How many Mozarts, Galileos, or Aristotles are there today?
Art / Blog / Creativity

How many Mozarts, Galileos, or Aristotles are there today?

Pick any great historical figure. We often regard them as unparalleled geniuses the likes of which we may never see again. On the other hand, they were human beings like us. They performed in some areas well beyond average. What if their abilities or traits weren't once ever but once in a generation? It's interesting to see what you conclude, as I'll show. Then we'd expect to see others of comparable abilities or skills. We could pick any figure, but let's talk about Mozart for concreteness. In his time the earth's population was about 700 million or so, roughly a tenth of today. Could that mean we should expect ten people of Mozart's ability today? In Mozart's times a smaller fraction of the population had…

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October 28, 2013
Blog / Creativity

Reject every belief in my book but learn to create your own before adopting mine without learning that skill

People are emailing about my awesome new book everyone should read, ReModel: Create mental models to improve your life and lead simply and effectively. Several people said they found a concept in the Introduction particularly meaningful, creating enthusiasm to read the rest of the book. I communicated that concept twice, first writing: I'd rather you learned to create your own beliefs and forgot mine than didn't learn the skill and adopted all my models. Later continuing: As valuable and helpful as my beliefs are to me, they are a minor part of this book. The major point is what they illustrate—that you can create and choose your beliefs. Again, I'd rather have you reject every belief in this book but learn to create better ones…

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October 23, 2013
Art / Blog / Creativity / Entrepreneurship / Leadership

Another awesome success — Museum Hack and Nick Gray

An awesome side benefit of writing daily is that awesome people find you. Recently a guy wrote to tell me he liked my writing and invited me to participate in what seemed like a crazy project, but turned out to be one of the most awesome things I've done in New York City in a long time. And I've done a lot of awesome things in New York City. It's an amazing entrepreneurial story too -- the kind we love, which is why I, who endorse entrepreneurship and believe opportunities are everywhere, am sharing it with you. He started doing something that he enjoyed, for fun and personal challenge, and shared what he loved and got good at (another example of how "Sharing what you…

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August 27, 2013
How and why I made the Passion-Attraction Model graphs
Awareness / Blog / Creativity

How and why I made the Passion-Attraction Model graphs

Time I put a lot more time into making the graphs and writing the posts of the past week than usual -- at least a couple full days just graphing before writing a word. Why Why did I put so much time in? Not because I didn't have lots to do. Because people who saw early versions of the graphs told me it helped them better understand Their intimate relationships Their partners, and Themselves. They also enjoyed reading the graphs -- like their eyes opened wide and they looked like kids with new toys, like who would have expected something so science-and-math-like could help them understand their intimate relationships ... and work!?! My main reason for writing here is to increase self-awareness in ways that…

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August 11, 2013
Blog / Leadership

Three stages of understanding how ancient Egyptians built the pyramids

I'm sure many people have thought and written great stuff about the Egyptian pyramids and overcoming the challenges to building them. I haven't read much on them, but I'm writing not so much about the pyramids than on how one person's thoughts developed as he learned to solve harder problems, though nowhere near the scale of a great pyramid. Stage 1: The challenges of mechanical engineering When I first thought of the challenges of building the pyramids, I looked at the challenges the way I think most people do -- from a mechanical engineering perspective. I wondered How could they cut, transport, and lift those stones? How could they measure the angles and distances accurately? Stage 2: The challenges of organizing and leading people At…

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July 28, 2013
“That’s not art. I could do it.” — A new interpretation that activates art and yourself
Art / Blog / Creativity / Entrepreneurship / Tips

“That’s not art. I could do it.” — A new interpretation that activates art and yourself

We've all heard someone say "That's not art. I could do it." Maybe you said it yourself. The comment can lead to interesting discussion on what makes art, but rarely. It can lead you to realizing that the value of art doesn't depend on how hard it was to create. The usual response is "Well, you didn't. And they did it first." I suggest a new response. If the person who says it, perhaps yourself, sees beauty or truth in the work of art, suggest that they re-create it. Seriously suggest they do what they say they can do. They could have a museum-quality work of art on their wall if they do, for only the cost of materials. When you look at art with…

