Iod Hour One:  Introduction, Recognition, Inspiration

I.A   Introduction (20 minutes): 

WHO I AM AND WHO I AM NOT

First of all let me tell you who I am not ...

I am not a professional teacher or part of the traditional educational system.

I AM, however, an accomplished painter, writer, sculptor, Hollywood actor and experienced creative director for corporate productions, who has mentored many artists and non-artists alike in the creative process.  What you can expect from me is many years of practical experience and unabashed enthusiasm for creativity in all of its manifestations.

I am also a protégé of world renowned creativity guru Roger Von Oech, upon whom many of the ideas in this workshop are based.

What you will take-away from this afternoon's session is a better understanding of the creative process, and some insight about how you can apply it to your own particular artistic endeavor or challenge in life.

WHO ARE YOU?

DISCUSSION:  Individual introductions: you, what you would like to get out of this session

WHAT IS CREATIVITY?

The mystique of creativity needs to be demystified a bit.  Is it something that some people are blessed with and others aren’t? 

A gift from a higher power?  Not at all.  Creativity is a mixture of attitude, passion, focus, inspiration, technique and yes, maybe

even a little magic.

 WHY BE CREATIVE AT ALL?

1.    Change.   It's not always possible to solve current problems with yesterday's solutions.  What worked yesterday may not work today

2.    Creative thinking is just plain fun

DISCUSSION: What was your most recent creative idea?  (And we're not necessarily talking about an artistic endeavor at this point) What was it?  What motivated the idea?

THE CREATIVE PROCESS IS THE SAME NO MATTER WHAT YOUR ARTISTIC DISCIPLINE OR CHALLENGE

1.     First, there is the Recognition phase, in which you have a wish to create something that doesn't exist, or solve a specific problem

2.     Then there's the moment of INSPIRATION when the creative bulb is turned on.  It's a time in which the idea or solution to whatever challenge you may be facing is born

3.     Next comes the INCUBATION phase, when various options for executing the idea, or solving the problem, are cultivated and considered

4.     The SCAVENGER HUNT phase usually comes next, a time when you assemble the resources or materials you'll need to execute the idea

5.     Then there's the EXECUTION phase, when you actually create what's in your mind - or at least a reasonable facsimile

6.     The REVISION phase usually follows, when your concept or solution is refined and polished until you are happy with the results

7.     Finally, you come to the GIFT-GIVING phase, when you share the joy of your creation or problem-solving skills with the world

Just recognizing where you are in the process can help you achieve your goals. This applies not only to the creative process, but to solving virtually any kind of problem.

The C2 workshop will be organized around these seven steps.

Recognition (20 minutes):

THE commonalities of all creative endeavors

The signs of creative thought are everywhere.  This is not just something that happens in the arts.  There are creative ways of solving virtually any kind of problem.

Discussion: Where does creativity stop?  Is accounting creative?  Plumbing?  Driving a forklift?  Raising a child?

THE CREATIVE PROCESS ALMOST ALWAYS BEGINS WITH THE QUESTION "WHAT IF"

HOME EXERCISE:  Ask yourself "what if" as if someone else were solving your problem - Colin Powell, The Three Stooges, Walt Disney, Mother Teresa, Sadam Hussein, Jesus, a seven year old girl, etc.

THE ANSWER YOU GET DEPENDS ON HOW YOU PHRASE

THE QUESTION

Example:  Lithuanian plague - Deathlike symptoms - Two groups asked selves 2 different questions - "What should we do if we

buried someone alive?" (air hole in casket) - and "How can we

make sure everybody we bury is dead? (stake in casket lid)

Architect asks "What type of door should I use to connect these rooms?" and he designs a door.  Ask what kind of "passageway"

and his thinking is led in different directions (hallway, courtyard,

air curtain, tunnel, etc)

Lesson:  Change the wording of your questions to yield the most positive results

STEPPING-STONE CREATIVE

EXERCISE:  Group Free Association.  I.E. work/play/actor/star/sun/light/bulb/tulips/kiss/love/tennis/net/profit

Free associations and "crazy" notions may not be practical in and

of themselves, but they may lead to a new way of thinking and another more workable creative idea.  Playful speculation often leads to practical creative results.

