creativity

The 2×4 Interview: Creativity and How to Improve Yours

Towards the end of last year, my friend Michael Schechter was kind enough to invite me to chat on his 2×4 series.

The idea behind 2×4 is simple: one?series that examines?two?topics, creativity and productivity, by asking those who make things on the web the same?four?questions on both subjects.

I had a blast answering Mike’s questions, and thought it’d be cool to share the answers here. In this first part, we talk Creativity – make sure you drop by on Wednesday for the Productivity answers.

Have you always considered yourself to be a creative person?

I?m not sure. I think it depends on how you?re defining creativity. If a kid makes a mess, is that creativity? Because it wasn?t there before, and the kid had to take actions and bring them to the fore to make the mess, so is that a creative process? I?ve always been passionate about writing and storytelling, and how that can impact on someone?s mindset. But then, that just kinda came natural, so I?m not sure if that counts. Sorry for the lame answer!

What mediums and inspirations do you gravitate towards to realize your creative goals?

Well, blogging is probably my number one medium, both from a writing angle and a reading angle. Some of the best, most outright and questioning content today is coming from blogs. People like?Gini Dietrich,?Adam Singer,?Geoff Livingston,?Olivier Blanchard?and others like them are writing stuff that everyone should read. I?m also a big TED fan ? if you can?t find inspiration from?their channel on YouTube, you?re probably a zombie.

If you had to point to one thing, what specific posts or creation are you most proud of and why?

From a creation, it?d have to be the12for12k project. To see what started out as a simple idea to?use social media to raise funds and awareness for charities?turn into the community it did, has been pretty inspiring. I love the fact that people truly wanted to be involved ? it was a real team effort, and the fact that everyone donated their time for free was just amazing. From a blog post angle, I?d say the one where?I talk about my attempted suicide?is the one I?m most proud of, because it helped others open up about their demons and understand they?re not alone. To me, that?s what blogging is all about ? the human connection and the potential to change lives.

Any suggestions for those who feel they may not be creative take to unlock their inner artist?

Practice doing it. It doesn?t matter if that?s blogging, painting, making movies, taking picture or whatever. Make time every day ? even if it?s just five minutes ? and take a picture, or write a blog post, or shoot something on your video camera. You don?t have to publish it ? just get into the habit of doing it, and learning your trade. You?ll be surprised at how you grow, both in creativity and the strength to actually make your creation public.

image: Imagine24

The Power of a Great Idea

When he was pre-planning Nintendo Wii video game?Disney Epic Mickey, gaming legend?Warren Spector?(creator of classic games?System Shock?and?Deus Ex) took a slightly different approach to how the game would pan out.

Instead of having his best designers, scripters, coders and creatives brainstorming ideas, Spector got a bunch of interns together from the Disney Interactive Studios intern group. He then let them have free range over coming up with ideas on the game’s look, feel and plot.

The result is one of the most unique and successful games from last year’s holiday period, with a great twist in gameplay mechanics. It’s also proof in Warren Spector’s belief in the power of a great idea: you don’t have to have years of experience to come up with greatness.

Now think how your business can transfer a video game’s approach to your overall one.

Age is a Fallacy

As Spector’s use of interns show, age doesn’t always equate to experience. Sure, the older you are, the more experience you?have?of things. But this generation has grown up with the web as a standard; who do you think would be the best people to have brainstorming a web project, for example?

Think of the people you have versus the people you need?- they’re not always the same thing.

Ears Are Better Than Eyes

The first step to any sales success is listening to what the market needs. Sure, as marketers, our job is to provide what the market wants (or at least make the market want our products). But sometimes we really do just need to listen to what the market needs. Our eyes can see trends and results of action; but our ears can get the real story behind the trend (or even before it happens).

Listen more – don’t just rely on sight. Listen to your employees; your customers; your sales team; your competitors. Don’t just accept what you see;?interpret what you hear.

Greatness Never Ends

Just because you have one big hit that pays the bills for the next ten years, don’t accept that that’s necessarily all you need to do. Royalties are great but times change – your great idea from last year might be next year’s black sheep.

Continue to push yourself and ask what worked; why it worked; what didn’t; how it can be improved. Acknowledge the great ideas that others have had, and ask how you can adapt to your own needs. Ideas only stop when you’re dead.

How about you – how are you powering?your?great idea?

image:?Abdulrahman’photographer

The Power of Ideas

I’ve written before why I’m passionate about creativity being allowed to shine.

Without it, we’d be left in a boring world where only the few would have a say in what we watch, say or do. Companies would be filled with drones, businesses would be drab affairs, and artists would be virtually non-existent.

We wouldn’t have videos like the one below, either, and that would be a shame.

Taking a fantastical look at the cityscape of Toronto, the video shows the immense scope a person has when their creativity is let loose.

Sexy might not always sell when it comes to business – but that doesn’t mean we can’t mix it up once in a while. Agree?

(For a cool interactive experience, check out the Batelco Infinity Facebook Page. And hat-tip to Randy Matheson for making me aware of the video.)

This post contains a video. If you can’t see it properly in your feed, you can watch it directly here.