need to be practised. Just knowing the lines of a play aren't enough. It's the rehearsal that makes it work.
You can learn how to negotiate, how to project manage and how to sell. There are courses on all of those. You can practice those in your field of work. But as the Apprentice shows, don't leave out creativity from the mix. Learn the techniques and use them to get the ideas to get ahead.
Think new thoughts. Find better ways of doing things. Find better things to do. That's what people overlook. That's what creativity is and that's what Alan Sugar did to get where he is today.
And that's magic.
Click here to read more about creativity.
www.aydinstone.com
The Problem with Superstitions
The problem with superstitions is that they aren't really clear enough. For example it's unlucky to open an umbrella in the house. But is it more unlucky to open a full-sized umbrella than it is to open one of those mini fold-up ones? What happens if you walk inside with an umbrella up and leave it up, is that ok? You get seven years bad luck for breaking a mirror. If you pick up one of the pieces and broke it, would you get an additional seven years or would you be covered by the original seven years? If you broke three mirrors in one day, would you get twenty-one years bad luck or would you have three times as much bad luck each year for seven years?
Some people say a black cat crossing your path is lucky (or unlucky depending on whether you learn towards medieval Christian superstition or Egyptian Pagan mysticism). Would a mostly-black cat with a white spot still be lucky, or does it have to be all black? Can we reproduce th is effect by dyeing a grey cat black? If you're blind does the luck still stand? What's more, what constitutes your path? If you change direction, forcing the cat to cross your path can you bring about good luck (or bad luck if you're a negative thinker)?
If you spill salt it's unlucky, unless you throw some over your shoulder (in the face of Old Nick, apparently). Doesn't throwing it over your shoulder constitute additional spillage or should you throw only the salt that you've just spilt? If you walk backwards under a ladder, does that make it lucky rather than unlucky? Finally would genetically-altered four leaf clovers still bring good luck?
The answer of course must be that all this is arbitrary and relative. None of these superstitions are documented in any credible source. Most of them contradict each other. So why not make up your own? Obviously don't bother making up unlucky ones, just lucky ones. Make them easy to achieve, "If I smile and a m pleasant to people I'll have great day" or "if I step on the pavement, I'll go somewhere worthwhile today", that sort of thing.
Think about it. You can choose whether you have good luck or back luck in your life. It's what we call 'attitude'.
Click here to read more about creativity.
www.aydinstone.com
Some people say a black cat crossing your path is lucky (or unlucky depending on whether you learn towards medieval Christian superstition or Egyptian Pagan mysticism). Would a mostly-black cat with a white spot still be lucky, or does it have to be all black? Can we reproduce th is effect by dyeing a grey cat black? If you're blind does the luck still stand? What's more, what constitutes your path? If you change direction, forcing the cat to cross your path can you bring about good luck (or bad luck if you're a negative thinker)?
If you spill salt it's unlucky, unless you throw some over your shoulder (in the face of Old Nick, apparently). Doesn't throwing it over your shoulder constitute additional spillage or should you throw only the salt that you've just spilt? If you walk backwards under a ladder, does that make it lucky rather than unlucky? Finally would genetically-altered four leaf clovers still bring good luck?
The answer of course must be that all this is arbitrary and relative. None of these superstitions are documented in any credible source. Most of them contradict each other. So why not make up your own? Obviously don't bother making up unlucky ones, just lucky ones. Make them easy to achieve, "If I smile and a m pleasant to people I'll have great day" or "if I step on the pavement, I'll go somewhere worthwhile today", that sort of thing.
Think about it. You can choose whether you have good luck or back luck in your life. It's what we call 'attitude'.
Click here to read more about creativity.
www.aydinstone.com
Chaos and Creation in Your Backyard
In December last year Paul McCartney hosted a special solo performance from Abbey Road studios and performed unusual versions of his Beatles and solo songs. He also gave demonstrations into how he wrote and recorded them. We were shown a rare insight into how the creative processes involved in those hit records didn't end with the writing and performing of the song but permeated throughout the recording sessions. Even the methods of recording and production were 'played' as an instrument.
Strawberry Fields Forever began as a simple acoustic guitar song from John. All four Beatles and producer George Martin worked as a team to give their creative experimental best to interpret it into possibly their greatest single track with dr um tape loops, the mellotron (the first ever 'sythesizer'), orchestral sounds and effects laden guitars. You can read more about the Beatles in this book.
It reminds us that the creative process should flow on long after the initial idea or spark of inspiration has occurred. It should turn into action, creative action that exploits the best interpretation of the idea.
It reminds us of the concept of experimentation and how out of controlled chaos come the best ideas. Creativity arises out of the tension between spontaneity and limitations. The limitations, such as time limits, budget constraints or even ability are often derided but they all act to force the spontaneity into the relevant form which is so essential for the finished work to be a success.
Creativity is like the chaos of a river, controlled by t he restrictions of the riverbank, guiding it through the countryside. Without the riverbank it would just be a flood plain, directionless, formless and flat.
