I linked to this talk in my previous Sunday’s Top Links, but wanted to share again in case you missed it.
Sir Ken Robinson, in another humorous and insightful TED Talk, explains what’s wrong with education and the importance of curiosity, teaching, and creativity.
Also, if you somehow haven’t seen his infamous first TED Talk, check it out here.
Welcome to this weeks top links!
At the 10th Annual Skoll World Forum we get ten ideas that can change the future of social entrepreneurship and make the world a better place.
Why do we really feel good about our work? Not money or joy. Dan Ariely explores what truly motivates us – progress.
Not forever of course, but you should be familiar with every position in your company so you understand problems and realize ideas.
We all love the show and now we can see why the 1960′s served as the creative revolution in advertising.
Storytelling not only helps you sell a product but also design it. See how story can be used to make products both beautiful and functional.
And if you missed last week’s links, check them out here.
Words of wisdom on creativity from the book Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon.
I recently finished Mastery by Robert Greene, a great book exploring the process of becoming a master.
There are several great biographical stories on the various paths to mastery by some of the greatest figures in history (Leonardo Da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, etc), as well as an in depth guide for reaching mastery. A process that has three key steps.
Understanding your inner calling is the first and foremost step towards mastery. Without knowing where you should focus your attention, you have no path forward. Of course this is easier said than done.
Upon finding your passion, the next step is to enter into an apprenticeship and learn everything about your field. This is often through a mentor, but can be through various mediums and methods – the key is to gain a complete knowledge of your chosen field, which can take years.
The final phase is that of the master, but there’s much to do from here. You now have a perspective and foundation that allows you to make connections others are blind to. You often surpass your mentor and enter into a deeply creative phase during which you truly reap the benefits of your mastery.
The book goes into more detail into what mastery is, how to achieve it, and what to do when you get there.
Check out the video below for more from Robert Greene on Mastery.
Photo by jef safi
Welcome to this week’s top links!
The three types of customer feedback and how you should use them – especially the complaints.
Don’t want to hinder your creativity? Beware of these 5 deterrents that can kill the creative process.
How your body language affects how others see you, but also how you see yourself.
Increase your happiness and productivity in one easy way: help others frequently.
Working on your own can be quite the change, here’s some insightful advice from someone who’s done it.
And if you missed last week’s links, check them out here.
Bonus: check out my Flipboard Magazine ‘Always Be Curious’
Based on my own experiences, here are some of the methods I find most effective when I’m in search of the new. Enjoy!
Combining different ideas, perspectives, cultures, and basically anything and everything else is one of the best ways to come up with unique ideas – read Medici Effect.
We can ask people all day what they want and what their opinions are, but the fact is, what they say and what they do often don’t coincide. As they say, actions speak louder than words, so next time pay attention to what people are doing not what they’re saying.
Working on your own can really help you solidify your own thoughts and ideas, but having other people to interact with gives you a fresh perspective and can bring in that missing piece of the puzzle that was staring you right in the face.
We have ideas all the time, in the least likely of situations, and there’s no way to remember all of them! Having the ability to takes notes whenever an “Aha!” moment strikes should not be underestimated. Try carrying a Moleskine, my notebook of choice.
Look at things from a different angle. We usually get stuck viewing things from one perspective, but think about the customer, the user, the client, different industries, stakeholders, etc… role playing from various perspectives gives you insight into hidden value that wasn’t so obvious before.
Those are my favorite methods, what are yours?
No, I’m not talking about Jack Daniels, although that has value too… Jack-of-all-trades, master of none. Hardly flattering if you ask me, but in reality the value of a generalist is more important than ever in today’s world and here’s five reasons why.
Although you may never be an expert, you are able to quickly gain a high level understanding in any given field and be competent enough to understand what’s going on. This gives you the ability to effectively communicate and collaborate with everyone.
Being multi-faceted and having a diverse skill set inherently leads to a more creative individual. You are able to pull ideas and information from multiple sources and connect the dots that others would overlook.
It’s simply more fun to be a Jack-of-all-trades. You’re constantly engaging with new ideas, information and experiences, which keeps you on your feet and excited about what’s next.
Being exposed to so many different fields and areas grows your confidence and makes you realize you’re able to tackle any situation. You’re much more open to taking risks and no challenge seems too big.
