The creativity spectrum and you

Posted by William Gallagher

I’ve heard people tell me, “I’m just not that creative.” I don’t believe it. You are creative and ingenious and resourceful and brilliant. Creativity doesn’t have to be defined by the bounds of art or literature. Your creativity can reveal itself in so many different ways: parenting, relationships, wardrobe, problem-solving, ideas, shoelaces, Tumblrs, cooking.

Everyone is capable of creativity.

What I Wish I Knew About Creativity When I Was 20 – Kevan Lee, Buffer (26 August 2014)

I’ve also heard people telling me that they’re not creative but I believe them. Maybe I just rankle at how each time it’s happened to me, the person has been proud of it. You can argue that they are just claiming to be proud, that it’s a defensive attack. But that’s to presume everyone really wants to be creative and I think that is as wrong as these proud non-creatives are.

Still, maybe I just mix with the wrong crowd. Lee’s full article is part a reassurance that there is hope for the not-we and part an exploration of what we would tell our younger selves now if we could.

Specifically, he has 17 points which I’m sure would be useful for sending back in time but are also interesting for us as we are today.

So what do you think of this?

Posted by William Gallagher

I promise I do this for real, I don’t do it from some contrived Machiavellian planning: if I don’t know something, I’ll ask. But you can use this simple thing in a contrived Machiavellian planning way.

Even if you believe in the whole “There’s no such thing as a stupid question” mantra, sometimes you’d just rather hold your tongue than look stupid. New research suggests, however, that you’ll appear more competent to others if you ask for advice rather than keeping quiet.

Asking for Advice Makes You Look More Competent, Not Stupider – Melanie Pinola, Lifehacker (28 August 2014)

I’m not sure stupider is a real word, but.

But I think the principle is true because I’ve seen it: if you ask someone their advice or their opinion, they do like it. I don’t think that’s surprising but what might be is that because you have made them feel smart by asking them, they really do conclude that you are smart for the same reason. You’ve spotted how clever they are, therefore you are clever. QED.

Aren’t we human beings peculiar?

No, unless we set out to use contrived Machiavellian planning.

Easily distrac- what?

Posted by William Gallagher

When I need to concentrate, I switch my iPhone to Do Not Disturb, I tell Siri to set a timer for one hour and maybe I put on headphones. Write until the hour alarm goes off, done. It works for me.

But right now, this moment, I am finding it hard to concentrate because I’ve been working on one big project all week. The one-hour bursts are fine for that but it’s like I’ve reached a limit. I am full of that work, my head is folding over, there’s no room for anything more to do with it. Consequently even though I am right on deadline, I am actively seeking out distractions.

Naturally, then, the first thing I find is this about not being distracted.

Knowing what you have to do during the day, and scheduling time slots for each task, will help you to break you workload into manageable chunks. Prioritising the more important tasks first will ensure these get done and aren’t impacted by the less important tasks over running.

Purchase a calendar with enough space on each day to write in your workload. As you work through your day, tick off the complete tasks to show what you’ve accomplished and what you’ve left to do.
If you’ve any items that are flexible in terms of deadline then these can be moved to a different day if required and it’s always a good idea to leave some time during the day free for any unplanned things that might arise.

Easily Distracted At Work? Here’s 12 Ways To Fix That – Barry (no surname given), Ciphr.com (1 July 2014)

Barry “No Surname” Given also proposes eating well and sleeping, amongst – hang on, counts on fingers – nine other ways to keep you focused.

Fortunately, he mentions one way to be distracted: YouTube. I’m off there right now.

How to start a speech, any speech

Posted by William Gallagher

Well, maybe not a eulogy. But otherwise, if you’re standing up there giving a presentation, Ragan.com – “news and ideas for communicators” – has advice for you. Here’s their example and if the rest of the article gets a bit happy-clappy, the example sings:

I occasionally speak to a group of part-time volunteers who are working to reduce the number of injuries suffered in house fires. I used this opening for one of my talks:

“I’m only going to speak to you for one hour this morning. During our hour together, someone, somewhere in America, is going to be badly injured in a house fire. By the time you begin lunch this afternoon, someone, somewhere in America, will die in a house fire. By dinner, another person will die. By the time you go to sleep, another person will die. As you sleep tonight, two more people will die.