What are the processes of chaos and creation that go on in your backyard? What are the limitations that shape your work? If you were to host an event like McCartney's Abbey Road performance to discuss your life's work, what techniques and serendipitous events could you reveal? When were the moments of experimentation that led to methods that have propelled your life and career onwards?
Creativity isn't just that eureka moment (we all have those all the time). It's the process that turns that moment into something new, something worthwhile.
Click here to read more about creativity.
www.aydinstone.com
Strawberry Fields Forever began as a simple acoustic guitar song from John. All four Beatles and producer George Martin worked as a team to give their creative experimental best to interpret it into possibly their greatest single track with dr um tape loops, the mellotron (the first ever 'sythesizer'), orchestral sounds and effects laden guitars. You can read more about the Beatles in this book.
It reminds us that the creative process should flow on long after the initial idea or spark of inspiration has occurred. It should turn into action, creative action that exploits the best interpretation of the idea.
It reminds us of the concept of experimentation and how out of controlled chaos come the best ideas. Creativity arises out of the tension between spontaneity and limitations. The limitations, such as time limits, budget constraints or even ability are often derided but they all act to force the spontaneity into the relevant form which is so essential for the finished work to be a success.
Creativity is like the chaos of a river, controlled by t he restrictions of the riverbank, guiding it through the countryside. Without the riverbank it would just be a flood plain, directionless, formless and flat.
What are the processes of chaos and creation that go on in your backyard? What are the limitations that shape your work? If you were to host an event like McCartney's Abbey Road performance to discuss your life's work, what techniques and serendipitous events could you reveal? When were the moments of experimentation that led to methods that have propelled your life and career onwards?
Creativity isn't just that eureka moment (we all have those all the time). It's the process that turns that moment into something new, something worthwhile.
Click here to read more about creativity.
www.aydinstone.com
Practical Brainstorming
Previously we looked at the rules for setting up a brainstorming meeting. Useful if you don't want your meetings to descend into a embarrassing waste of time for some and an ego-boosting time for others that leave you with less ideas than when you started with. If you missed the rules click here. So what do we do now?
1. Choose a recorder: Someone must be put in charge of writing down all the ideas. The ideas should be written on a large board or somewhere where the whole group can see them. Big is beautiful here. In an ideal session, the recorder should be a non participant in the brainstorming session so they don't edit or influence what they write down. They write down everything. Most especially the bad ideas which are the most important. If this person knows how to Mind-Map, all the better. If they don't know what a Mind-Map is, send them on an Ideas Wo rkshop course.
2. Organise the chaos: For groups of more than three or four, have a chairperson to choose who will offer an idea next, so that several people don't speak at once. If necessary the chairperson will also remind members of the group not to inject evaluation into the session, to encourage and to stop nay-sayers (repeat offenders should be ejected from the meeting). Imagine the meeting as one brain that has one gestalt consciousness which flits easily from one spokesperson at the meeting to another like an ethereal beach ball. A person only talks when the 'ball' touches their head.
3. Keep the session relaxed and playful: Creative juices flow best when participants are relaxed and enjoying themselves and feeling free to be silly or playful. Bring snacks and drinks into the session. Seriousness is not permitted, no matter how serious the issues facing the group are.
4. Creativity games: Start with some irrelevant problems that bare no relation to the problem at hand. How could you light a house with a single light bulb? Name ten alternative uses for a brick. How could you improve a common object, such as a coffee cup. The idea is to open your mind to un-thought of possibilities. We're interested in making connections that haven't been made before. Get random.
5. Break through blocks: We all get blocks. The most common is the fixation block. This is where a person can't see past the obvious and the mundane. They may even be pre-judging. Get them to think of 25 uses of the tooth brush and 25 non-uses for a paper clip. You may be blocked by 'reality'. Reality plays no part in the session. Remember you don't want to just come up with the same old rubbish so you need to think in a different way. Reality will stop you doing that. Ask 'what if?'. Do not place reality blocks. What if we could see smells? What if all the iron in the world vanished? Think the 'what if' through to conclusion.
6. Limit the session: A typical session should be limited to about fifteen to thirty minutes. The idea is not to exhaust yourselves.
7. Make copies: After the session, neaten up the ideas papers and make copies for each member of the session. No attempt should be made to put the list in any particular order.
8. Add and evaluate: The group should meet again on a subsequent day. First,
ideas thought of since the previous session should be shared.
Then evaluation begins.
Click here to read more about creativity.
www.aydinstone.com
1. Choose a recorder: Someone must be put in charge of writing down all the ideas. The ideas should be written on a large board or somewhere where the whole group can see them. Big is beautiful here. In an ideal session, the recorder should be a non participant in the brainstorming session so they don't edit or influence what they write down. They write down everything. Most especially the bad ideas which are the most important. If this person knows how to Mind-Map, all the better. If they don't know what a Mind-Map is, send them on an Ideas Wo rkshop course.
