Accidental Creative

Confused People Don’t Laugh

Sherwood Schwartz , creator of such nostalgic TV shows as “Gilligan’s Island ” and “The Brady Bunch ” was once asked why his shows began with theme songs that set up the premise of the show. (”Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale…” or “Here’s the story of a man named Brady…”)

His response was, “Confused people don’t laugh.“

I think there’s much we can learn from uncle Sherwood about context and creativity. When we’re creating, our goal is communicate something - even if that something is ineffable. Without context, we’re relying on the individual to fill in the vacuum. (Vacuum’s always get filled, no?) This complexity can lead to confusion and misinterpretation of our intent. In the world of high art, this isn’t necessarily as much of an issue because the goal is to evoke and fade into the cultural fabric, but when we’re creating for a client, this can be the key determining factor of success or failure.

Do your “punchlines” have context? Are people wasting their neurons trying to understand why a millionnaire, a scientist, a farm girl, a movie star and “the rest” are frolicking around on your island?

A Lesson In Assumptions

Overheard this week in our house . This is our five year-old Ethan talking to my wife:

Ethan: Mommy…there’s no such thing as Rudolph the Reindeer, right?
Rachel: Right.
Ethan: Yeah…that’s what I thought. [short pause] Mommy…what do you think Santa Claus is doing right now?

The tricky thing about assumptions is that when we weed one out, another one pops up in its place. Assumptions are necessary in many cases, (we can’t possibly assimilate and act on every piece of verified info…we have to make educated guesses,) but they can also be a creative noose. It’s critical that we not operate on “auto-pilot” but that we have a clear assessment of our unhealthy (and inaccurate) assumptions.

So…what is Santa Claus doing right now…???

Funny Ha-Ha

Fast Company features an interview with John Morreall, a professor at William and Mary, on the subject of humor and creativity. There is such a close connection between humor and insight that a flash of funny can often lead to creative breakthroughs. And terminations. Be careful and make sure you’re really funny.

Why You Should Include A Joker In Every Brainstorming Session [FastCompany.com]

Omnipresent Google

A little off-subject here, but…

So…Google has announced plans to enter the world of wireless communication. Its intent is to "own" the software platform that powers future mobile communication devices. Apparently, it also intends to make this platform open to developers and highly configurable.

Google (obviously) is attempting to ensure that its apps and search technology are even more interwoven into our daily existence. I am no fan of monoliths, but I am a huge fan of knowing what you’re about and going after it in whatever way possible. Success = becoming a verb, no?

As an observer of Googliness over time, what’s been exciting is seeing how each product is complete, yet is also a "staging" for the next thing. This forward and strategic progression is a far cry from the standard myopic and "alley-esque" development we see in many organizations. (Alley-esque = progressing down an alley, backing out, moving to the next alley, etc.)

When we are centered around a "main thing" we can begin to make decisions holistically that advance the front in each area of our life or organization. When we are reactively working we chip away a bit less strategically.

While I’m certainly not ready to allow Google to plant a biometrics chip in me, I am waiting in anticipation for their next poker chip to land on the table.

AC Podcast: #84, Moment

Our goal is freedom. We want to be unleashed to engage in the moment of creativity with full force. In order to do this, we must identify and eliminate the artificial boundaries in our lives. We must become “unbound.”

Death Cab for Todd

Yes…the rumors are true. My entire life flashed before my eyes on Sunday night.

I flew into New York City late Sunday evening for a meeting on Monday morning. I hopped a cab at La Guardia for White Plains. My first "uh oh" was when the cab driver had never heard of White Plains. Hmm. The second "uh oh" was when I handed directions to the hotel and was told to just give him step by step instructions on where to turn. Hmm.

The next "uh oh" will live in memory for most of the rest of my life. As we were approaching a critical "fork in the road", I instructed the driver that we needed to veer left to go north toward Albany. I continued insisting that we veer left over and over, but in spite of my VERY vocal requests, the driver veered east. For about 100 yards. He then stopped in the middle of the *very* busy highway…seemed to re-assess the meaning of my requests…kicked the cab into reverse and sped backwards through oncoming traffic to get back to the split in the road.

I remember the slow-motion-sounding horn honking, the flashing of lights and the immense sense of relief when we finally veered - unscathed - onto the correct highway.

After several more wrong-turns and near-death experiences I finally made it to my hotel. (As a footnote, the cab driver pulled out the "fake fare book" and tried to convince me that the cab fare was almost $200. Insult to near injury…)

At any rate, not only do I feel lucky to be in one piece, but I learned something about dealing with mistakes. Abrupt and reckless reversal is usually not the best way to deal with them. There is a much more graceful way in which to re-direct misguided efforts - take the next off-ramp and change course. Otherwise, you’ll risk killing yourself and anyone else along for the ride.

By the way…the meeting went very well.

The Safety Matrix

There’s something that’s been eating at me lately and I’m trying to work my way to the bottom of it. There’s a lot of buzz within organizations that perceive themselves as "creative-friendly" about fostering a "safe environment" for ideas to flourish. I agree, and I’m all for allowing for safe places and not pre-maturely judging concepts, but there’s a sinister downside to all of this buzz about safety.

The reality is that great creating requires risk, and a part of that risk is the fear of failure. When we become obsessed with safety, we can run the risk of smoothing over our hard edges and creating a workplace where everyone gravitates toward the middle. A place where there are no bad ideas. A place where we inadvertantly become less creative via the very systems that are supposed to free us up.

Call me crazy, but I think it’s a good thing if in the back of someone’s mind is the possibility of losing their job if they drop the ball. I think it’s a good thing if there’s just a tinge of fire under someone’s pants as they are driving toward a deadline. This is not to say that these things will ever come about, but when we create an environment that embraces mediocrity because everyone subsconsciously realizes it’s in their short-term best interest, we’re eating away at our very soul.

There’s a principle called the "safety matrix" I’m working on. It embraces that there is a certain amount of safety required for great creating, but a certain amount of danger required for great productivity. After all, ideas are nothing without implementation.

As I’ve often said - safety is not an option. Eventually, all creating requires risk - be it organizational or personal.

Just my 2 cents…