Example:  Trash dilemma in England.  Crazy notion:  pay people every time they deposit trash.  This led to recorded joke or one-liner when people deposited trash and the garbage problem was solved.

Example #2:  Engineer who suggested outlandish idea of putting gunpowder in housepaint so when it chips and cracks it would be easy to remove.  Unrealistic, but this led to concept of putting additives in house paint that were inert until another solution was applied, causing the old paint to strip off easily.

DISCUSSION:  What are five benefits to sleeping in your clothes?

]          Inspiration (20 minutes):

THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SOFT AND HARD THINKING

There are two basic phases of the creative process:  the soft, "imaginative" phase (Think different) and the hard, "practical"

one (Get it done)

Both have a purpose.  Soft thinking stirs the imagination, while

hard thinking executes the idea.  Soft thinking is metaphorical, approximate, humorous and playful.  Hard thinking is logical, precise, exact, specific and consistent.  Hard thinking is a spotlight, while soft thinking is a floodlight.

Soft thinking in the practical phase can prevent the execution of an idea, and hard thinking in the imaginative phase can lead to creative rigor mortis.

Just as a potter finds wet, soft clay easier to work in the initial conceptual phase, the pot is useless unless it hardens and is fired.

Lesson:  Both soft and hard thinking play an important part in the creative process, but usually at different times.

NOTHING IS NEW UNDER THE SUN

Short of outright plagiarism, don’t be afraid to borrow from the

work of others. 

In the words of Thomas Edison, "Make it a point to keep on the lookout for interesting ideas that others have used successfully. Your idea has to be original only in its adaptation to the problem

you are currently working on."

DROP THE ASSUMPTIONS

What unnecessary assumptions are you making in regard to your work?  Can any of them be eliminated to open up your thinking?

EXERCISE:  Ask participants to balance a hard boiled egg on their heads.  When they fail, cut the egg in half and rest it on my own head – demonstrating that they assumed more than they needed to.

LISTEN TO YOUR DREAMS

Not just your dreams, which can be very enlightening and be interpreted in many different ways, but that hazy period between waking and sleep when your mind is relaxed and your subconscious is churning.

HOME EXERCISE:  Keep a notepad or mini-cassette recorder

by the bed, in the car, or your back pocket to snag those loose ideas

EXAGGERATION EXERCISE: Think big.  Imagine your idea blown way out of proportion and see if it leads to something. 

I.E.  paper stronger than steel, a jet engine quieter than a moth,

a quiet home cooked dinner for 25,000 people, etc.

Two:    Hour Two:  Incubation, Scavenger Hunt, Execution

II.A  In   Incubation (20 minutes): 

THERE IS NOT ONLY ONE CORRECT ANSWER

In school we are graded on the number of "correct" answers we

give.  If you get 90% right, then you get an "A", 80% and you get

a "B", 70% a "C", and so on.  Our whole educational system is

based on an elaborate game of "guess what the teacher is

thinking".  This kind of training conditions us into thinking that

there is only one answer to any given question.  But this attitude

gets in the way when we're trying to be creative.

EXAMPLE:  Teacher/student analogy - coloring assignment - gray grass, yellow sky, purple trees - student flunks - Kid says "But that's how it looks when I get up early to watch the sunrise."

Exercise:  Ball bearing company has $1MM over-supply of ball bearings.  Think of things to do with them.  I.E.

1.     weight clothing for athletes in training

2.     bean bag furniture

3.     jewelry

4.     punk rock confetti

5.     robot caviar

6.     curtain weights

7.     etc.

Ideas and concepts take their meaning from the context in which you put them

Change the context and you change the meaning.

Exercise:  By adding only a single line, change the Roman numeral VII into an eight (VIII).  More challenging:  Change the Roman numeral IX into a 6. (add an "S" in front, or make it IX6)

SELECTIVE ATTENTION

Exercise:  Pass out 5 different wood-cut shapes, each painted the same color.  Ask participants to select the one that is different from all the others. (All answers are correct depending on your point of view)

As human beings we are blessed with the ability to focus our minds.  No matter what the distractions, we can set our own mental channels.  People find what they are looking for:  If you're looking for red, you see red;  When you learn a new word, your hear it all the time;  When you buy a new car, you see it on the road constantly;  If you're looking for beauty, you see beauty.  If you're looking for conspiracy, you see conspiracy.  THINK POSITIVE.