All of this results in an individual who is an ideal leader. You’re able to communicate and collaborate with others, innovate in your field, be passionate about your work, have belief in your abilities, and not be afraid to take risks. All of this based on your diverse background and big picture perspective.
In the end, if you feel like there’s not just one thing you’re passionate about or you enjoy doing a million things at once, you shouldn’t be discouraged.
You should embrace being a Jack-of-all-trades. As you can see, it’s more valuable than you could imagine.
Welcome to this week’s top links!
Want to start meditating but don’t know where to start? Check out this beginners guide to medition from Zen Habits.
This fun puzzle asks you to determine the order of colored circles through a process of elimination and logic.
One way to breed creativity is through good old rejection. Understand how failing is a good thing.
A great compilation of short films from this years Sundance Film Festival, as well as many other short films from Short of the Week.
An insightful post from Seth Godin explores the landscape of new and how precious and transient attention has become.
And if you missed last week’s links, check them out here.
John Maeda, President of the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), delivered a memorable TED Talk focused around the areas of art, design, technology, and their role in leadership. Check it out below.
Welcome to this week’s links!
In this New York Time’s article, the impact of technology is explored and how it helps us, as much as it hurts us. In essence it looks at the problems raised from an over-reliance on technology, which is a very real problem.
Last week I wrote a piece on news, which you can read here. The center of the piece was the controversy surrounding Common’s presence at the White House. In this unedited video, we get Bill O’Reilly from Fox News going head-to-head with Jon Stewart on the Common controversy, politics, and more.
Being in the presence of greatness is one way to gain great inspiration to motivate yourself to achieve. In this piece from Zen Habits we look at how to find greatness to inspire ourselves ranging from authors to role models and more.
The following are some tips from Conan O’Brien and his creative process, done for the Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People piece. There are some intriguing tidbits on creativity and having fun, needing pressure, preparation, and more.
Its important to pay attention to our minds, just as much as we focus on our health, and one way is through meditation. The Guardian goes in detail on what meditation is and its numerous benefits.
And if you missed last week’s links, check them out here.
Kickstarter is a platform I’ve been following since its inception in 2009 and its amazing how far its come to date. The basic idea is getting funding from people who support your work, simply because they believe in what you’re doing. The foundation of Kickstarter is crowdfunding, one of four different strategies stemming form crowdsourcing. Crowdfunding is exactly what it sounds like, using the crowd to fund projects. Its an innovative model and I suggest everyone participate either through their own creative projects or a small donation to a project you find interesting.
To learn more, check out the video below on how Kickstarter Funds Creativity or visit their website.
Funding Creativity with Kickstarter from Piers Fawkes on Vimeo.
I recently finished The Element by Sir Ken Robinson and moved onto A Whole New Mind by Dan Pink, which has been fantastic so far. But first things first, The Element was a great book that really gets you to reflect on the path you’ve taken in life so far and how to change it. Essentially the Element is where your passion meets your talent, meaning its something you not only love to do, but you’re also good at – the ultimate goal is to find this in your life.
After defining the term, the book focuses on why many of us have not found our Element yet, which includes the education system, lack of external support, and self belief.
The major aspects of the book focus on getting in the right mindset to acknowledge that you have that certain something in which you can excel and being open to finding it. There are a number of tools that can help you along this journey, such as finding your tribe or community that shares your interests, engaging a mentor that can help guide you to where you want to go, and unlocking your imagination and creativity to help in the self exploration.
Sir Ken Robinson also includes a few disclaimers on your path to finding your Element, one being that your Element does not have to be your career, it can be a balance between your career and your passion,. The primary reasoning behind this is often monetary, especially when you have a family to support. Furthermore, he also warns you that you will always encounter those that will be naysayers, those that are negative and unsupportive, which can be hurtful, but it is important to overcome such people. Finally, he makes it quite clear that its never too late to start looking for your Element, so there’s not point in not starting.
Through a number of inspiring stories and great examples, Sir Ken Robinson emphasizes the value of your Element and how we can go about reaching it. Definitely a book worth picking up, especially if you find yourself dissatisfied with your education, career, or prospects. Rating 9/10.