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July 27, 2013
Blog / Creativity / Tips

Sometimes going the opposite way works best

A pattern I've noticed works a lot in life: When everyone is going in one direction, try going as far as you can in the opposite direction. Some examples: When car companies kept making bigger and more dominant SUVs, the Prius did well. In retrospect it seems obvious, but the car appeared nearly alone and successful in the U.S. market for years before other cars competed meaningfully. Now Smart Cars and related little cars seem to be doing well. The other day I wrote about how boxed cereal companies try to offer as many kinds of flavors, textures, and box designs. I prefer simple oats with a few toppings. When mp3 players first came out they looked technical and complex with lots of buttons. The…

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July 26, 2013
Blog / Creativity

How experience often beats creativity, originality, and intelligence

Yesterday I wrote about being called intelligent or smart and the sometimes downsides associated with it. I found that while society seems to value intelligence, on a personal level people value getting the job done, relationship skills, experience, people's networks, and other things, at least in leadership and decision-making roles. For a few roles that don't require teamwork people value intelligence, but they aren't that common in professional environments. What about creativity and originality? It seems to me society and business value them more, though I've written how they are commonly misperceived. Actually, I find people overvalue creativity and originality. They see results they call creative and value the person who created them. To me, I see professional work as problem-solving, whether the work is…

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July 25, 2013
Communications skills exercises, part 10b: another example of voicing your self-talk
Awareness / Blog / Creativity / Exercises

Communications skills exercises, part 10b: another example of voicing your self-talk

Following up on this post on voicing your self-talk, a follow-up to what I consider the most effective exercise in improving your self-awareness, here is another example of someone speaking extemporaneously for a long time. He's not exactly voicing his self-talk, but he is, at least somewhat. I presume he knew his topic well before this recording, but knowing a topic well doesn't make speaking for over five minutes on it easy. He has to be able to let the words come out of his mouth with minimal filtering. I find being able to speak extemporaneously displays high status. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BBhNkywMJY It's also funny and shows talent. I expect he worked hard to be able to speak like that. Could you do it, in front of…

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June 16, 2013
Blog / Creativity / Education / Tips

Video on creativity

I've written a lot on creativity and when I do I often mention the professor whose class on creativity I took, Jacob Goldenberg. He recently gave an online talk with Columbia Business School about his research. If you like creativity, learning some unexpected properties of it, and improving your creativity, I recommend it. It's not as polished as a TED talk, but as informative. Here it is: video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player Here is the link to the original page. Enjoy!

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June 15, 2013
Art / Exercises / Humor / Models / Tips

A model for what makes a great story

[This post is part of a series on “Mental models and beliefs: an exercise to identify yours.” If you don’t see a Table of Contents to the left, click here to view the series, where you’ll get more value than reading just this post.] Storytelling seems so common to all cultures it's probably in our genes to like a good story. We love hearing messages in the format of a story. If any has given you advice on how to give a presentation, someone probably told you to make it like a story. Storytelling skills are a universally useful and attractive social skill. So what makes a great story? Why do we like to listen to some but not others? I don't claim to be…

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May 21, 2013
Creativity / Education

Protected: Creativity Class Handouts

Here are the slides from my creativity class at Flavorpill with Skillshare on April 24. Making a pdf took away the slide transitions and animations, but all the words are still there. Thank you all for attending and participating. I'll let you know when sign-up begins for my Leadership class. Mark June 17, 19, 24, and 26 6pm-9pm on your calendars.

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April 24, 2013
Blog / Creativity / Education

More about becoming more creative

Flavorpill -- the social discovery engine and curated event marketplace that keeps you tapped into the cultural happenings around you and lets you find and follow things you like, see what your friends are into, and, if so inspired, get off the computer and go out -- posted my creativity seminar next Wednesday, April 24, 6pm-9pm. Very prestigious. Check it out. Then sign up! I look forward to seeing you there.