IN A BRAINSTORMING SESSION, THERE ARE NO BAD IDEAS

In a group endeavor, particularly a corporate environment where people from many different disciplines are brought together, brainstorming is a critical step in defining the overall project and determining next steps.  There are no bad ideas at this phase of the creative process and no such thing as critical mass.

Because sometimes, you’ll find, the best ideas come from the most unlikely sources.

EXERCISE:  Mind-Mapping mini brainstorming session

HOME EXERCISE:  Write down every idea you can think of in regard to your project in ten minutes, no matter how silly.  See where this leads you.

BUILD ON YOUR CONCEPTS

Don’t be afraid to piggyback off ideas that, for the moment, don’t seem to have anything to do with your problem.  Sometimes hitchhiking off an unrelated concept may lead a winding productive path right back to your original destination, or an even better destination than you originally intended.  Remember, your idea should be pliable at this point.  Nothing is engraved in stone.

HOME EXERCISE:  Cut out words that grab your attention from a newspaper or magazine and work them into another (unrelated) story.

LISTEN TO THAT HUNCH

Your subconscious mind constantly records and stores unrelated information from the outside world.  Later it combines these data into possible solutions, or hunches, if you pay attention to them.

LEARN TO PAUSE AND PUT YOUR IDEA ON THE MENTAL BACK BURNER FOR A WHILE …

… and allow the muse to whisper in your ear.  When you hit a

mental brick wall in your creative thinking, keeping your "nose to

the grindstone" is not always most effective way to generate a

new idea, despite what some corporate managers may think. 

The direct approach is not always best.

Playing is a good way to get away from the problem you're

working on.  So is "sleeping on it".  Sometimes pausing and

turning the problem over to the active powers of your

unconscious mind can be the best strategy.

HOME EXERCISE:  Look up into the night sky and find one

dim star or a passing satellite.  Then look slightly away and

see how much more clearly you can see the star or satellite

in your peripheral vision.

Stepping away from your concept or idea has three advantages:

1.     It puts your problem into perspective

2.     It plants a seed in your mind that continues to grow

3.     When you return to the idea, you'll approach it differently

DISCUSSION:  During what kinds of activities and situations

do you get your best ideas?

EXERCISE:  relaxation from the energy in your spine

II.B    Scavenger Hunt (20 minutes)

WHAT BALLPARK ARE YOU PLAYING IN?

Be aware of the constraints of your creative challenge. 

Typically, they almost always boil down to two things: time or

money.  If you're writing an article for the newspaper, you

don’t approach it in the same way as you would a full length novel. 

If you only have the budget to produce a home video, you don't

write in a lot of Hollywood special effects. If you're operating on

a tight deadline, you don't lay out your work with an extended production schedule.

LOOK FOR RESOURCES OUTSIDE YOUR AREA OF EXPERTISE

In this age of specialization, there is still much to be learned by

the cross-pollination of ideas.

Examples: 

·        the aerospace manager who learned about flow, movement and space by building a backyard waterfall

·        Roll-on deodorant being developed as an adaptation of the ball-point pen

·        Steve Jobs learning about resolution and movement in video games by taking a class in modern dance

·        Knute Rockne getting his idea for the "four horsemen" backfield shift while watching a burlesque chorus routine.

DON'T OVERLOOK THE OBVIOUS

Sometimes the best resources are right under your nose.  That

old pile of magazines in the closet perhaps, a drive in the country,

a quiet evening in front of the fireplace, a walk in the woods with

the dog, or the objective viewpoint of a child.

II.C      Execution (20 minutes):

PICK THE LOWEST HANGING FRUIT

Particularly with large or more complex concepts, the challenge

at hand can be daunting and often you don’t even know where to begin.  Writers call this “the terror of the blank page”.  JUST GET STARTED and the rest will follow. 

If you're blocked, begin with the easiest tasks at hand and work your way up to the more complicated ones. 