2. Organise the chaos: For groups of more than three or four, have a chairperson to choose who will offer an idea next, so that several people don't speak at once. If necessary the chairperson will also remind members of the group not to inject evaluation into the session, to encourage and to stop nay-sayers (repeat offenders should be ejected from the meeting). Imagine the meeting as one brain that has one gestalt consciousness which flits easily from one spokesperson at the meeting to another like an ethereal beach ball. A person only talks when the 'ball' touches their head.
3. Keep the session relaxed and playful: Creative juices flow best when participants are relaxed and enjoying themselves and feeling free to be silly or playful. Bring snacks and drinks into the session. Seriousness is not permitted, no matter how serious the issues facing the group are.
4. Creativity games: Start with some irrelevant problems that bare no relation to the problem at hand. How could you light a house with a single light bulb? Name ten alternative uses for a brick. How could you improve a common object, such as a coffee cup. The idea is to open your mind to un-thought of possibilities. We're interested in making connections that haven't been made before. Get random.
5. Break through blocks: We all get blocks. The most common is the fixation block. This is where a person can't see past the obvious and the mundane. They may even be pre-judging. Get them to think of 25 uses of the tooth brush and 25 non-uses for a paper clip. You may be blocked by 'reality'. Reality plays no part in the session. Remember you don't want to just come up with the same old rubbish so you need to think in a different way. Reality will stop you doing that. Ask 'what if?'. Do not place reality blocks. What if we could see smells? What if all the iron in the world vanished? Think the 'what if' through to conclusion.
6. Limit the session: A typical session should be limited to about fifteen to thirty minutes. The idea is not to exhaust yourselves.
7. Make copies: After the session, neaten up the ideas papers and make copies for each member of the session. No attempt should be made to put the list in any particular order.
8. Add and evaluate: The group should meet again on a subsequent day. First,
ideas thought of since the previous session should be shared.
Then evaluation begins.
Click here to read more about creativity.
www.aydinstone.com
Who Do You Think You Are?
Most of the problems of the people of the world today are caused by one thing, whether it's wars or suicide. It's not religion and it's not money. It's what we used to call 'inferiority complexes' but now call low (or lack of) self esteem. It's the job of a coach, councillor or motivational speaker to tackle this very modern problem. So many people feel they're not good enough, that they're not loved (or not worth loving).
So many things batter our self confidence every day. Is there anything we can do about it? Well yes there is and that's what we're going to be looking at. First though, can you spot if you or someone else has low self esteem? The obvious symptoms are perhaps an overt shyness or withdrawal from social situations.
That's what you'd expect but it's not always the case. Most people who are walking around out there with low self esteem may appear fine in most social situations - they may even talk too much, always about themselves, with no empathy or consideration for others. They may appear to have 'the gift of the gab' or be (as they say in the North East) a 'jack the lad' - but these too may be masks. They may be so helpful and considerate to others to avoid thinking about themselves. Or they may just be negative and miserable most of the time, not wanting to reach for their goals, or even set them, so convinced are they of failure.
This is simply not good enough. Marriages have been wrecked, lives have been lost, fortunes have been left unclaimed because of this unnecessary waste-of -time behaviour. I want to be coldly brutal here. You do not live in a soap opera. There is not a requirement for terrible things to happen to you to give your life a meaning or purpose.
There is no such thing as good or bad luck. There is only good or bad attitude. A positive mental attitude is nothing less than mental health. A consistent negative mental attitude is nothing short of mental illness. Most of us are fortunate that we have nothing wrong with our brains. This means we can choose what level of self confidence we have. That's right. You can choose whether you want to be a party-pooper, miserable low achieving waste of space or you can choose to be the real you.
All you need to do is to follow this one simple exercise. That's all. It's easy (the only challenge is not being so limp and weak that you won't even give it a go.)
So here’s the cure for a poor self image. This is the mechanism of how self image works. I dare you to try it.
Stand in front to the mirror and look yourself in the eye while you say out-loud, “I like myself”. It must be said eyeball to eyeball, out-loud, in the mirror. Twice a day: before you go to bed and just after you get up. Do it every day for 21 consecutive days.
I bet you don't want to do it? I bet you're thinking 'my self confidence is ok. I don't need to do this rubbish'. Think it's corny do you? Embarrassing? No-one else is around, no-one can hear you! You are not in a soap opera. Oh dear. The truth is that it’s hard to say out-loud to yourself something you don’t believe. Now isn’t that interesting?
Now what happens when you say that is this. Your subconscious starts to look through his notes, “What’s that he’s saying? 'I like myself', well it’s got ‘I hate myself’ down here. Are you sure?”
So you say, “yes of course, I read this article which said I’ve got to say ‘I like myself’ in the mirror. So, 'I like myself'.”
“Tut tut tut. Not what I’ve got.” said your subconscious. I’ve definitely got down here that you hate yourself.”