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April 19, 2013
Art / Blog / Creativity / Education / Tips

How to become more creative — proven! … Wednesday April 24, 6pm-9pm, Manhattan

Next Wednesday, 6pm-9pm I'm giving my first seminar through Skillshare, a company that organizes classes. If you're near Manhattan and you want to become more creative, you should come. The class is called Systematic Creativity. When I say it teaches proven ways to increase your creativity, I mean it. It comes from one of the best courses I took at Columbia Business School by one of the top creativity researchers, who also started a successful consulting company on becoming more creative that works with many Fortune 500 companies. Several classmates called it the best class they took there. Wednesday will cover the highlights of the class -- especially exercises to become more creative demolishing creativity myths that hold people back It will be very interactive…

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April 17, 2013
Art / Blog / Tips

The Barnes Foundation!

If you haven't heard of the Barnes Foundation and you like art, find out about it. If you're anywhere near Philadelphia, go there. Albert Barnes was a successful entrepreneur who lived in and near Philadelphia (and went to my High School) from 1842 to 1951. According to Wikipedia, "in his 30s Barnes began to study and collect art. He acquired his first 20 pieces by commissioning his friend, the artist William Glackens, to buy modern work for him in Paris. After selling his business, he devoted himself to the study and collecting of art." His collection is now worth about $25 billion and a few months ago they opened a new building in Center City, Philadelphia to show it. I visited the other day and…

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March 11, 2013
Video: North Korea’s incredibly talented and rehearsed children performers — and comparison with some Americans
Art / Creativity / NorthKorea

Video: North Korea’s incredibly talented and rehearsed children performers — and comparison with some Americans

Our guides took us to see the children's performance palace (I forget its official title), where they put on display groups of children whose performances were incredible. I wrote and posted images of them before. Who knows what training they've had or what motivates them to get to this level. I think the usual first guess of people who are critical of North Korea is that the government coerces them -- that if they don't perform well someone will harm their parents or something like that. Someone also told me that these children hold very high status, so maybe they have internal motivation. I'll never know if they are pushed, pulled, motivated on their own, something else, some combination, or what. All I can say…

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March 1, 2013
Art / Blog / Creativity

You know, ordinary life is pretty complex stuff

I came across a great quote in a Sundance Grand Jury Prize movie called American Splendor about  comic book writer Harvey Pekar. If you don't know about Harvey Pekar or his comic book series, American Splendor (they named the movie after it), he was a mostly regular guy with a regular job as a file clerk in a hospital in Cleveland. He saw comic books with super-heroes in tights as formulaic and divorced from regular life. He saw that a super-hero saving the planet with super-powers from aliens was less dramatic than an ordinary person having to solve ordinary problems in day-to-day life. The super-hero drama existed only in fiction. Since we don't have super-powers, what can we learn from them? They only entertain us.…

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December 18, 2012
Art / Blog / Creativity / Entrepreneurship / Freedom

Scandal about that refreshing voice on copyright from a hard-core conservative

Do you like music, art, literature, innovation, invention, creativity, entrepreneurship, and things like that? Then you probably liked the document I mentioned a few weeks ago about problems with copyright and how to fix them. I considered it well thought-out and felt it proposed ideas that would improve the country. I was surprised to see it coming from the type of hard-core conservative that supports corporate welfare. Until the group that originally distributed the document disowned it and took it down from their site. (here's the original document) I don't know if you follow copyright or patent policy, but as a writer, inventor, writer and holder of a half-dozen patents, and one who enjoys culture, I find the topic incredibly important. I find the direction…

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December 7, 2012
Art / Blog / Creativity / Freedom

A refreshing voice on copyright from a hard-core conservative

EDIT: Maybe I should have expected this. The Executive Director of the Committee pulled the document from their site, stating We at the RSC take pride in providing informative analysis of major policy issues and pending legislation that accounts for the range of perspectives held by RSC Members and within the conservative community. Yesterday you received a policy brief on copyright law that was published without adequate review within the RSC and failed to meet that standard. Copyright reform would have far-reaching impacts, so it is incredibly important that it be approached with all facts and viewpoint in hand. As the RSC's Executive Director, I apologize and take full responsibility for this oversight. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and a meaningful Thanksgiving holiday ...…

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November 18, 2012
Blog / Creativity / Freedom / Tips

