Courageously Creative

Be more creative in your own way

David Goldstein

Green Potato Chips

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Potato of the Sea

Just watched a Ted talk where the speaker believes our sense of artistic beauty results from a Darwinian adaption effect – and it got me thinking whether this applied to colors and more importantly, what about those green potato chips?

As kids, before knowing better, we used to search for those chips with green edges, prizing them as extra flavorful. Fortunately nobody turned green, but maybe this notion came from our natural appreciation for the color green.

The human eye has a higher sensitivity to green than to any other color. It’s the easiest on the eyes and soothing. Spend too much time in a grey city or a cold climate and then travel to a lush environment and notice how your eyes soak up the saturated green foliage. Green Christmas trees look extra welcoming during a snowy December.

Shades of green are usually up to some good. Not the florescent green of poorly maintained swimming pools but the desirable growth of plants. We have learned to trust green beans, peas, and paper money. Artists often mix their greens and so do chefs, but curiously, mixed green salads are not made of blues and yellows. Green is often used by designers to evoke trust, growth and nature. Pantone, the color matching authority, predicts this year’s new hue will be “honeysuckle,” which is a hot pink. I predict that its green complement is going to be more socially conscious and grab some limelight.

– So what do you think? What associations do you have with the color green?

Fear of Mushrooms

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mushroom and garlic

Double Trouble

Fear of Mushrooms

Who hasn’t been frightened by those menacing alien life forms that emerge from rotten logs.  So many of our confrontations in everyday life take real courage and some of  us have fear of clowns (Coulrophobia),  fear of garlic (Alliumphobia) and the universally dreaded fear of mushrooms (Mycophobia).  In comparison, being Courageously Creative is a bit of an overstatement.

We strive for zero defects, 6 sigma quality control, and just-in-time everything, leaving only a little room for errors. To have courage to create, the room for errors needs more square footage. Common sense says to take a known route to an important meeting, but how about trying a new path on the way back home, unless you have the phobia for returning home  (Nostophobia).

What are you sometimes afraid of when you are being creative? How do overcome these thoughts?

The process of creating requires room for some missteps. When asked about the many attempts to produce his light bulb, Thomas Edison said “I have not failed 700 times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those 700 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.”

We are aware when things are critical; however, to clear an environment to create, try increasing your awareness for times when things don’t matter.  These are the times for experimenting with little downside and there is no courage required. Bravely try new ingredients, but I don’t need to tell you to avoid those wild mushrooms.

– So what do you think?

New Fruit on an Old Tree

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Heirloom

Heirloom

I read the news today oh boy; with much fanfare, the Beatles released the digital versions of their music on iTunes. This is big release for 40 years ago albums. While most music made it to the web a digital lifetime ago, the holdup was related to a long trademark dispute over the ownership of the apple with both the Beatles’ Apple Corp and Apple Computer each wanting a bite. The questions for us to consider are what makes: She Loves you, Yellow Submarine, and Help! endure? And are there  common elements that we can incorporate into what we make?

They were hot in the 60s and their upbeat and enjoyable harmonies, catchy lyrics with timeless messages are some of the reason why the Beatles remain relevant today. Some songs hold up because they remind us of yesterday, but most of these songs hold up because they still remind us of today.

Now that we’re comparing oranges to oranges, what factors have allowed Apple Computers to not only endure but to be getting so much better all the time. People fondly remember the old Macintosh but left unchanged, few would use an antique computer today. While some computer makers concentrated only on increasing processor speed, Apple stayed relevant and ahead of the competition by continuously innovating their products in ways that improve the user’s experiences. Constantly improving their own products, if something works, they don’t just let it be.

– how do you like those apples?

Shortcut to Success in Everything

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Porter carrying supplies up mountain

going up?

It’s a six hour walk up a slippery wet trail – is this the best way to bring supplies to the top of the mountain? I asked why they didn’t use the 30 minute tram, at night when it is not being used by visitors, and my guide answered: it would put the porters out of work.  This provides a strong metaphor about efficiency and best practices.

