Day 3 What do you taste like?

Day 3
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
Albert Einstein

Create a recipe OF yourself.

If you were a dish and had to break YOU up into ingredients, what would those ingredients be?

How would you prepare yourself?

Get as descriptive as possible and write down the ingredients and recipe, step by step, as if it were in a cookbook. Put timer for 5 min and write it all down. Or take photos, or draw it. However you want to express it.

You can also choose another person to do this with. (your spouse, kids, friend, coworker)

Extra Points: Share your recipe with me. Send it to: unpackyourcreativity@gmail.com

Comments

I: Prepare for 2 days of incredible cooking: the HALLACA!
Ingredients:
The dough:
Corn flour Harina Pan: one of the most magic ingredients, it is a thin sandy dry flour that only with water and salt, turns into a smooth dough versatile qnd ready for so many possible uses. Hear it will be for the hallaca.
Lard: animal fat is super important. A source of energy for us and the “glue”to all ingredients.
Color: the yellow/orange color that makes it beautiful to see (imagine a white pale hallaca…? Pretty sad…)
The filling:
Diversity in meats: chicken or hen, pork and beef. Each one in a proportion that’s just right.
Capers: love them! The acidness in life.
Olives: nice to find.
Almonds give the balance: they are the Ohmmmm element.
A bit of onions very thinly chopped.
A broth: without this as a base, they are disconnected.
Brown sugar: subtle but present sweetness
Hot ají : spicy with flavor, can’t live without it.
A lot of string and scissors.
The platano leaves, impossible without the most beautiful element: the shield, the skin, the cover that protects the hallaca. It comes direct from nature, which I love. I I dind need to learn to develop a certain “shield” in my life, to protect myself the outer world, and not be so transparent. It is my missing ingredient!
I am de allá y de acá: I am the 4th generation from Spain -Venezuela- Spain. The Hallaca is made up of ingredients from allá and acá… and I couldn’t conceive life without both countries, both cultures, both ways of being and seeing life.
Preparation:
The first day we spend it slow cooking the broth with the meats, and chopping everything very small. 

We also prepare the dough.
We wash the leaves, very important!
The second day we assemble it, and we tie it up in a beautiful gift package!!
This is ME!

MONICA:

Ingredients
1 cup experience
1 cup heart
1 cup honey
½ cup empathy
½ cup boundaries
¼ tsp lemon zest
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
Directions
Grease a pan with butter and sprinkle some flour too, so the cake does not stick. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Celsius.
Start with the experience, which includes a whole bunch of unrefined traumas such as having a mother who recently birthed a stillborn, having to become parent to one of your parents at age 11, being subject to violence from the other parent, and not being allowed to explore your sexuality or pursue creative passions for danger that you might become too powerful.
Next, add the heart, which is the easiest and most effective way to soften these hardships. Make sure you sift the experiences and heart together slowly, allowing the contents to settle. Only when you’re ready, mix in some premium unprocessed honey, a sweet reminder that life is short and the only thing that really exists is the present moment.
Add in empathy towards yourself and others, and then shortly thereafter, add the boundaries. Make sure you don’t skip this step; these are necessary for the cake to remain whole as it rises.
Put the mixture in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Once baked, remove and sprinkle ½ teaspoon of lemon zest and another ½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper on top. A measured quantity of each should pack a punch, but feel free to add more depending on your preferences.

GIS:

JUL: Definitely fusión!
Portuguese bacalao because I love the sea, I’m sometimes salty but tender love and care I can become sweeter;) mango topping with tomate de árbol bring just the sason and Latin touch from Colombia with a side of sweet potato fries new york style. It’s kind of the dish you read off a menu and you thing, um, interesting yet doubting yourself but when you take the first bite you realize and say to yourself one more time, don’t judge a book by its cover.
Loved the challenge!

LAU: Las delicias de Laura
Ingredientes
Líquidos
-Bondad (nunca hay suficiente)
-Tranquilidad (al gusto y según circunstancias)
-Vive y deja vivir (incluir en todas las recetas).
-Empatia (la tienes en casa o no pero debería incluirse siempre)
-Lectura (al menos un libro por receta)
-Amigos (de los que ya tienes y abierta a añadir más)
-Familia (imprescindible y la mejor materia prima)
-Risas (con atracón, aunque duela la tripa)
-Experiencias
Sólidos
Chocolate (negro o con leche pero que no falte)
Un café con leche bien acompañada ( sustituir por descafeinado a partir de las 6 de la tarde).

