Iconic Drawings And Visualizations From Science And Math

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/15/iconic-drawings-and-visua_n_927780.html#s328883

A Visit to Socrates Sculpture Park - NYC



The Entrance





A quiet place in the park.





A sculpture in the park.



Another sculpture.



A view of Roosevelt Island from Socrates Park.



Along the water's edge.

Catching the breeeeeeeze.

Tranquility...

 

My Creative Spot

                       My Creative Spot!  

Elizabeth Gilbert Shares Helpful Creative Processes

In the video Elizabeth Gilbert says her creativity is stimulated by talking to people. For certain types of creative work this also works for me. I have written some short stories based on conversations, or incidents, I’ve witnessed on the bus, the subway, and on the street.

Gilbert mentions that she can’t work in chaos, which is also true for me. Part of my job involves some creative writing, but I can’t do it when I’m in the office with the phone ringing, people asking me questions, and when I’m always keeping one eye on my Inbox. I can see where the discipline Gilbert talks about is important to the creative process.

My physical surroundings are important when I’m being creative. Over the years I have found that I work best when I can see out of a window. I chose my current apt. for its wall of windows. It’s not that I have a great view, but just looking out and seeing the breeze in the trees, the shadows the sun makes on the buildings as it gets higher in the sky, and watching the people walking down the street, all have a calming effect on me.

7 Ways to Cultivate Your Creativity

Try these exercises to stimulate creativity.

7 Ways to Cultivate Your Creativity

http://www.scientificamerican.com/slideshow.cfm?id=creativity-cultivation-unlock-ingenuity

Skills That Drive Change

Friends,

Hope you read the good news I posted on Going for the Gold by using the Creative Problem Solving process (posted on my blog 7/24). I do apologize for not getting back to you with the rest of the story but I have been terribly busy monitoring the debt ceiling debate in America and have been tweeting and sharing on FB as fast as I can to save us from destruction. It didn’t actually work, but…

Now, here’s the full story... on Creative Leadership that is, not the national debt ceiling.  

The authors define Creative Leadership for us: the ability to deliberately engage one’s imagination to define and guide a group toward a novel goal. As a consequence of bringing about this creative change, a creative leader has a profoundly positive influence on others in the group (xviii).

I am looking forward to this concept of Creative Leadership replacing the old one, which is aptly named, “Great Man theory of leadership” (6). Companies like Google discovered this before most of us and that is why they have achieved so much success.

In the reading materials for this course, I keep finding glimmers of myself where I think, “hey, I’ve done that,” or, “I’ve tried that.” The biggest eye-opener for me was in discovering that there is a process that can enhance our creativity. Believing that creativity is some sort of magic that happens inside of us can be a good thing, but knowing that we can utilize a process, even when we aren’t feeling particularly creative or magical, is indeed just like that treasure map the authors tell us about on page 41.

Jack’s Notebook was a fantastic way to introduce us to CPS. We learned a valuable lesson in Gregg Fraley’s business novel. What I see as being more of the emphasis in Creative Leadership, is that there are situations in our lives where we can do more than just solve our own problems. By engaging a group in CPS we can widen the pool of creative thinkers. Starting the process in our own offices, organizations, groups and clubs will prepare us to become better leaders.

Being an “Accelerator,” one important lesson for me to remember and stick to is what Puccio et al., call “The Bridge Between Ideas and Implementation” (193). My impulse is to take action as soon as I have a few good ideas.  Taking the time to transform them is something I need to remember.  

I kept thinking about CPS during the whole debt ceiling debate. Why wasn’t someone in Washington using the creative process to solve this wicked problem? Our leaders were divided along party lines: tax the rich, or take away services from the poor. I did not see anyone emerge to offer creative leadership. And this is the problem, not just in Washington, but everywhere - we don’t realize the importance of creativity in our elected leaders, or in our roles as leaders ourselves.

I don’t know if will ever be able to tackle the national debt challenge with CPS, but I am starting to use it at work and in my personal life. Creative Leadership has definitely been an inspiration to me.

Reference:

Puccio, G.J., Mance, M., Murdock, M. C. Creative Leadership – Skills That Drive Change. 2^nd ed. Sage Publications: 2011.