I’m here today because I want to prevent that from happening. And I’m going to need your help.”

Five great ways to open a speech – Brad Phillips, Ragan.com (14 July 2014)

Good, eh? Read the full piece for more.

8 Simple Tricks That Will Help You Ace A Job Interview But Rob You Of Your Innocence

Posted by William Gallagher

Job interviews are stressful, but here are some time-tested tips to impress any potential employer and render you unable to look at the world in the same unsullied light.

1. Prepare Ahead Of Time
Rehearse answers to common questions a few days beforehand to trick the interviewer into thinking your answers are genuine reflections of your thoughts. This is a lie all job seekers participate in.

2. Give A Firm Handshake
A firm handshake is an effective way to make a good impression, but will also destroy your inner child a little each time you do it. You’re a manipulator of people now.

8 Simple Tricks That Will Help You Ace A Job Interview But Rob You Of Your Innocence – Clickhole (24 June 2014)

Read the other six on the full feature.

What Microsoft can tell small startups

Posted by William Gallagher

Not much, you’d think. And I still wonder. But ex-Microsoft guy Rakesh Malhotra says he learnt lessons there that have helped enormously in his jobs since, including:

Know your blind spots: Like a lot of companies, Microsoft conducts 360-degree reviews, where you solicit a review from everyone surrounding the employee: Manager, peer, reports, etc. There are many best practices as to how to conduct an effective 360-degree review, but the effect is usually the same — you learn your blind spots. A successful leader pays attention to weaknesses and finds a way to manage them. It really helps to be self-aware, especially at a startup, where every member has a lot of responsibility.

Lessons — From Microsoft! — On Being a Startup Leader – Rakesh Malhotra, Re/code (27 June 2014)

I didn’t put the exclamation mark in that article title. But I thought it.

Clean your desk. Go on.

Posted by William Gallagher

One half of my office desk is fantastically tidy and clean. Because Angela needed to use it. I cleared it all up so she could sit there without feeling queasy. But really I just moved everything to the other half which is simply frightening.

But go on, writer David Burkus, tell me what half tidy and half appalling means:

We can learn to structure environments to suit our goals and help use more effectively achieve those goals. If you’re trying to bring some more order, healthier choices, and a more generous perspective into your life, then maybe you should start by cleaning up your office and home. However, if you need a creative insight or breakthrough idea, that same tidy office could be stifling your creative thinking.

Clean Your Desk for Productivity (but Keep It Messy for Creativity – 99U (20 June 2014)

He can’t, can he? But he has more to say.

This is why you are all the time tired

Posted by William Gallagher

You’re getting up at 5am, you’re stopping around 6pm. Also, you’re stupid. Nah, it can’t be any of that, except maybe the stupid. Time magazine has 14 better reasons, which include ones that I know for sure are what cause me problems:

You have trouble saying ‘no’

People-pleasing often comes at the expense of your own energy and happiness. To make matters worse, it can make you resentful and angry over time. So whether it’s your kid’s coach asking you to bake cookies for her soccer team or your boss seeing if you can work on a Saturday, you don’t have to say yes. Train yourself to say ‘no’ out loud, suggests Susan Albers, a licensed clinical psychologist with Cleveland Clinic and author of Eat.Q.: Unlock the Weight-Loss Power of Emotional Intelligence. “Try it alone in your car,” she says. “Hearing yourself say the word aloud makes it easier to say it when the next opportunity calls for it.”

14 Reasons You’re Tired All the Time – Time magazine (8 June 2014)

Click that link and immediately see a four-word summary of the whole piece. As I’m seeing so often now, it looks like a writer saved the story under a straightforward title and that’s what the URL was built from. The article itself has had its name changed but the underlying web address still refers to how /bad-habits-drain-energy/.

I love spotting that kind of thing. It’s like web detective work. CSI: WWW.

But anyway, that never-saying-no is just one of several salutary sections of advice in the full piece.