“No! I like myself! I’m going to say it over and over!”
“Sorry mate, I’ve got 30+ years of you saying you hate yourself and loads a documentary evidence to back it up.”
You see your subconscious is a jobs-worth.
He’s not at all interested in your self image, only in what he’s got down in the book. If it’s in the book, that’s what he’ll work from. The only solution to rewrite what he’s got in the book. To do it we need to do the exercise for 21 consecutive days. Eyeball to eyeball in the mirror and out loud.
Whoever designed the human brain made it 21 consecutive days. We don’t know why. 19 or 20 days doesn’t work, I’ve tried it. You’ve got to do 21 and if you miss one you have to start all over again.
So after 21 consecutive days this is what happens: “I like myself”
“Ok, have it your way. I, like, myself. Done. Happy?”
And then of course it’s in the book. Now when you have problems and come unstuck – you’ve got backup because your new self image had been saved. You’re not going to waste time wallowing in self pity – you can move straight on and get ahead.
Now you can continue doing the exercise but add a new phrase to the book. How about, "I'm always on time", "I am wealthy", or "I am loved". Make sure all your phrases are personal, positive and in the present tense (i.e.. not "I will be happy" or "I am not sad" but "I am happy"). Your subconscious always ignores "nots" and any tense other than the present.
We create the world in our own image. We find what we are looking for. All around us is a 360° mirror. Wherever we go, wherever we look, there we are. We colour the world with our beliefs. This is why so many people run into trouble when they realise after many years of fruitless labour that they cannot change the external world.
We can’t change the external world except by changing our internal perception of it. The good news is that we have total control of our internal world. We own the exclusive copyright to our individual internal worlds. No-one is going to know (or care) how we change it. We could believe that the world is a grim and lonely place, full of meanness and evil. That could be our internal perception of it.
There’s a lot of external evidence to suggest that the world is that way, but confusingly there’s a lot of external evidence that the world isn’t that way at all. We can choose to focus on different things. Our task here is to decide what would be the most useful and productive things to focus on. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking ‘Well that’s just denying the facts. There is suffering in the world’. Well yes there is but there’s also joy. When you were having a good laugh watching that comedy television programme you weren’t thinking, ‘it’s wrong to laugh at this with all the suffering presently going on in the world.’ You chose for that moment to focus on something else.
As we’ll discover the more and more we look at this, you’ll find all around you what you are focusing on. If you want the world to be free of suffering you must focus on the joy, the ideal outcome, to tackle the problem efficiently. Focusing on the suffering will cause an overwhelming downward spiral that will help no-one.
You are driving you. Don't drive yourself where you don't want to go. Don't drive yourself off the road. Put yourself into top gear and cruise along in the direction of your dreams.
Click here to read more about creativity.
www.aydinstone.com
So many things batter our self confidence every day. Is there anything we can do about it? Well yes there is and that's what we're going to be looking at. First though, can you spot if you or someone else has low self esteem? The obvious symptoms are perhaps an overt shyness or withdrawal from social situations.
That's what you'd expect but it's not always the case. Most people who are walking around out there with low self esteem may appear fine in most social situations - they may even talk too much, always about themselves, with no empathy or consideration for others. They may appear to have 'the gift of the gab' or be (as they say in the North East) a 'jack the lad' - but these too may be masks. They may be so helpful and considerate to others to avoid thinking about themselves. Or they may just be negative and miserable most of the time, not wanting to reach for their goals, or even set them, so convinced are they of failure.
This is simply not good enough. Marriages have been wrecked, lives have been lost, fortunes have been left unclaimed because of this unnecessary waste-of -time behaviour. I want to be coldly brutal here. You do not live in a soap opera. There is not a requirement for terrible things to happen to you to give your life a meaning or purpose.
There is no such thing as good or bad luck. There is only good or bad attitude. A positive mental attitude is nothing less than mental health. A consistent negative mental attitude is nothing short of mental illness. Most of us are fortunate that we have nothing wrong with our brains. This means we can choose what level of self confidence we have. That's right. You can choose whether you want to be a party-pooper, miserable low achieving waste of space or you can choose to be the real you.
All you need to do is to follow this one simple exercise. That's all. It's easy (the only challenge is not being so limp and weak that you won't even give it a go.)
So here’s the cure for a poor self image. This is the mechanism of how self image works. I dare you to try it.
Stand in front to the mirror and look yourself in the eye while you say out-loud, “I like myself”. It must be said eyeball to eyeball, out-loud, in the mirror. Twice a day: before you go to bed and just after you get up. Do it every day for 21 consecutive days.
I bet you don't want to do it? I bet you're thinking 'my self confidence is ok. I don't need to do this rubbish'. Think it's corny do you? Embarrassing? No-one else is around, no-one can hear you! You are not in a soap opera. Oh dear. The truth is that it’s hard to say out-loud to yourself something you don’t believe. Now isn’t that interesting?
