Few things will change your trajectory in life or business as much as learning to make effective decisions. Yet no one really teaches us what it means to make consistently high-quality decisions.
I started working at an intelligence agency on August 28, 2001. Two weeks later, the world would never be the same. 1
My computer science degree lost its value after a few promotions. I came from a world of 1s and 0s, not people, families, and interpersonal dynamics.
Just out of school, I found that my decisions affected not only my employees but their families. Not only my country but other countries. However, there was one small problem. I had no idea how to make smart decisions. I had no idea how to reduce errors. I only knew I had an obligation to make the best decisions I could. But where do you start?
I believe almost all first-time founders burn out their first employees as they learn how to manage groups of people. If this advice helps avoid a few cases, it’s worth writing it down.
I wrote this article for managers of small teams/startups. I’d assume that most might not apply to management in larger enterprises. Btw here are my recommendations on joining hypergrowth companies in general.
Employees want to work from home. Their bosses, however, can’t wait to get back to the office. Knowledge workers think being remote makes their jobs better, while managers worry the arrangement could cause the quality of work to suffer. But in scapegoating remote work, companies may be disguising the real scourge of creativity right now: too much work.
I want to spend an essay talking about tacit knowledge, and why I think it is the most interesting topic in the domain of skill acquisition. If you are a longtime Commonplace reader, you’ll likely have come across this idea before, because I’ve written about it numerous times in the past. But I think it’s still good idea to dedicate a whole piece to the topic.
Tacit knowledge is knowledge that cannot be captured through words alone.
Think about riding a bicycle. Riding a bicycle is impossible to teach through descriptions. Sure, you can try to explain what it is you’re doing when you’re cycling, but this isn’t going to be of much help when you’re teaching a kid and they fall into the drain while you’re telling them to “BALANCE! JUST IMAGINE YOU ARE ON A TIGHTROPE AND BALANCE!”.
While there are many resources that are finite, some believe there is a finite number of ideas. But, in reality, this theory of idea scarcity is a myth. When an idea creates the spark that leads to something new being created, it takes the place of something old and the creative cycle starts again with a new idea. The only way to run out of ideas is to stop creating.
Ideas are the most valuable thing in existence. Some say ideas are worth more than money, land, or even oil and coal because they can create something new from nothing! Ideas give life and meaning where there was none before the idea came along.
The creative process can be long and difficult, but it’s always rewarding. But there are roadblocks that can impede the creative cycle.
Creativity is important regardless of which career you are in today. We all have to come up with creative and applicable solutions to the problems we face on a daily basis. In this article, we learn that drawing, not word, is sometimes the best way of releasing our innate creativity and problem solving skills. — Douglas
What’s the problem with meetings? Yes, many lack purpose and focus–and most go on too long. But there’s another underlying problem: Everybody talks too much.
Human beings simply aren’t wired to sit around all day in a closed room communicating verbally. Sure, way back when we’d gather around the camp fire at night but that was after a vigorous day chasing woolly mammoths or gathering nuts and berries.
So my idea for transforming meetings is very simple: give participants a chance to draw. Before you dismiss this approach, let me explain
Your career doesn’t — and shouldn’t — stand apart from other aspects of your life. Creativity in one area always helps to expand creativity in all area of your life. This article provides 15 great ideas for spurring your creativity in general so it can better be applied to specific aspects of your career — Douglas
We might not have time for big creative projects. But we can usually spare a few minutes per day or per week for a tiny task. Of course, the key is to find something that you enjoy, something that rejuvenates you and inspires you, something you can’t wait to do.
Because connecting to our creativity is a wonderful, important way to care for ourselves.
Last week, in this piece, I shared 15 such tiny projects from the beautiful book Creativity Takes Courage: Dare to Think Differently by Irene Smit and Astrid van der Hulst. Below are 15 more ideas, which I came up with.
It’s pretty safe to say, that when you finally come up with your million-dollar idea, nobody is going to understand it at first. They many not laugh in your face outright, but they’ll probably scratch their heads, at least.
Like I wrote in my first book, Ignore Everybody, great ideas have lonely childhoods. Great ideas also change the power balance in relationships, which is the main reason why people initially resist them. People like the status quo, thank you very much.
And then maybe, just maybe, your million-idea isn’t worth a million dollars. Maybe all it’s worth is years of heartbreak, stress and zero money on your end. What Joseph Campbell describes as the golden chalice turning to ashes, the moment the hero steps out of the dark forest. It happens all the time.
But you press on regardless. Why? Because you have no choice. Because win or lose, you really don’t have a better reason for being alive. That to try for a safer, easier route was not what God had planned for you. And nobody wants to try to prove God wrong.
Now if you can only get those naysayer voices inside your head to shut up…
A recent poll of creatives found that 37% experience the greatest dip in their creativity on Saturday. But not you, right? You’re going to use today to start, continue or shore up that creative project.
Even if that’s not the case, or if you’ve lately found yourself in a creative lull, courtesy of our friends at lifehack.org, here are 30 inspiring and motivational tips to kickstart your creativity.
Enjoy!
Surround yourself with creative people.Hang out with writers, musicians, poets and artists. Often, just being in a creative environment will inspire you and refresh your creative mind.
Start somewhere.If you create a load of crap for a few pages, whether it’s creative writing in Word or sheet music, the brain loosens up and it’s easier to break through the barrier and come up with ideas.
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