Have you ever heard of an experienced golfer playing a round with the old clubs they first bought when they were learning the game?  Even while practicing at the driving range, they use their good clubs.

The easiest way to improve your golf game is not with hours of practice, but upgrading your equipment. The easiest way to improve your triathlon time is with the right running shoes, a faster bike, and a better designed swim suit. The right equipment helps to shed time from your finish– and makes you more competitive without extra practice.  What’s the best way to become a better photographer or painter?

A really good photographer or painter can probably produce something decent with the barest of equipment like a pinhole camera or a piece of calk. However, for most of us we are looking for any advantage we can find to improve our results. If you are standing in front of a once in a lifetime view, don’t you want to capture it with the best equipment. Clearly, the easiest way to improve your photos is to use a better lens. If you are spending the effort in learning to paint, the single easiest way to improve is to use better brushes, better paint, and better media. You can see it in any beginning watercolor class, hopefuls struggling with synthetic brushes, student grade paint and unsuitable paper – and with early failures, unfortunately, people give up. Sure upgrading always cost more, but calculate how much your time is worth, and consider how important your ideas are. Of course there is a time and a place for using scrap paper but if you are going to spend the time and energy to create, why hold yourself back. What’s worth doing is worth doing with the right tools. Of course good technique takes years of dedication but starting with inferior equipment makes it almost impossible to succeed. The best way to succeed in anything new is to first value your time and your ideas and start with the right tools and whatever you do, don’t be a porter.

– What do you think?

Too Much Pizza

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Do you remember hearing your teacher say “Eyes on your own paper” while taking a test?  Did your coach tell you “Don’t look” at your competitor during a sprint since it would slow you down?

Not looking around results in what I call the pizza parlor problem. It’s something you probably see all the time and goes like this: you look around town and realize that there is no place to get pizza. You calculate that the population can support this kind of restaurant, so you lay out some dough, develop a business plan, get the proper permits, lease a store, design a menu, and hire a staff all within a year. Then when you are ready to open, you notice that four others people had the same idea. The area has too much pizza and cannot support five restaurants so you are all in trouble.

In art class, your teacher said to walk around the room to see what everyone else is doing. Looking over your shoulder prevents replicating and is a way that good ideas are transferred. Painters, musicians and writers, are wise to seek out the best in their field who came and succeeded before them.  Looking can be a passive form of collaboration with some of the greatest minds and most talented people who ever lived where the best ideas can be borrowed and the best practices of others can be  incorporate with your own.  To be creative, start by  looking over the shoulders of giants.

The After-Life… for Paintings

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It’s so small you don’t need to measure since the sofa looks tiny in the cavernous furniture store but after you buy it, the size seems to grow. It barely fits in your car and when you get home, the little couch somehow expanded and takes up half the living room.

Have you ever noticed that paintings can change too? They can take on a life of their own. When you finish one late at night, after you clean up your brushes, take one last look before going to bed because it will never be the same again. Something happens when you sleep and in the morning, when you look with fresh eyes, it looks different. More harmonious colors, better composition than you remembered, or sometimes total disaster.  How does it get either better or worse seemingly on its own? And, several days latter it may have changed again. Some physical changes may be part of the explanation; paint may dry lighter or duller, illumination by cool daylight or warm incandescent cause the paint to reflect differently, and its possible elves could have been doing some touching up, but all of these things are not likely to produce enough of a change, to change your mind.

This can be explained by our own standards changing. When we in the midst of creating, we have a vision or are caught up in the fun. We judge by comparing our creation with our vision, but over time our memory fades and we no longer have a standard. Good thing we create something because it’s all that is left afterwards. If you don’t like what you create, don’t tear it up or throw it away until after you had some time for the after-life effects. Ideas change too so sleeping on a good idea can make it better, or not.

– have you seen your creations take on life of their own?