Preparación
Tratar con mimo los ingredientes líquidos, que son los más delicados.
Tamizar a algunos miembros de la familia o maridos, mujeres de amigos que son más densos para darles aire.
En un bowl mezclar el café con el chocolate y reservar para cuando se necesite.
Añadir un viaje o una cena con amigos.
Cocinar a fuego lento y servir en tu mejor vajilla. Disfrutarlo a tope!
Congelar una parte para ir sacado cuando estés baja de moral.

CARO (me): My recipe would be a full meal, because I taste different every time, sometimes it has sesame oil, other times a bit of spices from my dad’s dinner table, Aji picante for sure, some Some dark Chocolate (Venezuelan of course), some Almond Butter- very smoooooth., Some suspiros hand beaten from my abuela Rodriguez, and the curry rice salad from my granma’s house made by Elsa, definitely a bit of centollo from La Castanal, and a gamba a la plancha from Menorca and some chopitos, tequenos and one Hallaca but only the one that Carmen makes. Eggs Benedict from brunch in NY with friends, Smoked Salmon from my first night living alone in NYC. ohhhh and the spicy crispy chicken from Bulgogi in London and my friend Maria’s aguacates from some local farmer, my delicious carrot cake that my mom loves and my friend Mercedes makes for me that makes me feel loved and a chanchito from Maria Elba. I would mix it all up and invite all my wonderful friends from all spaces of life.

ARI:

ERIN:

Isa Recipe
500 gr Alberto
500g Illeana
1 measure of independence
3 servings of spirituality
a bit of rebellion

Combine the first two ingredients in a large trusty container and with the curiosity palette.
I added little by little the independence, making sure it blends very well.
Let rest in an atmosphere of love and freedom for as long as necessary.

Knead the mixture with the spirituality portions – securing one at a time and through the 3P (passion, patience and purpose) strainer.
I sprinkled the rebellion and allow the surface to soak well and then carry all the content inside.
When you have a bright color, cut into 3 portions and start to shape. Let it grow in controlled exploration environments.
You don’t have to worry about whether the shapes look alike or not, remember that eventually the mixture comes back together and is allowed a mash in an open container to any other ingredients you want to add according to taste.
This recipe is ideal as a companion to strong and sweet dishes.
Enjoy!

Ubarikiwe!

M: This is my recipe. My husband says that I’m going to increase the amount of control and impatience. And the truth is that he is right. But I like the way I wrote it:
two cups of enthusiasm
a cup of tenacity
a jet of joy
a spoonful of foolishness
a spoonful of impatience
a pinch of humor
100 gms of curiosity chips
A bunch of intensity
A bunch of control
Procedure:
Mix enthusiasm with tenacity, add a little bit of joy and when the mix is ​​homogeneous, add foolishness, impatience, a pinch of humor and chips of curiosity. Knead gently, stretch gently and once extended let fall as a rain drop the intensity and control. Bake in a moderate oven for 40 minutes. Serve warm with whipped cream

Day 2 Choose your Color

DAY 2

“Blessed are the curious, for they shall have adventures.” Lovelle Drachman

Choose a color for the day.
(It can be your favorite Color. )

During the day, notice everything around you that is in that color. Make a list of all the things that you find in that color.

Extra points: Make a list of 30 items in that color. You will start with the obvious ones…but will need to get creative as the list gets larger.