Now what happens when you say that is this. Your subconscious starts to look through his notes, “What’s that he’s saying? 'I like myself', well it’s got ‘I hate myself’ down here. Are you sure?”
So you say, “yes of course, I read this article which said I’ve got to say ‘I like myself’ in the mirror. So, 'I like myself'.”
“Tut tut tut. Not what I’ve got.” said your subconscious. I’ve definitely got down here that you hate yourself.”
“No! I like myself! I’m going to say it over and over!”
“Sorry mate, I’ve got 30+ years of you saying you hate yourself and loads a documentary evidence to back it up.”
You see your subconscious is a jobs-worth.
He’s not at all interested in your self image, only in what he’s got down in the book. If it’s in the book, that’s what he’ll work from. The only solution to rewrite what he’s got in the book. To do it we need to do the exercise for 21 consecutive days. Eyeball to eyeball in the mirror and out loud.
Whoever designed the human brain made it 21 consecutive days. We don’t know why. 19 or 20 days doesn’t work, I’ve tried it. You’ve got to do 21 and if you miss one you have to start all over again.
So after 21 consecutive days this is what happens: “I like myself”
“Ok, have it your way. I, like, myself. Done. Happy?”
And then of course it’s in the book. Now when you have problems and come unstuck – you’ve got backup because your new self image had been saved. You’re not going to waste time wallowing in self pity – you can move straight on and get ahead.
Now you can continue doing the exercise but add a new phrase to the book. How about, "I'm always on time", "I am wealthy", or "I am loved". Make sure all your phrases are personal, positive and in the present tense (i.e.. not "I will be happy" or "I am not sad" but "I am happy"). Your subconscious always ignores "nots" and any tense other than the present.
We create the world in our own image. We find what we are looking for. All around us is a 360° mirror. Wherever we go, wherever we look, there we are. We colour the world with our beliefs. This is why so many people run into trouble when they realise after many years of fruitless labour that they cannot change the external world.
We can’t change the external world except by changing our internal perception of it. The good news is that we have total control of our internal world. We own the exclusive copyright to our individual internal worlds. No-one is going to know (or care) how we change it. We could believe that the world is a grim and lonely place, full of meanness and evil. That could be our internal perception of it.
There’s a lot of external evidence to suggest that the world is that way, but confusingly there’s a lot of external evidence that the world isn’t that way at all. We can choose to focus on different things. Our task here is to decide what would be the most useful and productive things to focus on. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking ‘Well that’s just denying the facts. There is suffering in the world’. Well yes there is but there’s also joy. When you were having a good laugh watching that comedy television programme you weren’t thinking, ‘it’s wrong to laugh at this with all the suffering presently going on in the world.’ You chose for that moment to focus on something else.
As we’ll discover the more and more we look at this, you’ll find all around you what you are focusing on. If you want the world to be free of suffering you must focus on the joy, the ideal outcome, to tackle the problem efficiently. Focusing on the suffering will cause an overwhelming downward spiral that will help no-one.
You are driving you. Don't drive yourself where you don't want to go. Don't drive yourself off the road. Put yourself into top gear and cruise along in the direction of your dreams.
Click here to read more about creativity.
www.aydinstone.com
Wot? No! You must me joking. Would you believe it?
Can you believe that some people say they don't have any beliefs? Don't trust these people, they'll lie about other things too. Of course we all have beliefs otherwise we'd have no certainty in our lives at all - we wouldn't be able to function. So what do we believe? The truth? You must be joking. People don't usually believe the truth, people believe just about anything.
Where do these beliefs come from? The human brain is a pattern forming device. If anything appears to be non-random the brain forms a pattern. If I do something and get a certain result and then do it again and get the same result, that's enough for a pattern to form and a belief to begin as to what will happen next time I do the thing. The brain doesn't wait for you to use the scientific method to test the theory (which is what a formed pattern is). If it was in the newspaper that's en ough - it must be worth believing (because other things in the newspaper were worth believing before).
What's interesting about all this is that your behaviour is always in accordance with your beliefs. In fact, it is impossible to consistently behave in a manner contrary to what you believe. And as we've just seen, a great deal of what we believe is weak pattern formed and not based on empirical evidence at all but on superstition and received wisdom.
This is so important to understand because many of us say to ourselves "I can't" to a thing that we very well could because we believe a pathetic limiting belief in our own ability based on flimsy half observed hearsay and superstition.
This is why people don't achieve, because they have stopped believing in themselves and their abilities. Stopped following their dreams. Stopped learning new skills. Stopped doing anything that might take them out of their comfy zone.
Note that I s ay 'comfy' zone. By that I mean fluffy pink lovely comfy zone like a little yummy cosy nest where each of us live our lives most of the time. I'm not calling it 'comfort zone' because that sounds acceptable, rather like the side impact protection system on a car. We live in our comfy zones where we are weak, soft, fluffy pathetic bunnykins.