AVOID THESE COMMON NEGATIVE STUMBLING BLOCKS

1.    That's not logical

2.    It'll never fly

3.    Play is frivolous

4.    Follow the rules

5.    That's not my area

6.    To err is wrong

7.    I'm not creative

8.    I can't (draw, sing, spell, write, etc)

challengE the rules

The ASLAN Principle:  "Many rules outlive the purpose for which they were intended."  Perhaps this is best exemplified by …

… The Q-W-E-R-T-Y phenomenon.  This is the top row of letters on a keyboard.  Why are they arranged in this way?  Because early typewriter keys stuck together if the operator was going too fast.  So manufacturers decided to arrange the keys in an inefficient configuration to slow the operator down, thereby solving the problem of keyboard jam-up. 

But since then, obviously the state of the art in keyboard technology has advanced, yet manufacturers still continue to use the same keyboard configuration.

Moral:  Feel free to challenge outmoded rules and not feel bound by them in your work.

DON’T HIRE A DOG, THEN BARK YOURSELF

There are times when you may need to bring in outside help

to complete your project.  LISTEN to what these collaborators

have to say and don’t spend your time trying to impose your ideas

on their objective help.  It’s a waste of time and, in some instances, money.

Don't let your desire to present yourself in the best possible light put your original concept in the shadows

Every time you engage in the creative process, there is a

tendency to try to make yourself look brighter, smarter, funnier, more talented, whatever. That's because when you create new things, you expose yourself to failure, frustration, ridicule, criticism and rejection, and naturally you want to avoid these uncomfortable obstacles.

But you are who you are, warts and all - with your own unique outlook, perspective, formal education, sense of humor, instincts and skill-set.  Take confidence in that.  We all have flaws and those flaws are what make your work individual and interesting.  If your expression is true to yourself, the rest will take care of itself.

DON'T GET BOGGED DOWN WITH THE DETAILS

When carving a totem pole, for instance, it doesn’t make sense

to start out by putting the details on just one face when you don’t know exactly how that face will fit into the context of the overall

piece.  Working from general to specific is not only the easiest

way to work, it allows you to see the “big picture” before

committing your energy to the details.

GET IN THE GROOVE

Athletes call it “in the zone”.  Musicians call it “in the groove”. Others call it “in the flow”.  Whatever it’s called, it is one of the

true joys of creation and it’s what you are striving for.  When you

are in this place of total concentration, time seems to stop and nothing exists but you and your work.  As much as achieving the desired results, this is a feeling for which great artists of every discipline aspire.

AVOID CLICHES LIKE THE PLAGUE

Cliches are short circuits to creative thinking.   They are the lazy person's way of communicating.  Invent your own cliches.  Twist

old ones around to make new ones.  Try going through one whole day without using a single cliché.  It's harder than you think.

HOME EXERCISE:  Watch the news or local commercials and count the cliches.  You'd be amazed at how prevalent they are.

EXERCISE:  Bullshit Bingo

CREATION AS AN ACT OF DISCOVERY

Pablo Picasso once said, "I do not seek. I find."  Has a description of the creative process ever been put more succinctly?

Hour Three:  Revision, Gift-Giving, Summary

III.A      Revision (20 minutes):

THE PENTIMENTO PRINCIPLE

In the early 1950's, it was discovered that X-rays could reveal

an original charcoal sketch through a painted canvas.  In this

way, the artist's original concept was revealed.  Seeing the

original sketch through the finished work is called "Pentimento".

Lesson:  Revise with care.  Be true to your original concept. 

The first idea is often the best one.

Sidebar thought:  part of being creative is sharing a secret part

of your innermost self.

EXERCISE:  “Reveal a Secret” - group story one paragraph

at a time.  The twist: work a personal secret into the story when

it’s your turn.

CREATIVE ENDEAVORS ARE NEVER FINISHED, ONLY ABANDONED

One final brushstroke may be one too many and cloud your

original intent.  Likewise, one more sentence may clutter your

writing.  Knowing when to let it go is almost as important as

creating the expression in the first place.  Learn when to quit

and send your "baby" off to "the first day at school."

As Lord Byron said in a letter to his friend the poet William Wordsworth, "Sorry this is so long. I didn't have time to make

it shorter."