Extra Points: send your list to: unpackyourcreativity@gmail.com

Comments:

INES: YELLOW
Mi bolso
La barra del metro
El pantalón de la señora de enfrente 
La corbata del chico de traje
Pegatina de Precaución con las letras en rojo
La línea límite No pisar del metro
El logo de Amantis
El pelo rubio recogido en una coleta de una chica 
La tapa del cubo de basura negro
Una flor artificial decorando un escaparate 
Hojas en el suelo
Amarillo en un cojín 
En la luz de un restaurante
En la camiseta de la señora 
En las sandalias de otra señora

C: Funny I just realized I wrote 30 orange items and forgot about the fruit!
Photo with my list is in Spanish & English

1- Sun
2- Gatorade
3- Fanta
4- Cup of tea
5- Lamborghini
6-Veuve Clicqot
7-Autumn leaves
8-My happiness
9-Decor in jacket -Thailand in my living room
10- light from windows when walking around my neighborhood at night
11- moon (that oval one that I remember as the best one ever seen in my life)
12- tiled roofs  in my neighborhood
13- safety lights in bicycle
14- jackets on workers @ construction site
15- triangle in trunk of the car for emergency
16- horrible paint of a house in my neighborhood
17- traditional clothes prisoners/ jail
18- my water bottle
19- sky at sunset
20 – leather of chair with bear skin in my living room
21- silk  cord shisha
22- Kilim under my feet
23- leather boxes where I keep mosquito coils
24- Hermes
25- pencil
26- the fluo market I use frequently
27- flowers of the plant Marina gave me before moving to Argentina
28- Thailand Monks
29- my dog’s collar
30- exotic orchids in my garden

R: GREEN

1-Grass
2-Bamboo plant
3-Orchid leaves
4-Wrapping lace
5-Book cover 
6-Spinach 
7-Summer Dress
8-Cushion
9-Place mat
10-Garden hose
11-Frisbee
12-Wristband 
13-Ping pong table 
14-Decorative Box 
15-Post it 
16-Costco receipt ! (surprised) 
17-Alhambra Beer bottle 
18-Pine Tree 
19-Radicchio Lettuce 
20-Zucchini 
21-Avocado
22-T-shirt 
23-Dry-erase marker
24-Agenda
25-Soccer ball
26-Sport shoes
27-Paddle tennis racket
28-Mint chewing gum
29-Low sodium soja sauce label
30-Insect repellent spray bottle 

K: Yellow. I wonder if people chose yellow because of the color of your post. I was more aware of the task when going to new surroundings than at home. I went to supermarket and forgot of the items I had seen. I wonder what other people’s reflections are. I liked paying attention to color. I also wonder what the patterns are for a color in different surroundings – in the kitchen, in the city, in nature. I noticed a lot of yellow in my kitchen tonight, especially in the fruit basket; lemons, bananas, prunes When doing the night walk to close the gate it was dusk and I noticed a lot of yellow getting “born”: the moon, the stars, The streetlights, the strings of lightbulbs in the garden.

A: BLUE

M: PURPLE.

at first i thought, there is no way i will find 30 purple things. then i started seeing it everywhere, and then i started writing a poem in my head! rather than send the 30 things i’m sending the poem. I plan to use this again another day, with another color!

Moving On Ceremony
Purple is
the tulips on my desk
my favorite flower
a shirt I bought yesterday
it says “it’s always better in the sun,”
to be worn
on sunny days only?
Purple is the sand 
in my hourglass,
five minutes —
the expected length 
of this exercise.
Purple is a book 
on my shelf
indigo sky 
white stars
the top of a 
Frozen thermos
they still use
long after 
they’ve stopped singing
let it go.
Purple is a bracelet on my wrist
my daughter made 
a gem
on another bracelet
i’m wearing today,
my husband called it 
a “push present,”
But can you still call it that,
if you never got a chance 
to 
push?
Purple is wildflowers 
on the way to school,
graffiti I pass every day 
and never see,
a magazine discarded on the street,
purple page face-up,
just there for me to see? 
She graduated today
from fifth grade
they called it a
“moving on ceremony.”
Moving on —
isn’t that 
what we’re always 
doing?
Purple is the Eiffel tower keychain
on her backpack
the walls in her room,
duvet cover,
pillow,
giant S, 
books,
toothbrush,
favorite Nirvana shirt.
Purple is the grocery store
where at first sight,
there’s no purple 
(and I begin to wonder
does just not sell?
and why do I
criticize people 
on their phones,
when like me,
they might be 
writing poems?)
finally, I see it,
there,
right in front of me:
purple is all things lactose free
beet dried penne
mini fuets 
carrousel on a Milka wrapper.
Purple is the plums 
on our tree
giving and
giving and
giving
long after
everybody’s mouths 
are full.
Purple is lavender bush
under centuries-old olive tree
the one facing 
her 
bedroom
window.
No matter how quickly
she moves on,
how much she sees
or doesn’t see,
purple is 
where I’ll go
when I need
to 
find her.

