Banking Hours?

Do you have certain hours of the day when you are most creative? People always say they get ideas while showering, exercising, or commuting. If these are indicators for creativity, I wonder which countries have the great environment for generating ideas?

I don’t know who takes the longest showers, and does the most exercising but there are numbers available for longest commute. According to Worldmapper The world average commute is an hours and twenty minutes each day and the nation with the greatest commute time is Thailand with over 2 hours. In fact, Southeast Asia, on averaged commutes almost twice as long as workers in North America. Bad for fuel consumption, pollution, and productivity but is it good for generating ideas?

Do you think urban or suburban commuting makes a difference and which is more conducent for generating new ideas: Mindless driving? Or being a passenger in a taxi and letting your mind wander?
Here is an innovation: for Fashion Week, A fleet of 50 taxis in New York City are providing free rides to test a new service. The already equipped in-taxi TV screens will be used for this experiment to allow passengers to view advertisements and make direct purchases of items, like lipstick, by scanning a code with their mobile phones.

Apparently, a supermarket has tested this idea in Seoul allowing passengers to buy groceries (for delivery) directly from billboards in their wifi enabled subways. This could certainly revolutionized and expand the concept of what is a store, if anything printed with a barcode becomes an opportunity to buy and sell. But will it give us more to do during our commute and take away our precision time to daydream?4 Comments

Pick your fortune

Got to the post office to mail some gifts just before the holidays and even a futurist like me was surprised by the short line. Then it made sense when a piercing alarm went off from the overhead speakers. The cashier at the counter said: “oh no! not again!!” “The siren has been sounding constantly all week!” It seemed nobody was authorized or capable of turning it off and I was second in line so I held my place and covered my ears.

When it was my turn, I was barely able to hear the clerk try to sell me insurance for packages going just a few miles – Maybe I need to recheck my crystal ball to see if the packages will be delivered. Signing my credit receipt the pen she handed me didn’t have any ink so I scratched my signature on the thermal paper. With the alarm sounding at the post office, perhaps it was a mistake to buy all those “Forever” stamps, like a lifetime membership in the gym that won’t be around next year. With so much of our mail going by email, what will happen with fewer visits from our friendly mail carriers?

With so much happening in the east, it seems fitting that we shake some Fortune Sticks 求籤 求簽 to see what unfolds. The cylinder is shaken until one stick falls out. Each stick has a number that corresponds to a prediction but these are no fortune cookies and many omens are NOT good.

Like last year’s “9 Things That Could Happen ”(my inbox is so overloaded from your thank yous, that I can’t respond personally) it’s difficult to know what happened yesterday and predicting the future is anyone’s guess. Here are some long range guesses mostly related to arts and entertainment.

1) Our economy is shifting from an information economy to a creative economy. Jobs and growth will be driven by big creative ideas for new products and services in health care and energy and these will put more people to work.

2) Health care will begin to become more automated. Using devices to examine people remotely is only part of the picture. Getting proper treatment is based on the experience and specialized knowledge of practitioners, however much of this is routine. Databases for diagnostics will help identify the unusual and also use our genetic makeup/age and lifestyle to predict our personal risks – leaving experts to the more difficult cases.

3) The future of books, board games, songs, movies and everything under threat from digitization will survive by providing sensory experiences that are superior to their e-counterpart. Books printed on fine paper, games with wooden pieces, concerts and movies that provide a live experience are the future.

4) This year passive television will get a big push from Youtube, Apple, Google and others who want to give you entertainment on your own schedule. A wider assortment of on-demand entertainment will continue to fracture the audiences providing fewer resources for each program causing overall quality to be reduced and we will have to search a million channels to find Seinfeld and Cheers.

5) Calls for transparency in government and business is opening those closed door sessions and clearing those smoke filled rooms. With social media and blogs giving anonymous freedom of speech a greater reach, some calls for transparency, will lift the veils calling disclosure of real identifies and affiliations.

6) Video games are reaching across demographics and will become more popular than movies and television. As corporate training budgets are reduced while, more specialized skills are required at work, expect to find gaming technologies to be used to teach through simulations for everything from accountants to welders.

7) More regulations in the finance sector will continue to be seen as expensive overhead without adding security, and finance will continue to flow to less regulated and lower cost centers.

Those with the greatest need have the greatest incentive to innovate. Asia with its choking pollution will lead the way with green energy technology.

9) Less frequent mail delivery will put weekly magazines printed on paper on the endangered species list. Decline of the post office will be the biggest boon to e-readers.

Did you get the packages? Do you hear an alarms sounding? What happened to number 8? What do you think will happen next? 13 Comments

Isn’t art also about getting ideas to synchronize? Through art we can express ideas that often cannot be said with words. When we couple our creative efforts with ideas we can clarify and amply essential messages. Whether visual arts, music or pottery, when our creations are synced with messages, then our ideas can carry beyond the borders of a canvas or the walls of a concert hall, and they can carry more water than any pot. Of course art can stand alone, but when coupled with essential ideas that must be spread, then art becomes a media that adds clarity and increase a messages impact.

I had the honor of producing the “Freedom Kite” painting that is being used by the Pan American Health Organization
to promote and protect health and human rights for Human Rights Day today and beyond.

