Category: Creativity
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Fan non-fiction
Fan non-fiction is a book, article, or text about real facts, people and events, conveyed through the characters, stories, and lore of a particular novel, film, etc. It’s a great way to get someone interested in learning about a topic that would’ve otherwise bored them immensely. Elvia Wilk writes, “First I point—then, you notice my…
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Steps to success
The Milwaukee Bucks were one of the favorites to win the NBA playoffs this year, finishing at the top of their conference division. The team had already won a championship in 2021. That didn’t happen. Instead, the team lost in the first round, to the eighth seed Miami Heat. Journalist Eric Nehm recently asked Bucks’…
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A deliverable is just an artifact
Project deliverables—a final draft, an app in production, a strategy or plan, etc.—are great. They’re not easy to make, and they only exist because a person or group of people gave a ton of emotional energy to breathe life into them. We focus on the project deliverable because we can see and touch it. We’ve…
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Question everything
In Figures of Speech, an essay entitled, Virgil Abloh: A Hundred Percent, Virgil Abloh and Anja Aronowsky Cronberg write: Get this. I was the idiot who believed that all fashion design was deeper than just clothing. I thought each season was about a concept that represented a larger idea. Don’t get me wrong, I know…
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Start with the end in mind
In The Art of Possibility, Ben and Roz Zander write: “Each student in this class will get an A for the course,” I announce. “However, there is one requirement that you must fulfill to earn this grade: Sometime during the next two weeks, you must write me a letter dated next May, which begins with…
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The preciousness paradox
The more important a piece of work is to you, the more difficult it is to make progress on and release it. Obsessive creative energy builds up; your expectations rise endlessly. You envision what this work is going to be like after you’re done, as well as what this work will do for you and…
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Learning to love rejection
A few days ago, I wrote one of my favorite posts: red lights. It reminds me of an opening story in the third chapter of Creative Doing, entitled, “Make Constraints Your Canvas.” I recently came across a quote from Virgil Abloh on rejection. In an interview with the New York Times, the writer mentions a…
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Make your work the best practice, and let people copy it
People copy today. Incentives reward derivative work. Sequels, song covers, and newsjacking (including celebrity culture) are all signs of this. The most constructive thing you can do in this environment is to behave the way you want to see more people behave, and then to promote your work and make it a best practice. People…
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Red lights
A red light is not an obstacle getting in the way of your destination; it is the destination. You are constantly arriving at the destination, the place you’re meant to be. Even if it wasn’t the place you had in mind, or the place you want to go, you’re meant to be wherever you are,…
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Getting stuff done sets you apart
Completing and delivering a project, on time, will set you apart. This observation tends to surprise me, although it really shouldn’t. There are so many people who fail to meet this standard test. Scoping goes awry, they don’t communicate enough (out of a lack of skill, fear, or understanding), and projects fall apart. Think about…