I: YELLOW
Yellow Dress of la Negrita, clay sculpture at home.
Photo album on my shelf
Cala flower in my living room
The Inside part of the purple orchid dining room
The inside part  of the huge white orchid
Post it 
Painting hanging on the wall
The 3rd cacho on the Diablo de Yare hanging
Ottolengi SIMPLE book
4 bananas
3 lemons
Dishwashing sponge
Lemon juicer (exprimidor!)
Arrows on the street going out of my garage
Postbox
Butter
Cheese
Corn
Beer
Security Bar in the public bus
Corn tortilla
Kombucha
Yellow pencil
Mustard
Olive oil
Apple
Pineapple 
Daisy Flowers
Google chrome logo
Orange juice
Raw spaghetti 
Soap

P: Pink

CARO (ME): Yellow

CC: GREEN

  • Reflection on window pane
  • Tree leaves
  • Moms bracelet 
  • Store front
  • Store awning
  • Earrings
  • Window shutters
  • Glass
  • Linen shirt
  • Moms eyes
  • Sculpture
  • Book cover
  • Glass bowl
  • FIFA soccer pitch
  • Bottom of sponge
  • Cilantro 
  • Wires in ceiling lights 
  • Mueble tv antiguo
  • Highlighter
  • Clothing tag (20)
  • Sample fabric
  • Avocado on toast
  • Hair tie 
  • Wine bottle
  • Kleenex packaging
  • Button on PlayStation remote
  • Cruz 10 small work
  • Liquid inside glass temperature reader 
  • Color line on pillow

R: BLUE
Cielo
Tapa de tupper
Dibujo camiseta pijama
Calzoncillo Tomi
Calzoncillo Jorge
Cuadro puerta azul en casa
Mueble manteles
Botella azul
Caratula libro
Cojines habitación
Cuadro habitación
Cómoda
Detalle perchero
Pijama
Vestido largo
Jean
Adornos
Pelota
Caja madera
Números de la nevera
Bolso de carrito bebe
Globo
Pared comedor
Perro cerámica
Botella sifón
Peluche
Zapatilla
Botella vidrio
Pared baño
Bote gel
Bote crema cara
Afeitadora
Sujetador
Pared habitación

G: Orange

L: AZUL (BLUE) Mi color del día ha sido el azul y me ha parecido interesante que de este color son cosas infinitas y hetéreas como el cielo o el mar pero también muchas cosas coercitivas y reglamentadas como muchas señales de tráfico, barreras de paso etc. También mi anillo azul, de mis favoritos ultimamente, que me da tanto placer contemplar..

A: GREEN. My water bottle
Grass
Palm Trees.
Street near my house
My house plants plants
My garbage bin
My eyes
Daughter’s Nail polish
My green clogs
Green traffic light
Green construction send
Landscaping truck with green letters
Green markers
Little Green frog
Green bug
Green folder with one of my kids, end-of-the-year paperwork
Bright Green Jeep
Dark green olive trees
Clusia plants
Parts of my leaf blower
Parts of my leaf blowers, battery and charger
Sofa cushions
Weeds sticking out of bricks in my driveway
The letters on everybody’s Florida license plate
Plastic bin in my garage
My fake Christmas tree also in my garage
The handle on one of my shovels
The brushes on one of my brooms
Sprinkler heads

I: Orange

AG: BLUE

Only got to 16…

The sky
Madrid public Buses
Parking garage sign
Vests on
Suits
Shirts
Cubos de basura para Papel y carton
BBVA logo
Madrid street name signs
Taxi stop sign
Eyes of a homeless man
New torres de colon
Lights on top of police cars
European union flag background
Starfish in logo of La Caixa
A book cover in my office