In the experience I had the opportunity to learn about the essential work being done so passionately by the people at PAHO and by other world leaders who actively use their creativity to protect and promote human rights in their daily job, making the world a better place for all of us. The challenge for all of us is to help people like these by using our strength and our abilities.

In my speech at PAHO, I said: “when we do something we love we often succeed, but we also need the freedom to be ourselves and the freedom to be ourselves is a basic human right.” Creating is all about being yourself too. We are influenced by others but our greatness does not come from copying or fitting in but by being ourselves. What do you think? 12 Comments

"Can" you make it across (click to enlarge)

If you’ve been to Hong Kong, have you noticed the flashing man on the WALK signs look uncharacteristically overweight? Occasionally in NYC, you can see WALK and DON’T WALK lighted simultaneously, but have you ever seen a WALK sign made entirely out of cans of food.

Massive structures are built using cans of food as part of a design competition with the winners displayed at the World Financial Center in Manhattan. The event is sponsored by Canstruction which uses cans of food as a catalyst for change. When the structures are dismantled after November 21st, the food is donated to City Harvest,who uses the cans to feed hungry people.

While most structures are incredible, pointing to one that seemed lesser, I friend surprised me by saying , “if I could do that, It’s not very good.” Conversely and thinking back many years when I first started painting,

Why so angry? (click to enlarge)

I would go to group art exhibitions and feel challenged by the best watercolors yet encouraged by the bottom 10 percent. I would say “I could do that!”

The same sentence, “I could do that” can evoke opposite responses between people. Do you compare your abilities with professional athletes while watching a football game and say, if I could catch that ball, the player must not be very good? Why is our creativity so difficult to accept? Perhaps we could recast our self image on creativity, especially if we see proof that we can do something other creative people are doing.

Which one is your favorite? See more photos of the constructions

Tuna Fish Laces

Tree and roots

Sea Horse

Upside down house - like many morgages

Ticantic

Freighter

Brooklyn Bridge

Fishing for ideas? (Nha Trang, Vietnam

In the ancient watertown of Hongcun, the Chinese thought of everything – including private indoor fishing holes in the homes along the canal. Just open the gate, add some bait and wait. After the fish swam in for brunch the ancient non-mariners closed the exit.

Solving problems with creative solutions is like setting fish traps. Set the bait by defining the problem. Then walk away, and spend some time doing something else like driving, watching a movie, taking a nap, jogging around the block, writing your blog and setting more traps. Keep setting traps by posing more questions. This puts your subconscious to work so you don’t have to. Through heightened awareness, solutions that you never would have noticed start to swim in and all you have to do is catch them.

Have you found that when you set a trap, answers fall into your lap?

Hongcun aquarium

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Time to celebrate?

Failures cost us virtually nothing when we take photos with our digital cameras, yet failures cost us plenty when our banks make bad loans. Our political leaders fail us when the only agreement they reach is raising our debt ceiling allowing themselves to continue spending.

We hear that our creative spirit can save us all and according to conventional wisdom, to innovate we need to take fearless risks and be open to: “fail now,” “fail today,” “fail this afternoon,” ”fail tomorrow,” “fail often.” A recent Wall Street Journal headline reads
“Better Ideas Through Failure: Companies Reward Employee Mistakes to Spur Innovation, Get Back Their Edge.”

I wonder if even George Eastman would have thought failure has become overexposed. Are we producing an entrepreneurial culture or a culture of failure? Are we getting too comfortable with failure?

Of course we don’t expect to paint a masterpiece the first time we walk across a stage, and we shouldn’t be afraid of trial and error. Are we justifying and celebrating too many of our errors as we say: “At least I got the interview,” “it was an honor to be nominated,” “what a great experience,” “I met so many interesting people,” or “we designed a great product that was ahead of its time.” In our winner take all society; ask Al Gore, barnesandnoble.com or yahoo what second place is like. Remember that we can learn from our successes too!

“Winning isn’t everything. The will to win is the only thing.” described Vince Lombardi in an earlier era. In our acceptance of some inevitable failures, we can’t lose the will to win! Winning is the only option when the game is on, and only after the whistle blows can we allow for acceptance of failure and lessons learned. If you go into a supermarket expecting that you won’t find Key Limes, you probably won’t. When we expect failure, we give up too soon.

Your secret plan

1. Start without concern about failing.
2. Play to win! And failure is not an option!
3. Evaluate your wins or losses for learned lessons.

What was your biggest mistake that you used to make a towering success? Or what is your biggest success and what did you learn?
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Suddenly, several started a loud commotion and in the confusion, one leaped down from her hiding place in the trees and grabbed an unguarded gin and tonic, chugged the drink, slammed the cup down, and staggered

No ice?

back into the trees. Funny to watch since it wasn’t my lost beverage, I noticed they collaborated using a unique common language which sounded to me like a mix of Thai and Chimpanzee.

Do you use a common language with those you collaborate with? Or do you feel like you’re talking on a banana phone with nobody on the other end?
With Twitter, facebook, linkedin, blogs, email, sms, voicemail, fax, and ancient practice of talking in person, we all have preferred modes of communication and each mode has its own characteristics.