EXERCISE:  Competitive game of JENGA and knowing when

to quit before the blocks all come tumbling down

III.B     Gift-Giving (20 minutes)

SOMETIMES THE FRAME IS AS IMPORTANT AS THE ART

So now you've completed your work. Congratulations.  Give yourself a pat on the back.  Now it's time to share the joy of your creation with the world.  How you present your expression, and who you present it to, is the culmination of the creative process.  It does little good to write a book and then let it sit on your coffee table.  Or make a painting and let nobody see it but yourself. 

Revisit your motive for creating the expression in the first place and present it in the best possible light to those who you think might be interested - if only to validate your efforts and give you the inspiration to tackle the next challenge at hand.

DEVELOP A SUPPORT SYSTEM

Before you send your creation out into the real world, as a "dress rehearsal", run it past friends, family and business associates to

get a preview of how your work may be perceived. With this "sympathetic" (but hopefully objective) audience, you'll be sure that your idea is framed exactly as you intended - something you may

not be able to control in the real world - and more than likely you'll

get the reaction you need to muster the courage to package and "sell" your idea. 

On the flip side, this kind of encouragement also allows you to brace yourself for the criticism you might face so it doesn’t come as such

a surprise.  An objective support system may also be able to direct you to places that might provide a "home" for your work that you

may not have thought about previously.

DEALING WITH SUCCESS

Self-confidence is vital to your success in the creative process. There is, however, a healthy balance between a realistic sense of your abilities and a more grandiose self-image. 

If you are repeatedly successful and think you have found "the formula", then think again.  With this attitude, you have a tendency to screen out the "boos" and amplify the "hurrahs".  You may even delude yourself into believing that you are not subject to the same constraints as others. 

This is devastating to the creative process because the world is continually changing, and every "right" idea or strategy eventually becomes the "wrong" one.  Don't let your hubris get in the way of making every project a new discovery.

DEALING WITH REJECTION

If, on the other hand, your expression does not get the reaction

you expect, it may or may not have anything to do with how good

it is.  Perhaps the viewer, or reader, or person reviewing your

work had a busy day and did not give it the attention it deserved. 

Or maybe there were extenuating circumstances.  Or perhaps he

or she just didn't "get it", which is no reflection on you or your

efforts.

And then there's the possibility, heaven forbid, that you have failed

in your creative effort.  But this is not necessarily a bad thing.  We learn from our mistakes.  Failure jolts us into realizing that the current approach is not working and we need to come up with fresh ideas.

In any case, don’t get discouraged.  Success in any creative endeavor is like a city bus.  There's always another one around

the next corner.

III.C     Summary (20 minutes)

RECAP:  THE CREATIVE PROCESS IS THE SAME NO MATTER WHAT YOUR ARTISTIC DISCIPLINE

1.    Recognition

2.    Inspiration

3.    Incubation

4.    Scavenger Hunt

5.    Execution

6.    Revision

7.    Gift-Giving

These seven steps apply not only to the creative process, but to solving virtually any kind of problem or challenge you face in life.

MENTAL FLEXIBILITY

Put another way, Roger Von Oech, who I mentioned earlier,

claims that we all have four characters inside us when we engage

in the creative process:

1.     An Explorer

2.     An Artist

3.     A Judge

4.     A Warrior

Your Explorer searches for new information and resources;  Your Artist turns these resources into new ideas;  Your Judge evaluates the merits of the idea and decides what to do with it;  Your warrior carries the idea into action.

Together, these four characters make up your internal "creative team". Throughout the creative process, there is a fair amount of shifting back and forth between each role.  Having the mental flexibility to know when to use each of these roles, and not get

locked into any one of them, is the hallmark of productive, well- balanced creative thinking.

TAKE-AWAY:  THE QUALITY OF ANY SUCCESSFUL

CREATIVE ENDEAVOR CAN BE MEASURED BY JUST

ONE THING: THE REVELATION OF PERSONAL TRUTH

Be true to yourself in whatever creative endeavor you are undertaking and you cannot fail.  As the great choreographer Martha Graham said, "It is not your business to determine how good it is, or how valuable it is, or how it compares with other expressions."

Examples:  Children's refrigerator art, Grandma Moses' landscapes, petroglyphs, Bob Dylan's voice, Picasso's woman

with a mandolin

HAND-OUT: WEB RESOURCE LIST AND

RECOMMENDED READING

WRAP-UP DISCUSSION/Q & A

QUESTIONAIRE