LAU: YELLOW

  1. Towel 
  2. Morning pee
  3. Soap
  4. Guy on the tube’s shirt 
  5. Obstructing the doors can be dangerous (warning signs)
  6. Circle line on tube poster 
  7. Stitching on my shoes
  8. Line before mind the gap 
  9. Woman’s outfit (whole thing) 
  10. Way out 
  11. Beerkat 
  12. Pedestrian crossing box
  13. Scaffolding padding
  14. Flowers on plant in plant store
  15. Chairs
  16. Labels on cameras 
  17. Floor marks
  18. Inside of gaffer bag
  19. 22 amaran plug ends 
  20. Corners of monitor 
  21. Batteries 
  22. Top button on rcd monitor
  23. Led amaran lights set to warm 
  24. Top stripes on actor’s shirt 
  25. Park closed if locked call # sign
  26. Back license plate 
  27. Mango ice cream
  28. Wire tag label
  29. Bumpy side walk letting you know where the edge is 
  30. Center of big daisies 
  31. Inside peoples windows with lights on
  32. Twin lines parallel to side walk
  33. Lemons 

Day 1 – Stretch

The challenge started out with 120 people, by day three we had 133 people. Participants sent me photos and comments about their experience each day. Following is the prompt sent and some of the comments and photos people sent me.

DAY 1

DAY 1 – STRETCH…a simple way to start.

“Creativity is intelligence having fun.” Anonymous

  1. Put a timer for 5 minutes.
  2. Stretch. your arms
  3. Stretch your legs
  4. Stretch your back
  5. Jump up and down 5 times
  6. Yawn 5 times
  7. Move all around
  8. Sit cross legged and focus on your breathing. Repeat. I am breathing in, I am breathing out.
  9. Don’t stop moving, breathing or stretching until timer is up.

Do what is comfortable for your body….your version of these movements.

Extra Points: Do it with a partner and share a photo of you stretching. Or share insights, thoughts, reflections to unpackyourcreativity@gmail.com

Remember if 30 people share every day I will donate 250E to https://www.chamos.org.uk/
And you will also be helping me in my research! Thank you!

Comments from participants

Mother and son: I had a lot of fun starting the day with my son Simón in this energetic stretching creative driven activity. Definitely had more energy walking into the metro today 🙂

Mother and son doing the challenge

L2: Estiramientos y respiracion durante 5 minutos.
Es un ejercio con el que estoy muy familiarizada porque practico yoga 3 veces en semana por mi cuenta, por lo que me siento muy cómoda realizando esta actividad. 
Al hacerlo fuera de mi práctica habitual, mi sensación es de que los 5 minutos se han pasado muy rápido y por otra parte me doy cuenta de que en tan poco tiempo tu cuerpo es capaz de relajarse y oxigenarse para afrontar el siguiente reto que tengas por delante.
Creo que voy a intentar hacer estos 5 minutos en momentos concretos del día fuera de mi práctica habitual.

A: I did my Creativity exercise this morning during my daily walked to work.
Sunny day, cool breeze, walking along the Castellana side path.
I stopped at a bench and did my exercise.
I loved the stretching and jumping.
Mindful meditation put me in a good mood for the whole morning, and it was short (2 minutes) so easier than usual meditation exercises.
It’s so important to feel good…
Awesome!

L and D: Dario and I really enjoyed today’s challenge, the five minutes flew by. 

C And C:

Group of friends that all did the challenge and shared this photo.

K: I had a crappy day and I postponed my stretching to the end of the day. I’m glad that I did it. While doing it I was thinking about what this had to do with creativity, and I thought to myself that this time alone helped me relax and that I should do this every night and take time to listen to my body. The five minutes went really fast. Thank you for this challenge.

M:

Anonymous: 20/06/23 – Stretching – Almost forgot to do it, but did it right before I slept. Was worried I’m going to wake up late for work and when I did the stretching it helped keeping my mind off that and so, less anxious.

Carolina (me): I had a tough time doing the challenge during the day, but right before midnight I did it with my son. I felt great after it. Ready for a good night’s sleep. I also loved doing it with company.

M: I was procrastinating around writing a story that I’ve had in my head since yesterday and decided to start the challenge. After 5 minutes stretching and breathing I felt more calmness and clarity. Then I sat down to write a first draft!