Are your messages getting through or do you hear: “I don’t use LinkedIn,” ”I never check voicemail,” or “What’s Klout?“ The first step for us to reach our audience in order to collaborate is to use a common mode of communication, but with so many choices our preferred mode seems different for all of us.
Have you experienced miscommunications from using mismatched technology? Do you have a favorite mode of communications? And what brand of banana phone do you answer ?
Take a moment and count to three before responding – one chimpanzee – two chimpanzees – three chimpanzees – Please tell me your favorite monkey story by commenting, twitter, emails…
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River runs pink

What risks do you assume when you’re going against the norms? How does it make you feel?

During a short visit to Portland, Oregon last weekend, I decided to defy the time zone difference and stay on Eastern Standard Time by following Ben Franklin’s advice: “early to bed, early to rise.”  Staying downtown, I went for a quiet run along the river each morning to mentally prepare for my meetings.  Because of the light drizzle early Sunday, I expected deserted streets and was surprised to find police activity and thousands of people about.

My route happened to take me toward the starting line of the RACE FOR THE CURE. This yearly event has special meaning for many, what does it mean to you?  Hoards of mostly women wearing pink were walking in the same direction I was jogging. Although it could have been my imagination, I felt their approval and solidarity as I ran in the direction

Race For The Cure

of the registration booths; after all, I do support the cause.    My route took me under their pink balloon arch as I turned left along the river. At that moment I realized turning left wasn’t perceived to be right, and  I was running into the wind.

It could have been my imagination again, but now I felt hundreds of passing women’s disapproval as I ran in the opposite direction of the startling line without a pink number attached to my clothing. Have you ever had an experience like this of going against the norm?

Often when we are creatively inspired and making something new we are headed into the wind. This does not mean we are against the crowd but instead motivated by individual ideals. Courage to be different comes through believing in yourself.  What do you think?

Back to School

In most of the world, when the water starts to feel warmer than the air, it’s a cue to the end of summer and children start to think about going back to school.  For many adults, that chronic “back to school” feeling we had in our stomach was cured the instant we received our diploma. But maybe that sickly feeling was a good thing. Maybe it signaled impeding changes and new challenges. Maybe it’s time to get that sickly feeling back!

Here’s a hint: the correct answer is C) Lifelong learning!  The questions are how do we remain competitive? How do we stay creative? How do we possibly use our mobile phones?

“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education,” described Mark Twain.  For most of us, our formal education was a one-way street where we had few choices and our learning was directed by our teachers.  “I began my education at a very early age – in fact, right after I left college,” described Winston Churchill.  As adults we can choose our direction by strolling down the many avenues for self-directed learning. We can learn to sail, play golf, edit a move, create pottery, or improve our public speaking through conferences, books, seminars, speaker series or the internet.  You can watch college courses on DVD, listen to podcasts during your commute, or take a continuing education course.  With such necessity to stay in the know – with so many choices of what to learn and so many ways to learn, we have no excuse, except maybe the dog ate my homework… again.

To keep our jobs, to remain creative, and to accurately set the time and date on our phones we must continually update our skills and knowledge.

What do you need to learn to do better work, make better decisions, and communicate better with those around you?  What new skills or subjects will you learn in September? Or what is your favorite excuse? 14 Comments

on the rocks

Even though Seinfeld episodes are supposedly about nothing, so much happens in each show – likewise, do you ever have a supposedly lazy day that is filled with inspirations? Looking back, some of my favorite paintings were inspired from events that happened unexpectedly on a single day. A rainy day in London and a foggy day in Huangshan China come to mind.

Magical days are conjured  when we step off our regular path. Last week, I made some changes in longitude which brought me to San Francisco. Within 24 hours, I watched the waves break on the Pacific, hiked Mount Tamalpais, strolled through the ancient Muir Woods, had lunch on the dock in Marin, and drove through wine country in a convertible with one of my oldest friends. I only had my toy camera but it was sufficient to make photos that will bring back my memories.

“Fresh beauty opens one’s eyes wherever it is really seen, but the very abundance and completeness of the common beauty that besets our steps prevents its being absorbed and appreciated. It is a good thing, therefore, to make short excursions now and then to the bottom of the sea among dulse and coral, or up among the clouds on mountain-tops, or in balloons, or even to creep like worms into dark holes and caverns underground, not only to learn something of what is going on in those out-of-the-way places, but to see better what the sun sees on our return to common every-day beauty.”  Described the naturalist John Muir In the Sierra Foot-Hills (1894)

Experiencing natural beauty inspired me to finally have an answer if Barbara Walters asks “If you were a tree, what kind would you be?” Of course the answer is a giant redwood. These are the tallest trees and frequently live 600 to 2,000 years  even though they don’t look a day over 200. What kind of tree would you be? Can you recall a single day that  filled  you with inspiration?

Coincidentally, within a bowl of smooth metal shaped stones on the counter of a Sonoma antique shop, I noticed one with Chinese characters so I picked it up turned it over to read the word “creativity.” John Muir said “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe. “ Do you think this could be true? 14 Comments