Go for the Gold!

Friends,

Don't miss out! Did you hear that authors Puccio, et al. have revealed a secret about a treasure map that leads you to the gold no matter where you use it?

With news as good as this, don't delay. Head directly to page 41 in your copy of Creative Leadership – Skills That Drive Change to discover where your treasure might lie. Easy to follow directions included.

Reference:

Puccio, G.J., Mance, M., Murdock, M. C. Creative Leadership – Skills That Drive Change. 2^nd ed. Sage Publications: 2011.

Somewhere over the moonbow

http://youtu.be/_68ytOYnTvs

The arch at the entrance to Washington Square, NYC.

Flowers at Washington Square.

Early morning visit to Washington Square, NYC

This morning I went to Washington Square in NYC before going to the office. I wanted to soak in some of the greenery before starting my day. Will try to post some pics I took while there.

Jack's Notebook Review

Gregg Fraley tells us that we don’t need to be artistic to be creative. I’ve always thought that you had to have something to be creative—maybe I’ve identified some of those things in Jack’s Notebook.

In school I always excelled at creative writing while a great many of my classmates suffered through every assignment. I could sit down and write 3-4 pages in a flash and never knew what to tell my friends was my “secret.” According to Fraley my secret was probably that I was comfortable with generating ideas, one idea generated another and another, and I felt comfortable in expressing these ideas and tossing out the ones that didn’t work. I can relate to the “lightness” Fraley refers to in the creative process, which might be the closest thing to feeling like you possess some secret or hidden knowledge.  Starting out with a positive attitude instead of fear and dread can make all the difference in the world.

And now, after reading Jack’s Notebook, I see that Creative Problem Solving (CPS) actually is a method, and that this process can be used in many situations in life, not just in creative writing. It’s fabulous to know that I can use the creative process and CPS for things other than creative writing, press releases, advertising copy, and the like.

Fraley probably had a good time writing this “business novel.” He must have foreseen that his readers would be pleasantly surprised by the action, romance, and drama in Jack’s life that would give us a better understanding of CPS rather than just writing a business novel with a How-To format.

Surely every reader is eager to apply the CPS process to their own problems. Which ones? Which one first? is what I asked myself. I decided I would use the framework of CPS for challenges in my life.

I’m happy to say that one of my challenges is in doing something about gaining weight. I am already at the “action” phase of CPS. It may not sound like much, but I am energized by this process and have taken some steps towards exercising that I have only thought about for the past 3 years. Fraley has a blog on Tim Russert that also helped me get motivated in thinking, not just about my weight, but my health as well. Read it at: http://www.greggfraley.com/blog/?p=60

There are some challenges in my career as well, and I am anxious to start the CPS process to do something about them.

Fraley did us all a great service in Jack’s notebook by demonstrating that we can apply this method to career and professional issues, and in our private lives as well.

The Osborne/ Parnes Creative Problem Solving Process

-Thanks, Gregg Fraley, for posting the steps:

[http://www.greggfraley.com/CPSsteps.htm]

#1 Objective Finding

Identify your Goal, Wish or Challenge

Start here when you want to create, invent, solve, or improve something.

Generate statements of your goals, wishes or challenges. Diverge by thinking about quantity then Converge by thinking about quality.

Your outcome is a statement starting "I wish..." or "It would be great if..."

#2 Fact Finding

Gather Data about your goal

Start here when you want to explore the facts, feelings and data around the issue.

Give a brief history, Who is involved?, What has been happening?, When do I want...?, Where can this go?, Why is this a concern? and How do you own this? Diverge by thinking of everything you can then Converge by picking the critical elements.

Your outcome is a list of key data about your goal, wish or challenge.

#3 Problem Finding

Clarify the Problem

Start here when you want to pinpoint the right problem to solve.

Diverge - "How to...?" or "In what ways might...?" or "How might...?" , probe with "Why else?", "What else?" 

Then Converge by picking a specific statement that identifies the problem you want to solve.

Your outcome is a well defined statement of the problem. 

#4 Idea Finding

Generate Ideas

Start here when you need novel, useful ideas to solve your problem.