G:

21 Day Creativity Challenge

This is a group challenge. People were invited through whattsapp to participate in a 5 minute a day Creativity Challenge. Everyone is sent one activity to do every day for 21 days. Targeted at “non-artists” or people that consider themselves “non-creatives”. 133 participants joined the challenge with area codes from: Spain, Venezuela, Colombia, Argentina, UK, USA, Vietnam, Puerto Rico, Belarus, Thailand. It started on June 20th 2023. I sent two prompts two days before.

Invitation to Join:

You’re invited to join a Creativity Challenge, 5 minutes a day for 21 days. For Non-artists.

Starts on June 20.

Join here:
https://chat.whatsapp.com/BXKM02HngqFGuPnYGcDKfg

Hi I am Carolina, an MA Researcher in Applied Imagination. I am working on a research project about the decline in Creativity from childhood to adulthood.

Creativity:

  • Has been proven to make you happier.
  • Is the No1 skill required in current workplace (World Economic Forum )
  • Studies show that our creativity is in decline.

2 Days before Start

[0:54 am, 18/06/2023] Carolina: Welcome to the 21 day Creativity Challenge. Thank you for joining!

2 days to START!

Start date June 20th

This is how it will work…every night (UK time) I will be sending you an activity for the next day.

This should take 5 minutes of your day.

I recommend you be STRICT with those five minutes. Put a timer if it helps.

These activities are aimed to help you develop your creative side.

At the end of the challenge I will ask you to fill out a short survey so I can use it for my research and you can share if taking part impacted your life in any way.
[0:32 am, 19/06/2023] Carolina: Tomorrow is the day!
1 day to Start!

Some tips:

Every night (my night), I will send you a 5 minute task for you to do.
Choose a time of day to do your Creative task. On your way to work, on your morning run, with your coffee.
Use a timer.
Reflect on the task. Where you comfortable doing it? Was it hard, was it easy?

Extra Points: If you choose to share your insights each day with me you will be automatically entered into a lottery for a 25 Euro Amazon gift card. If at least 30 people finish the 21 days and share their insights with me daily I will donate 250 Euros to https://www.chamos.org.uk charity.

Thoughts, reflections, questions, photos can be sent to Carolina: unpackyoucreativity@gmail.com

I will also post the daily challenge in IG @unpack_your_creativity

One Before Start:

Tomorrow is the day!
1 day to Start!

Some tips:

  1. Every night (my night), I will send you a 5 minute task for you to do.
  2. Choose a time of day to do your Creative task. On your way to work, on your morning run, with your coffee.
  3. Use a timer.
  4. Reflect on the task. Where you comfortable doing it? Was it hard, was it easy?

Extra Points: If you choose to share your insights each day with me you will be automatically entered into a lottery for a 25 Euro Amazon gift card. If at least 30 people finish the 21 days and share their insights with me daily I will donate 250 Euros to https://www.chamos.org.uk charity.

Thoughts, reflections, questions, photos can be sent to Carolina: unpackyoucreativity@gmail.com

I will also post the daily challenge in IG @unpack_your_creativity

Tales of Creativity and Play

Ted Talk by Tim Brown

“At the 2008 Serious Play conference, designer Tim Brown talks about the powerful relationship between creative thinking and play — with many examples you can try at home (and one that maybe you shouldn’t).” (Robinson, 2006)

Robinson, S. K. (2006, June 27). Do schools kill creativity? Www.ted.com. https://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_do_schools_kill_creativity/c‌

Do Schools Kill creativity?

Ted Talk by Ken Robinson
“Creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson challenged the way we educate our children, championing a radical rethink of how our school systems cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence.” (Robinson, 2006)

Robinson, S. K. (2006, June 27). Do schools kill creativity? Www.ted.com. https://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_do_schools_kill_creativity/c‌

George Land on The Failure of Success

Ted Talk about the decline in creativity.

In 1968, George Land tested the creativity of 1,600 children aged 3-5 using a NASA-designed assessment. He re-tested the same group at ages 10 and 15, yielding remarkable results. Same test was given to 280,000 adults and the result was 2%. 

