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The Journey of The Creative Brain
The document presents a metaphorical narrative about the creative brain's struggle in a restrictive work environment, dubbed 'cubicalia,' and the journey to liberate its creativity. It emphasizes the importance of embracing relaxation, play, and collaboration to enhance creative output, advocating for practices that foster a more balanced and innovative mindset. Ultimately, it suggests that by adopting these methods, individuals can transform both their creative processes and workplace productivity.
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The Journey of The Creative Brain
- 1. The Journey ofthe Creative Brain Denise R. Jacobs From the Front / Bologna, Italy / September 2012
- 2. Tweeting tall tales Iam: @denisejacobs We’re at: #ftf @fromthefront I’m telling a story about a: #creativebrain
- 3. I have aquestion for you… How many of us are working at odds with our primary tool for creating and producing?
- 4. No, I amnot talking about your gadgets, computer or the groovy apps contained therein…
- 5. I’m talking aboutyour brain.
- 6. Once upon atime… upon a time..
- 7. …there was abrain, who was There was a brain…
- 8.
- 9.
- 10. Welcome to Cubicalia Anotherday sitting chained to its desk in Cubicalia….
- 11. (The BossMan) “Um, yeah.You’re lagging behind, bigtime. I need you to come up with something brilliant and innovative – and for, like, today….”
- 12. the pressure! Pushed toits limits with no respite, little to no information is getting in, and certainly nothing but steam is coming out.
- 13. A wise womanonce said: “Make awesomeness. Do good.” - Leslie Jensen-Inman, MAP4 Awesomeness
- 14.
- 15. “I can showyou what you are capable of. Check your chains.”
- 16. (empty desk) The nexttime the BossMan passed the Brain’s desk to bark out more orders, the Brain is nowhere to be found.
- 17.
- 18. Fleeing Cubicalia Fleeing thesquat, gray, windowless buildings of Cubicalia, the Brain didn’t notice the obstruction in its path.
- 19. Meet the RaynMann Ittripped, and tumbling to the ground, the Brain realized that it is a man in a trench coat, with the head of an umbrella.
- 20. He Hands hisbusiness card “Allow me introduce myself: I’m RaynMann: Holistic Cerebralist and Purveyor of Actualization – at your service.”
- 21. Labyrinth at theirfeet …For the first time, the Brain noticed that they were standing at the entrance of an enormous green and gray labyrinth on the ground.
- 22. Starting along thepath… As they took their first steps, the RaynMann coughed…
- 23. Cough, Rumble, Flash! Witha 3-pronged flash of light and a “whoosh!” they whisked off to their first destination.
- 24.
- 25. Moving too Fast… …It was overwhelmed by the bright flashing signs, the noise, and the constant feeling of things whipping past him.
- 26. “Ouf!” A womenappeared out of thin air, falling to the ground with a thud just behind the Brain’s outstretched arm.
- 27. I’m looking formy brain… “My brain always seems to somewhere just ahead of me, and my soul always seems be lagging behind…”
- 28. She Smiles… “She dropsthe phone to her side and gazes off wistfully across the surrounding scene of blurred shapes and colors of people rushing about …
- 29. Beta v. alpha “Thatpoor woman – in fact all the people of this land as far I can tell – are stuck in the beta brainwave state.”
- 30. “They could usewith a more of what you recommended: slowing down. When you relax, the brain actually works better and you can create more…”
- 31. Close your eyes… “Canyou get into alpha on purpose?” “Absolutely. Close your eyes…”
- 32. But relax! “…No, likethat – stop scowling and relax.”
- 33. The Alpha Brainwavestate “Being in alpha also helps your brain hemispheres work in a balanced synchronized manner, with electrical impulses jumping easily back and forth between them…”
- 34. The Left hemisphere “Theleft hemisphere is made of neatly stacked vertical columns, much like pancakes, which allows the clear differentiation of separate mental functions, but less integration of those functions.”
- 35. The right hemisphere “Creativitycomes from giving the right brain a chance to leverage the axons in the brain (aka “white matter”) to access all of the information stored in other places of the brain and putting it all together in a new way.”
- 36. The satori moment “Expandingthose in-between moments is often the source of ideas.”
- 37. A Wise manonce said: “Genius is the offspring of the in-between.” - Jonathan Fields
- 38. Communication Addiction “Indeed. She’ssuffering from a very pronounced case of communication addiction…”
- 39. Lo-fi time “The anecdote?Lo-fi time: time away from technology.”
- 40. A wise manonce said: “Don’t force creativity. Allow it to come to you.” - Erik Ford, To Sketch or Not to Sketch
- 41.