Where do you think all the solutions to your problems lie? That's right. Outside your comfy zone. If they were in your comfy zone you'd already have solved them.
So step up and step out and don't believe a word of it until you've got where you want to be.
Click here to read more about creativity.
www.aydinstone.com
Where do these beliefs come from? The human brain is a pattern forming device. If anything appears to be non-random the brain forms a pattern. If I do something and get a certain result and then do it again and get the same result, that's enough for a pattern to form and a belief to begin as to what will happen next time I do the thing. The brain doesn't wait for you to use the scientific method to test the theory (which is what a formed pattern is). If it was in the newspaper that's en ough - it must be worth believing (because other things in the newspaper were worth believing before).
What's interesting about all this is that your behaviour is always in accordance with your beliefs. In fact, it is impossible to consistently behave in a manner contrary to what you believe. And as we've just seen, a great deal of what we believe is weak pattern formed and not based on empirical evidence at all but on superstition and received wisdom.
This is so important to understand because many of us say to ourselves "I can't" to a thing that we very well could because we believe a pathetic limiting belief in our own ability based on flimsy half observed hearsay and superstition.
This is why people don't achieve, because they have stopped believing in themselves and their abilities. Stopped following their dreams. Stopped learning new skills. Stopped doing anything that might take them out of their comfy zone.
Note that I s ay 'comfy' zone. By that I mean fluffy pink lovely comfy zone like a little yummy cosy nest where each of us live our lives most of the time. I'm not calling it 'comfort zone' because that sounds acceptable, rather like the side impact protection system on a car. We live in our comfy zones where we are weak, soft, fluffy pathetic bunnykins.
Where do you think all the solutions to your problems lie? That's right. Outside your comfy zone. If they were in your comfy zone you'd already have solved them.
So step up and step out and don't believe a word of it until you've got where you want to be.
Click here to read more about creativity.
www.aydinstone.com
An Introduction to Brainstorming
Brainstorming (or mindstorming) is the process that everybody thinks they understand but very few people do. There are two reasons is for this. The first is that it is best used for attacking specific rather than general problems and where a collection of good, fresh, new ideas are needed. This means not going over old ground or asking too open 'what are we going to do now?' type questions. The second reason is that it is not the place for analysis, judgements or decision making. You must not have these within a mindstorming session - it simply won't work. So here is a quick guide to the rules of running your mindstorming session:
1. Suspend judgement - this cannot be overstated. It's the most important rule. When ideas are presented absolutely no critical comments are allowed. None at all. This is so hard for most people whose brains only operate in a critical (non-creative) manner. Filtering ideas will shut down the creative process and create an atm osphere where people won't be willing to submit their ideas. This is why most sessions fail.
2. Write ALL ideas down - there are no bad ideas in a mindstorming session. Remember, no filtering. It's quantity not quality you are interested in. Think along the lines that you need to get 100 or so ideas (not caring if they're good or bad!) before you're allowed to come up with something useful.
3. Think Impossible and Ridiculous - if you think only about sensible ideas and search only for the perfect idea then you'll also fail to come up with anything new. The route to genius does not lie on the often travelled path. Deliberately think of stupid, preposterous and truly ridiculous ideas (and write them all down). These open up new routes for your mind and others to explore and find answers.
4. Enjoy it - be silly and playful. Seriousness kills the process. This is why boring people remain dull and serio us people never come up with anything new. The session is sacred. You are allowed to relax your guard.
5. No ownership - the ideas belong to the session not to one individual. If you don't stress this people hold back, not wanting to give too much away in case credit is stolen. Everyone in the group gets credit as every mind will have contributed to the process.
For infomation on running a brainstorming meeting click here.
Click here to read more about creativity.
www.aydinstone.com
1. Suspend judgement - this cannot be overstated. It's the most important rule. When ideas are presented absolutely no critical comments are allowed. None at all. This is so hard for most people whose brains only operate in a critical (non-creative) manner. Filtering ideas will shut down the creative process and create an atm osphere where people won't be willing to submit their ideas. This is why most sessions fail.
2. Write ALL ideas down - there are no bad ideas in a mindstorming session. Remember, no filtering. It's quantity not quality you are interested in. Think along the lines that you need to get 100 or so ideas (not caring if they're good or bad!) before you're allowed to come up with something useful.
3. Think Impossible and Ridiculous - if you think only about sensible ideas and search only for the perfect idea then you'll also fail to come up with anything new. The route to genius does not lie on the often travelled path. Deliberately think of stupid, preposterous and truly ridiculous ideas (and write them all down). These open up new routes for your mind and others to explore and find answers.
4. Enjoy it - be silly and playful. Seriousness kills the process. This is why boring people remain dull and serio us people never come up with anything new. The session is sacred. You are allowed to relax your guard.
5. No ownership - the ideas belong to the session not to one individual. If you don't stress this people hold back, not wanting to give too much away in case credit is stolen. Everyone in the group gets credit as every mind will have contributed to the process.