John Cleese on Creativity in Management

Speech from 1997. Still applies to today.
Blurb from the post:

In this lecture-style presentation, John Cleese claims that creativity is not a special talent. People are either in an ‘open’ or ‘closed’ state of mind. The closed mode enables people to apply themselves to tasks with vigour and concentration; the open mode is more relaxed and conducive to creative thinking. Cleese talks about how leaders can induce an open mode in their team members and establish confidence in them to accept that there is a succession of learning steps on the road to total quality.

https://youtu.be/Pb5oIIPO62g

John Cleese on Creativity In Management. (2017). [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb5oIIPO62g

Zoonation at the Royal Opera house

On June 18th I sent to see a wonderful group of kids story tell through dance, lights and music. Zoonation Youth Company told a story about a world that was divided, the wall had been built by an AI Robot that dreamed of having real feelings. On one side was the Captain that controlled his half of the world through oppression and on the other side was controlled by a Queen Bee that gave Starburst to her group and drugged them to keep them in control. In the middle were two brothers who loved each other very much and did not want to join either side. At some point the older brother gets coerced into joining the Captain. The little brother gets coerced by the Queen Bee. I won’t say more to not give spoilers. I was most impressed by the way they told their story. The narrator was “Snow”, the AI Robot, a girl that danced to the rhythm of the music. If I had to choose a question it would be something like: How can we teach children about the polarisation happening in the world and make them aware that there are other possibilities? I was inspired at all the ways we can get our message across. A beautiful intervention.

Scenes from the end of the show.

The Creativity Challenge: Design, Experiment, Test, Innovate, Build, Create, Inspire, and Unleash your Genius. By Tanner Christensen

“Creativity can solve almost any problem. The creative act, the defeat of habit by originality, overcomes everything.” George Lois, American Art director, designer and author.

The author proposes a series of games to put in practice your creativity.

Types of Games

Games are divided into categories:

  1. Convergent. Requires you to combine elements of more than one idea or thing. It’s like putting a puzzle together. You have many pieces and you need to figure out how they can work together.
  2. Divergent. Taking things apart so you can look at their individual parts. The challenge of breaking dow something into smaller parts to tackle each phase of the process.
  3. Lateral. Logical thinking process that must follow steps in order. When you solve math you are using lateral thinking.
  4. Aesthetic. To focus on how an object or idea looks. It is when you look closely at how each part of something appears, or by imagining what would happen if things looked different.
  5. Emergent. Daydream. Idleness. This way of thinking is when you are idle, walking, sleeping,, daydreaming. Usually these lead to AHA moments.

Specific Games- some samples

Convergent. People Watch. Challenge- Go to a public place, like a shopping center, a library and quickly write a short story for some different people you see walking about. Combine different traits and actions of your “characters” into one compelling story. Research done by NYU have determined that you’re more inclined to think creatively when you imagine yourself removed from a problem or situation. The act of people watching is one way to do it.

Divergent. List 100 Alternative uses. Challenge. Come up with a list of at least 100 alternative uses for a book. A doorstop, a hat, an umbrella. This allows you to think of the object in an entirely new light, simply because you’ll have to strain your brain to come up with a number of original ideas.

Lateral. Think Big to Small. Challenge. Pick something in your life that is simple on its face. Make a list of everything that makes that thing what it is. List all the smaller parts, then the smaller parts that make up those smaller parts. See how microscopic you can get with the details. There are an infinite number of things that influence and impact any larger thing right down to atoms and smaller molecules.

Aesthetic. Draw your face upside down. Challenge. Find a mirror and something to draw with then spend 10 minutes drawing a detailed portrait of your face upside down. Note the areas of struggle to draw most and why the change in perspective makes them so difficult to draw. Viewing familiar things from a new perspective (like being upside down) is an effective way to help you notice all the details you usually take for granted.

Emergent. Stretch out. Challenge. Take 5 minutes to really stretch out. You can do this by standing up or sitting down – simply move your body to loosen your muscles and connecting fibers. Then spend another 10 minutes sitting and relaxing while the benefits of al that stretching start to take shape.

The author says that by completing each activity you will have a better foundation for seeing the world with a more creative light.

Christensen, T. (2015). The Creativity Challenge. Simon and Schuster.