- 42. It looked likean assembly line… They landed in a huge room of tables with countless numbers of people sitting at them, doing rote actions over and over again.
- 43. Man with noname A man who appeared sad and lost, with a round belly wearing a saffron-colored robe walked amongst the workers looking like he planned to interject some useful information…
- 44. The Land ofParavel “I hear that there is a land called Paravel where the people there work with their best friends, using their complimentary talents and skills to create amazing things…”
- 45. The importance ofplay “That land has shown that friendship can be a shortcut to productive play – that creation amongst a group of people happens in a secure, relaxed, and encouraging environment.”
- 46. A wise manonce said: “When you are playful, you are activating the right side of your brain. The logical brain is a limited brain. The right side is unlimited. You can (do and ) be anything you want.” - Madan Kataria, The Laughter Guru
- 47. Disposable prototypes “…start withdisposable prototypes so that they can think with their hands and work out the problems of the item as they make it…”
- 48. Soon the roomwas abuzz People shimmied, mash-potatoed, cabbage- patched and thriller-danced through the aisles…
- 49. Infectious laughter But thelaughter and joy was highly infectious, and he started to laugh himself. In a short time, he was laughing uncontrollably…
- 50. Aha moment “…it's duringthe let-go period that that gamma spike is most likely to arise, along with that "aha!" moment.”
- 51. A wise womanonce said: “Bursts of creativity and insight are just like bursts of laughter: surprising and delightful.” - Denise Jacobs, The Journey of the Creative Brain
- 52.
- 53. An epiphany The momentthe Brain stepped foot in the center of the labyrinth, it realized why it had suffered so much in Cubicalia…
- 54. There is analternative Indeed, there is a road less traveled; an alternative way of being that the Brain had only hoped for.
- 55. Embrace paradox In orderto do so, however, it has to embrace paradox.
- 56. A wise manonce said: “Creativity is the merging of two incongruent ideas: creativity is about embracing paradox.” - Frank Chimero, Build Conference Nov. 2010, The Shape of Design
- 57. RaynMann was nolonger at its side… It turned back to see the RaynMann, still in the center of the labyrinth, starting to fade away behind a wall of light drizzle.
- 58.
- 59. return to cubicalia Uponits return to Cubicalia, the Brain, now feeling fairly fearless, went directly to see The BossMan.
- 60. I have justone thing to say: "BossMan, talk to the hand!"
- 61. Practices that encouragealpha It instilled practices that encourage alpha, like deliberate unstructured time for walking, changing context, daydreaming…
- 62. Incorporate play Playful collabation,improvisation and plussing…
- 63. Seriousness sucks Taking oneselfseriously is verboten – everyone must practice unselfconscious creation…
- 64. Seek problems tosolve The brain was on a roll, and eventually added practices for leveraging eustress by encouraging people pursue problems to solve…
- 65. Transforming diffused focus… Turningdistraction and inefficient work …
- 66. To creatively productivefocus …into focused creative productivity and flow states!
- 67.
- 68. Changes from BettahBalancia The balanced and now wildly productive creative brains of Bettah Balancia caused the land to become prosperous and abundant beyond measure…
- 69. Not only that,but… …and were an endless fount of inspiring products and services that were not only innovative, but that also contributed to the greater good.
- 70. Questions abounded Word traveledswiftly to the other lands, and soon, many were clamoring to know the secret of the land of Bettah Balancia: “How…?!”
- 71.
- 73. The End (Or isit just the beginning?)
- 74. (My) Articles forFurther reading netmagazine.com/features/ four-secrets-enhancing-creative- productivity alistapart.com/articles/ reigniting-your-creative-spark/ alistapart.com/articles/ banishing-your-inner-critic/
- 75. Shameless Self-Promotion #1 SmashingBook #3: Redesigning the Web Smashing Book #3 1/3: The Extension My chapter is “The Missing Element of Redesign: Story” SmashingBook.com
- 76. Shameless Self-Promotion #2 TheCSS Detective Guide CSSDetectiveGuide.com twitter.com/cssdetective
- 77. Shameless Self-Promotion #3 InterActWith Web Standards: A Holistic Approach to Web Design InterActWithWebStandards.com twitter.com/waspinteract
- 78. Original cover art AmericoSalas Morales AmericoMorales.net (sister) twitter.com/nivims
- 79. This presentation isDedicated to My Grandmother, Robbie Mae Lowe (aka “The Bug”) My Grandfather, William James Lowe, Jr. (aka “Lowe”)
- 80. I tell stories.I design. I teach. And I evangelize creativity. DeniseJacobs.com [email protected] twitter.com/denisejacobs
- 81. Thank You! Now it’sreally The End!