For infomation on running a brainstorming meeting click here.
Click here to read more about creativity.
www.aydinstone.com
I decide, Therefore I Am
I always had a problem with sweet trollies. Which pudding should I have? The chocolate gateau looks nice but so does the meringue. But what if I chose one of those and they weren't that good after-all? What about that treacle tart? The fruit salad should be a safe bet but I'd be missing out on that delightfully rich rumbaba.
In most areas of our lives we have far too much choice. This had has a curious effect of our decision making powers. We've gone soft, just like the biscuit base of the cheesecake that's been waiting on the sweet trolley for people to decide. Our decision making muscles are weak.
The word decision means to ‘cut off from’. Once you’ve made a decision, a real decision, there is no going back. This is what a true decision is. If you give up smoking and count the number of days you’d gone without a fag you haven’t truly committed to giving up - think about it - why count? Just so you can say how long it lasted? If you give up smoking it’s got to be forever or you haven't given up at all, you've just increased the time off between cigarettes.
All of this is very important because our lives are shaped by the quality of our decisions. People don't make decisions because they don't want to commit, which means they don't want things to change, or they're frightened of failure, of making the wrong choice. But there is always going to be change in life. That's what life is. And change equals stress. It's handling that stress that makes our lives what they are. Making a decision is the method by which we control that change in our lives and therefore the stress in our lives. Making a decision is like a magical cure-all. Try it, if you're worried, make a decision. If you're frightened, make a decision. If you're depressed, make a decision. If you're unsure, make a decision!
"But I'm frightened of making the wrong decision" people say. Making any decision means you've participated in your own freedom. Not making a decision usually means you want to wait and see, which effectively means leaving the decision to someone else. Look what you've done! You've relinquished humanity's greatest gift, the gift that only sentient beings enjoy, the gift of free will.
What are you frightened of? Failure? Have a think about this:
Success is the result of good judgement
Good judgement is the result of experience
Experience is the result of bad judgement
Therefore: Success is the result of failure! So what exactly is stopping you? I'll have the treacle tart.
Click here to read more about creativity.
www.aydinstone.com
In most areas of our lives we have far too much choice. This had has a curious effect of our decision making powers. We've gone soft, just like the biscuit base of the cheesecake that's been waiting on the sweet trolley for people to decide. Our decision making muscles are weak.
The word decision means to ‘cut off from’. Once you’ve made a decision, a real decision, there is no going back. This is what a true decision is. If you give up smoking and count the number of days you’d gone without a fag you haven’t truly committed to giving up - think about it - why count? Just so you can say how long it lasted? If you give up smoking it’s got to be forever or you haven't given up at all, you've just increased the time off between cigarettes.
All of this is very important because our lives are shaped by the quality of our decisions. People don't make decisions because they don't want to commit, which means they don't want things to change, or they're frightened of failure, of making the wrong choice. But there is always going to be change in life. That's what life is. And change equals stress. It's handling that stress that makes our lives what they are. Making a decision is the method by which we control that change in our lives and therefore the stress in our lives. Making a decision is like a magical cure-all. Try it, if you're worried, make a decision. If you're frightened, make a decision. If you're depressed, make a decision. If you're unsure, make a decision!
"But I'm frightened of making the wrong decision" people say. Making any decision means you've participated in your own freedom. Not making a decision usually means you want to wait and see, which effectively means leaving the decision to someone else. Look what you've done! You've relinquished humanity's greatest gift, the gift that only sentient beings enjoy, the gift of free will.
What are you frightened of? Failure? Have a think about this:
Success is the result of good judgement
Good judgement is the result of experience
Experience is the result of bad judgement
Therefore: Success is the result of failure! So what exactly is stopping you? I'll have the treacle tart.
Click here to read more about creativity.
www.aydinstone.com
I'll Do it Tomorrow
"I'll do it tomorrow" - the greatest labour saving statement ever uttered, because as the cliche goes, tomorrow never comes. We've all been in that situation. We all have things we need to do, things we must do, even things we actually want to do and yet we don't do them? What's the matter with us? The prognosis is that we're suffering from a deadly brain disease called procrastination. So what is it and what's the cure?
Firstly, it is not laziness. Procrastination does not mean inactivity, quite the opposite. It requires a great deal of exhaustive effort directed at any, usually irrelevant, task other than the pertinent quest at hand.
Secondly it's not through ignorance or lacking something. It is not through lack of a good plan. It is not through lack of good advice. It is not the lack of ability. It is not lack of intelligence. Neither is it lack of time nor money.
Thirdly, and most oddly, it is not because we don't want the outcome.
Why, when we know what to do, do we still not do it? Why do we fall short? Why the sabotage?
The answer is quite mundane. We all operate on a basis of taking a course of action that leads to the least hassle. We're all familiar with the scenario: if today is Monday and we're aware of a certain job that is needed to be completed by Friday morning it would be quite likely to be perceived as a lot of hassle to do the job now. However come Thursday night something interesting happens - we're suddenly aware that they'll be more hassle if the job isn't done. So we do it.