Amazing software to help you think and organize

It's hard to think when your mind is swimming with information. I used to have a lot of trouble starting writing documents any longer than a couple pages. Come to think of it, I'd have similar issues with starting to create many things -- ideas, research and development for my company, resolving problems with friends and colleagues, and so on. Then I found probably the best software I've found to organize my thoughts. Not having to keep track of all my thoughts means freedom -- my favorite kind of freedom: freedom to think without inhibition. I first wrote how useful I find this software -- Freemind -- in over a year and a half. Please read that post for some more description of it. I'll…

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November 9, 2012
Blog / Creativity / Entrepreneurship

Another genius business idea: Iron Designer tv show

I haven't shared one of my crazy genius business ideas for my Another Genius Business Idea Series in a while. I like people to realize entrepreneurship is more accessible than most people think, since so many people tell me they want to start a company but can't think of the ideas. This series doesn't present fully formed ideas, but kernels you could develop into successful companies or projects. The inspiration I have a friend who is an amazing designer. He mainly does web design, but I've also seen him do great work in animation, print, outdoor, and more. Even fine art. MoMA has shown his work. Working on his computer is a wonder to behold. It's like a dance. His hands move faster than you…

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November 5, 2012
My beautiful eight-minute Shanghai commute
Art / Blog

My beautiful eight-minute Shanghai commute

Speaking about commuting, as I did yesterday, I decided to record my Shanghai morning commute. It's normally about eight minutes. I could probably do it in six-and-a-half without running if I had to. So I brought my camera and took pictures every dozen yards or so sometimes looking forward, other times to the side. What can I say? I consider community more important all the time. I live in a beautiful part of the French Concession. I started with the interior of the old three-story building I live in. People call the building old Chinese style in that people use its common spaces for storage, drying racks, cooking spaces, and so on... a different view of privacy than the U.S. I say a few words…

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September 25, 2012
Art / Blog / Creativity / Entrepreneurship / Freedom

Occupy Disney

Back when Occupy Wall Street was making more news and I was writing about it and leadership and on it and responsibility, I had an idea about corporate control of our lives I thought would be interesting. As an entrepreneur and inventor, I felt the control closer to those areas of my life. I've written about how the patent and copyright systems have created monopolies and oligopolies that distorted their effects from promoting invention to stifling it and small business. There's more to things than just one sentence, so I hope you'll forgive my oversimplicity for the sake of brevity. The Occupy Wall Street movement seems to have lost steam, but recent stories about patent fights between Apple and Samsung are turning the stomachs of…

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September 14, 2012
Union Square in Motion named Adobe Design Achievement Award Semifinalist!
Art / Blog / Creativity / Education

Union Square in Motion named Adobe Design Achievement Award Semifinalist!

Union Square in Motion made the prestigious 2012 Adobe Design Achievement Award semifinals! The Adobe Design Achievement Awards celebrate student and faculty achievement reflecting the powerful convergence of technology and the creative arts. The competition - which showcases individual and group projects created with industry-leading Adobe creative software - honors the most talented and promising student graphic designers, photographers, illustrators, animators, digital filmmakers, developers and computer artists from the world's top institutions of higher education. Adobe sent us the certificate below, somehow not getting around to naming the artists -- Jaqi Vigil, Hilal Koyuncu, Rose Maison, Josefina Santos, Umut Ozover, and me; and co-producer with me, Anezka Sebek -- or the name of the project: Union Square in Motion. Anyway, I couldn't be prouder of…

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September 1, 2012
The Leaders in Software and Art Conference, October 16
Art / Blog / Leadership

The Leaders in Software and Art Conference, October 16

Savvy readers will notice the conference mentioned in the title covers two big topics of this blog -- leadership and art. I've twice spoken at Leaders in Software and Art events, helped host another, and attended many others (a video of my work is currently on the LISA site's front page). The organizer, Isabel Draves, has been building the events, consistently assembling artists and technologists to speak, network, and share about art and technology. (Her husband, Scott, creates just about the most amazing computer-based art I've ever seen.) After many successful monthly salons, she's finally making the first big LISA conference, assembling a great set of speakers. I expect this event will be as Isabel plans -- a TED conference for the overlap of technology…

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August 21, 2012

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