Every now and then I have witnessed a devastating dread descend upon a project. The dread stems from the certainty of the deadline and the evaluation of the current work as poor. In my experience this dreads creates two different personas. I shall call them the beginner and the professional. When faced with this dread … Continue reading Devastating dread →

In the sixties NASA had plenty of smart employees but they needed to know which employees were the best at thinking creatively. They valued these creative thinkers highly and wanted to select them for important projects. They didn’t know how to do this by themselves so they approached George Land. Land solved NASA’s problem with … Continue reading Learned non creativity →

In meeting room B, on a Thursday afternoon, Frank finally realised why some consider pride a sin.This epiphany didn't come to Frank at the start of the meeting. At the start of the meeting Frank was giving a presentation of which he was immensely proud.The revelation came in the immediate feedback. As slowly but surely … Continue reading Frank’s sinful pride →

In college I had a lecturer who gave ludicrously boring lectures. Making the classes abysmal. Every lecture without fail he would stand at the top of the class and drone on and on and on. He never deviated. Christmas, R&G week and the end of term had no affect on him whatsoever. Nothing could not … Continue reading Ludicrously boring lectures →

Seth Godin is a blogger and an author.Seth blogs daily so his posts are really short. I'd say they average somewhere between 100 and 300 words each day. They're short snappy and to the point.What I really appreciate about Seth is that he doesn't alter his style for his books. His books are like a … Continue reading Insight scarcity →

A work email inbox is kind of like Pandora's box. Once you open it all hell breaks loose. And if you open it first thing in the morning you can wave goodbye to the rest of your day. Because unfortunately, all too often, letting your inbox lead the way means relinquishing control of your day. … Continue reading Pandora’s inbox →

Why is creative work so hard?Because we’re not alone on this planet.Because we want to be liked and part of the tribe.Because we’ve learned the hard way that the nail that sticks out gets hammered. Because we want to avoid criticism and creative work is subjective and therefore highly susceptible to criticism. I think it’s … Continue reading Why is creative work so hard? →

If you didn’t get it right away, if you weren’t naturally above average from the very beginning you may have dismissed yourself as without talent and assigned yourself the label ‘not creative’.After all if you’ve been gifted with divine ability, you don’t need to work hard right?If the supremely talented painter can effortlessly wave her … Continue reading The blood spattered typewriter →

It took Bertha 2 seconds to realise she didn't like it but 20 minutes to say so. Why? Because unlike John, Bertha was conscious that another human being would be receiving this feedback. She wasn't going to resort to tactless, unfiltered reviews like... That's shit! Bertha was also determined not to follow in Pete's footsteps. … Continue reading Assiduous constructive feedback →

At the end of 'Steve Jobs', the Michael Fassbender movie, there is a heartfelt moment as Steve picks talking to his daughter over starting his presentation on time (something we learned earlier in the movie that Steve is borderline obsessed about). By stalling the presentation and continuing to talk to his daughter, he was saying … Continue reading How important do they make you feel? →