THE ANNOYING THING ABOUT CREATIVITY

It’s the strangest thing.

Well, two things actually. No. Three.

Trust me they are related.

And there’s a step by step guide to how to be creative at the end for good measure. You’re welcome.

Thing One:

I will never forget learning to juggle.

I was given a set of three leather balls (filled with sand - I think). It was a fine present but the real value went way beyond the gesture and the frustration of how hard it was to do. It was a lesson.

Our minds are incredible things.

A small printed leaflet almost lost in the box, explained that when I got tired of failing to juggle not to worry - just go to bed and in the morning you will be able to juggle. It was true.

It became the foundation of creativity for me.

I explain creativity by describing what it isn’t.

Everything that it isn’t is what creativity is.

Creativity isn’t a process of ‘do this and then this will happen’. The process is - don’t and then it will. In other words, don’t try to make it happen - just let it!

Sure, the instructions for how to juggle were in that box. It was a viciously annoying picture of what obviously happens when you can juggle.

Everything you need is shown in this diagram except the bewildering amount of visual, perfect and kinaesthetic connections required by every part of your body tuned up to actually fucking juggle.

For me, that happened when I stopped obsessing about it.

And for me, that’s what creativity is.

Most people will have stopped reading this a lot earlier so now it’s just you and me here. The annoying thing about defining creativity is that it defies definition.

Thing Two:

The definition of definition? - The wilderness of ideas trapped within a wall of words.

That’s the thing, isn’t it?

We want to label everything. We let our minds build up layers of descriptions of that label and then defend our version of it to the death.

I get in trouble testing people on what they mean by the words they use. Because most of the time we don’t say what we actually mean. And it really matters because most of the time these words matter very much.

Most of the time they’re giving me these words because we’re asking for them. They are answering questions. We are helping by using them to make a strategy that works for their business.

Strategy is story, after all.

Every single word is guaranteed to mean something a little different to me than it does to them and potentially catastrophically different things across the team. Imagine.

Creativity helps me to not consider directly what I’m hearing - per word - but the sum total of the idea unshackled from the blunt instrument of the word.

Annoyingly this also happens in my sleep.

Thing Three:

The same chaos surrounds thinking - thinking in every sense. Can you explain what thinking means?

Describe how that works. Even try to explain what you are feeling/sensing as that act is playing out in your mind - go on.

You cannot.

I found this recently. It went into my haul of fame.

“The greatest achievement of the human brain is its ability to imagine objects and episodes that do not exist in the realm of the real, and it is this ability that allows us to think about the future. As one philosopher noted, the human brain is an ‘anticipatory machine,’ and ‘making future’ is the most important thing it does.”

True dat!

To sum up - your brain helps you figure out the randomness of all the ramble and scramble during your sleep if you can’t do it when you are awake.

I have a small print on my wall that constantly reminds me of an Indian Elephant woodcutter.

He carves elephants out of blocks of wood.

People often ask him to explain how he can do this. He says I take a block of wood. I take my little knife. And I cut away everything that doesn’t look like an elephant.

OK, Four Things:

My Step By Step Guide To Becoming A Better Creative (And sleeping better)

Don’t write guides about how to be more creative. Accept that this won’t get attention, you have to earn it. Absorb everything that you like because that way you know more than most others about what you like. Write more. Be curious about everything, don't just say you are. There’s no step by step guide to becoming a better creative. You already are creative but nobody told you.

Draw attention to discoveries you make somehow - draw them maybe. Disassociate yourself from the negative energy vampires, they’re everywhere. Occasionally tell people that in fact they really are that stupid. Concentrate on what you can control. Question the question always. Don't believe answers until you own their meaning. Never solve the wrong problem really well - if you can help it. Always be humble. Always try to be nice - even though people hate you for it. Listen hard for what’s not being said. Don’t be a dick. Sit quietly and observe others. Smile a lot. Be grateful. Listen intently. Take long walks. Write it down even if you’re on the toilet. Expect nothing in return. Appreciate yourself. Collect things you like. Write more. Burn the bridges of compromise, mediocrity and sameness. Offer to help others across the bridges you burned. Never rely on what you knew, focus only on what matters now. Watch the last minute of the final episode of The Sopranos. Watch the whole of the Sopranos. Enjoy fun from wherever it comes. Take photographs whenever you can. Don’t be normal - we don’t need any more normal. Do what you like. Try to sleep. Never say never. Get out more. Always care. Always ship. Put a big red light on people who don’t ship - to warn others. It’s the kind thing to do. Everything is possible.

Nothing is finished - ever. More …