THE CREATIVE SELF

"The creative adult is the child who survived."

Ursula K. Le Guin

20th/21st century American author

Notice she does not distinguish between types of creativity.

We are all potentially creative in things far beyond what is generally considered art.

We have only to foster that part of us, at the very least, not stifle it.

I CAN'T WAIT TO SHOW YOU!

"The mind conceives with pain, but it brings forth with delight."

Joseph Joubert

18th century French moralist

We enjoy sharing what we worked hard to create.

What does that say about what is easy to do?

THE PHILOSOPHY OF BUSINESS

"Any genuine philosophy leads to action and from action back again to wonder, to the enduring fact of mystery."

Henry Miller 

20th century American author

Which well sums up the creative thinking process in business.

Of course we're too "buttoned down" to call it philosophy.

Much better to use terms such as "strategic vision".

Call it what you will it is the conception of something new (genuine philosophy) that leads to a plan (action), which in turn becomes something great (wonder).

"Enduring fact of mystery? Beats me.

Creative Structure

"There ain't no rules around here, we're trying to accomplish something."

Thomas Alva Edison

Late 19th/early 20th century American inventor

Free thinkers love quotes such as this coming from people noted for their successes.

However even Mr. Edison would not suggest this for everything, all times.

The trick is to adapt structure (rules) in which creativity can flourish.

No small task.

Because You Should, Not Because You Have

"A tradition without intelligence is not worth having."

T. S. Elliott

20th century English American poet

I think we can safely substitute "thought" for "intelligence", leading us to the primary message.

If you do things mostly or completely because that's the way you've always done them, why?

Imagine There's No Imagination

"Imagination is the eye of the soul."

Joseph Joubert

18th century French moralist

If you don't consider yourself to be particularly imaginative, hire some people who are.

Imagine That!

"To know is nothing at all; to imagine is everything."

Albert Einstein

20th century German-Swiss-US scientist

Well, I do think knowing counts for something, but less so when it gets in the way of imagination.

How's your balance between knowing and imagining?

Imagine Tomorrow

"The quality of the imagination is to flow and not to freeze."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

19th century American poet/essayist

and namesake of my elementary school

Everything is business comes from imagination.

Without it you will not succeed but if you do you will ultimately fail if you do not continually reinvent what and how you do what you do.

While some of the "wisdom" contained within these quotes is debatable, this is not.

Free To . . . ?

"Surely there is grandeur in knowing that in the realm of thought, at least you are without a chain; that you have the right to explore all heights and depths; that there are no walls or fences, nor prohibited places, nor sacred corners in all the vast expanse of thought."

Robert Green Ingersoll

19th century American politician

True, but do you?

Not Your Problem?

"The mind of man is like a clock that is always running down, and requires to be constantly wound up."

William Hazlitt

Early 19th century British essayist

The job you need done may be repetitious but at some point the person doing it will be less effective because it is, unless you do something to help them.

What, if anything, would that be?

Is Everything Old, New Again?

"All cases are unique and very similar to others."

T.S. Eliot

20th century American-English poet, playwright

Look for completely new ideas.

Create new variants from that which already exists.

Which works best for you?

Seeing What Does Not Exist

"When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge."

Albert Einstein

20th century German-Swiss-US scientist

"Absorbing positive knowledge" implies learning that which already exists, something any number of people could do.

But it is the ability to fantasize constructively that sets a few apart from most.

Almost everything we do as children is original creation, only to fall away the older we get.

How sad.

That's Not The Way We Do Things Around Here

"Woe to that nation whose literature is cut short by the intrusion of force."

Alexander Solzhenitsyn

20th century Russian author/political activist

What about in business?

What happens when thought contrary to whatever is considered "right" is suppressed?

Is That It?

"Only the most acute and active animals are capable of boredom."

Friedrich Nietzsche

19th century German philosopher

While you want to employ thinking, active individuals, you must do all you can to continually challenge them because if you don't they won't stay with you for long.

Unique Is What You Seek

"Most people grow old within a small circles of ideas, which they have not discovered for themselves."

Marquis de Vauvenargues

18th century French moralist/writer

And by "discovered" he only means finding the idea not inventing the original thought behind it.

We all could and should do so much more original thinking.

Try this.  Make a list of the things you've done in your business life that are truly unique to you.

Don't worry if the list is not all that long; that is what has been, which is not necessarily what will be.

Begin now to make the list longer.

Not What Is, What Could Be!

"A sneer is the weapon of the weak."

James Russell Lowell
19th century American writer/editor

Most anyone can see what is wrong or missing with an idea, product, plan, program, etc.

In other words, what isn't.

But value comes from those who also see what is or could be, and then work to make that happen.

Management: Which Side Are You On?

"A great scholar is seldom a great philosopher."

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
Early 19th century German writer

To succeed in business, you need both practical and visionary leadership, which can be difficult to find in the same person.

Do you have both?

Hiring the Unconventional

"We are half ruined by conformity; but we should be wholly ruined without it."

Charles Dudley Warner
19th century essayist/novelist

Would you have hired Santa to head up distribution?

Repetition: The Need for Management Renewal

"When one begins to live by habit and by quotation, one has begun to stop living."

James Baldwin
American Author/Playwright

I believe the point is: learn from the past but try not to perpetuate it. In business, keep what has worked, dispose of what no longer does.

As far as the quotation part goes . . .

The Essence of Leading

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, become more, you are a leader."

John Quincy Adams

Notice nothing in that about giving orders, setting priorities that others will follow, being in charge.

Everything refers to doing something that causes others to do positive things ("inspire", "dream", "learn", "become".)

My new and favorite definition of a leader.