If we break down our motivation even simpler it leaves us with this conclusion: every action we take is designed to lead us to pleasure or to move us to avoid pain. The avoidance of pain (or hassle) is usually stronger than the desire for pleasure. This is why we tend to fight stronger to hold onto something we already have rather than to strive for something better. We associate more pain to acting than to not acting.
So what can we do about it?
If you're not acting on something and you know you need to or want to but simply don't, you need to change one of three things about yourself. First you must accept the concept that if you keep doing the things you’ve always done, you'll keep getting the things you’ve always got. Something's got to change and it isn't an external thing either. We have to take responsibility for our in-actions as well as our actions.
Your life is your emotions. There are three forces that control your emotions. The first is physiology that is your biochemistry and the movement of your body. The second is your language, the questions you ask, the metaphors you use, the stories you tell yourself and others about yourself which all re-enforces the third force which is your beliefs and values.
Change one of these three emotion controlling areas, your emotions will change. When your emotions change, your life will change. If you can't control your emotional state then you must be addicted to certain emotions. You literally could be addicted to the hormones and neurotransmitters that are released when you're in that particular emotional state. In fact that's all any addiction is, only instead of an artificial stimulus to trigger the endorphin release such as a drug, you're doing it with your physiology, your language and your movement.
It's possible to be addicted to depression, to negativity and to sloth. The good news is it's just as easy to be addicted to joy, to optimism and to positive action. The choice comes to what you do with your body - do you sit around slouching or get up and move around? With your language - do you repeat the same phrases, use negative terms and dismiss things? Do you believe 'it can't be done' or 'this always happens to me' or other global self-defeating phrases?
Just change them. It's easy to change them. If you're dismissive of that fact and think it's hard to change them - watch out! You may have to consider that you might be addicted to cynicism. Consider what affects that addiction may have on future opportunities.
The only thing that prevents you from having what you want is the story you tell yourself which says you can’t have it.
Click here to read more about creativity.
www.aydinstone.com
Firstly, it is not laziness. Procrastination does not mean inactivity, quite the opposite. It requires a great deal of exhaustive effort directed at any, usually irrelevant, task other than the pertinent quest at hand.
Secondly it's not through ignorance or lacking something. It is not through lack of a good plan. It is not through lack of good advice. It is not the lack of ability. It is not lack of intelligence. Neither is it lack of time nor money.
Thirdly, and most oddly, it is not because we don't want the outcome.
Why, when we know what to do, do we still not do it? Why do we fall short? Why the sabotage?
The answer is quite mundane. We all operate on a basis of taking a course of action that leads to the least hassle. We're all familiar with the scenario: if today is Monday and we're aware of a certain job that is needed to be completed by Friday morning it would be quite likely to be perceived as a lot of hassle to do the job now. However come Thursday night something interesting happens - we're suddenly aware that they'll be more hassle if the job isn't done. So we do it.
If we break down our motivation even simpler it leaves us with this conclusion: every action we take is designed to lead us to pleasure or to move us to avoid pain. The avoidance of pain (or hassle) is usually stronger than the desire for pleasure. This is why we tend to fight stronger to hold onto something we already have rather than to strive for something better. We associate more pain to acting than to not acting.
So what can we do about it?
If you're not acting on something and you know you need to or want to but simply don't, you need to change one of three things about yourself. First you must accept the concept that if you keep doing the things you’ve always done, you'll keep getting the things you’ve always got. Something's got to change and it isn't an external thing either. We have to take responsibility for our in-actions as well as our actions.
Your life is your emotions. There are three forces that control your emotions. The first is physiology that is your biochemistry and the movement of your body. The second is your language, the questions you ask, the metaphors you use, the stories you tell yourself and others about yourself which all re-enforces the third force which is your beliefs and values.
Change one of these three emotion controlling areas, your emotions will change. When your emotions change, your life will change. If you can't control your emotional state then you must be addicted to certain emotions. You literally could be addicted to the hormones and neurotransmitters that are released when you're in that particular emotional state. In fact that's all any addiction is, only instead of an artificial stimulus to trigger the endorphin release such as a drug, you're doing it with your physiology, your language and your movement.
It's possible to be addicted to depression, to negativity and to sloth. The good news is it's just as easy to be addicted to joy, to optimism and to positive action. The choice comes to what you do with your body - do you sit around slouching or get up and move around? With your language - do you repeat the same phrases, use negative terms and dismiss things? Do you believe 'it can't be done' or 'this always happens to me' or other global self-defeating phrases?
Just change them. It's easy to change them. If you're dismissive of that fact and think it's hard to change them - watch out! You may have to consider that you might be addicted to cynicism. Consider what affects that addiction may have on future opportunities.
The only thing that prevents you from having what you want is the story you tell yourself which says you can’t have it.
Click here to read more about creativity.
www.aydinstone.com
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