Diverge - Generate as many ideas that might solve the problem as time allows.  What can you combine, substitute, modify, eliminate, rearrange, or what other ideas can you get from other objects worlds or situations.  

Converge by picking the idea or ideas that will help the most.

Your outcome is an idea or group of ideas that are promising in solving the problem. 

#5 Solution Finding

Select & Strengthen Solutions

Start here when you want to turn promising ideas into workable solutions.

What do you like about it? Diverge - Generate Criteria, "Will it...?" or "Does it...?" What are the pluses, potentials, concerns, and opportunities in these ideas? 

Converge - Pick the solution that best fits the criteria.

 Your outcome is a well-developed, detailed, and improved solution - "What I now see myself(us) doing is..."

#6 Acceptance Finding

Plan for Action

Start here when you want to implement a solution.

Diverge - Who might assist? Who needs to be convinced? What resources are available? How can we get acceptance and enthusiasm for your idea? then Converge - Select actions and form a specific plan.

Your outcome is a detailed plan for implementation of your solution which includes WHO will do it. WHAT they will do. WHEN they will do it. HOW will they do it, and reporting completion to WHOM.

Wish I could play Mozart!!

From a very young age I have wanted to play piano. Here are some of the pieces I dream of playing:

Rondo alla Turca  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geER3iQDO5k&feature=related

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMpj3_Eoszk&feature=related


I just found this 'how to' video on youtube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo2l1cPdE_U

and two hands at same time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RD9FNh4Ie7U&feature=related

In San Diego on business - really!

Some pics at my friend Jacqui's house outside of San Diego.

Expanding possibilities - from our course readings

I do like Weston’s definition of creativity (from our reading in Creativity for Critical Thinkers). He defines it as, “the art of expanding possibilities” (Preface vi). That is a definition I can embrace. Although I like to think of creativity as being something magical, I now see how one can develop the skill. From this reading I can also see that creativity is important for critical thinkers. I haven’t done so well on the exercises the author used in this book – BUT – they have certainly opened up my thought processes.

The readings made it clear that I need to be aware of other options available as I was prone to try to solve problems according to conventional thinking. I did NOT ask myself – what about other options. Or, if I did, I didn’t find the magic way out of the situation. The idea of “thinking outside the box” sounds like such a cliché, but we don’t realize how stuck we really are until we are called upon to solve a problem that does not conform to what we already know. Leadership is not about power; I can now see that it is about rising to the challenge in trying times, and having the ability to take a creative approach to these challenges.  

Weston also challenges us to view problems as opportunities. I am still working on the creative activities in Creativity for Critical Thinkers, but will post them once I have completed anything that is noteworthy. Right now I’m still digesting “The Need For A Method” and “Inviting Exotic Associations.” The random prompts suggested by the author seemed a bit silly at first, but with further reading, I see how this works. I will experiment with this and – hopefully – have something positive to report!

Creativity for Critical Thinkers

Anthony Weston

Oxford University Press: New York, 2007

I Dreamed a Dream - Susan Boyle

This link is for Susan Boyle's audition on Britain's Got Talent. I never watch TV shows like this, but her story was a great inspiration to me. What joy it was to see someone's dream come true!

http://youtu.be/RxPZh4AnWyk

Thoughts on Creativity

My personal thoughts on creativity…

It feels like magic when you use it

            It’s like adding color, sound, and animation to all you do

            It’s like eating whipped cream right out of the container

Creativity helps you find the joy in every single little thing

Creativity lets in the mystical, and the spiritual  

            It’s like following the yellow brick road

It’s like breathing life into every particle, every fiber

            It thrives within an open, relaxed mind

It thrives on all that is positive

It needs space to grow, and a safe environment for experimentation

Being creative is fun and invigorating

Being creative makes me feel I’ve really accomplished something

Being creative makes me feel like I’ve found something deep inside of me

Creative ideas make the world go ‘round

Creative people are more fun to know

Creative people are problem solvers

Creativity thrives when we are not bound by rules, conventions

Creativity gives us freedom to explore

Even the smallest or most trivial idea can be a seed to creativity

Creativity has endless possibilities

Creativity is a process

We are all creative people

Michelangelo's Moment of Creation

This image has been an inspiration to me when I've needed to be creative. All it takes is a spark...