The creative process

Companies spend a lot of money in finding the best creative people, strategists, advertisers and brilliant —and expensive— talents. Besides, you can find hundreds of resources dealing with the challenge of thinking different, self-improvement trainings, coaching sessions, brainstorming exercises, breaking ways of working... Actually some tutorials may be really inspiring, and the more material you collect, the more aware you are about the behaviors to maintain and to avoid in order to enhance your inspiration.

But never forget, that a relaxed attitude often helps to have the possibility to produce wonderful combinations and the craziest ideas. This is the reason why people have great ideas in the bathroom. So take your time and experiment, mix experiences from different environment and increase your background, even randomly. You can never tell where that astonishing discovery may hide. Live.

iPad update and family quarrel

My mother sustains that my father —he's 73 years old and owner of his first Internet connected device ever since August: the new iPad— only wanted to "have that red spot disappear" (the notification of firmware update). She also added that she's upset because in the last four months he's been stuck to his iPad the whole day, and that he gets angry at the tablet because he wants to learn more and more but he still commits errors.

My father replies this is not true and that he uses the iPad just from time to time along the day to discover what sickness is associated to his symptoms.
My mother sustains he's lying, and that he's getting day by day more nervous and that at his age he shouldn't spend his whole time in front of a screen.

The New iPad: linking generations

She tells me, in an underhand manner, that he was updating the firmware and had a terrible panic attack when the iPad wouldn't switch on. He got angry and started shuddering and sweating. Then, with the intention to go straight to the first electronics shop to have it fixed, she tried to retain him on the door suggesting to call me (an engineer) looking for a suggestion.

She says, I notice her touched voice on the phone shaking, that he wouldn't because I would laugh at him, and it seems like he whispered her "Go to Hell" leaving the house angry to go to the shop. I have been informed that the shop didn't know how to manage the issue.

My father admits that tomorrow he will have his iPad back in his hands. His son suggested him to bring the iPad to Apple assistance center next to the house.

Extraordinariness is not ordinary

Who has ever been ackowledged for doing something the extraordinary way —a great speech, a performance or a job— surely remembers that occasion with delight. Every once in a while, he enjoys the memory of that sublime moment and possibly wonder what was so determining to have himself covered with glory. And maybe one might wish to find out the recipe to repeat those brilliant actions to ensure success over and over again.


What is extraordinariness like.

It is what goes beyond, the result that nobody ever imagined might be possible. It is not a matter of exceeding expectation. It means astonishing people thanks to the impact of the unexpected and the anxiety of perfection; it is scaring, provocative, surprising and uncomfortable. It makes you jump off the chair.

It is freedom from the chains of common sense, it is the conclusion nobody was waiting for. And maybe when nobody was even expecting a conclusion to come.

Free initiave out of schemas is extraordinariness. In a world that promotes team work, collaborative environments, factotum employees and supportive behaviours, the outcome of the artist is extraordinariness, it is the production of the creative mind doing it all the indipendent way, out there alone.

Tell me what is the extraordinary behaviour like.

Acting extraordinarily is thinking different, acting different and telling a different story. It is being weird, strange, unrelated and breaking that shape that defines yourself. Extraordinary people do not think outside of the box, they live in a world where boxes do not exist.

Walking the path nobody has ever walked yet is extraordinary; not just breaking rules nor shaping them because new times have come.

The extraordinary place is not the place of "well done" nor of "huge contribution": talent, effort, patience and constance are enough for a good job.

Only the brave lives in an extraordinary place and may feel the slight and unbearable vibration of the extraordinariness, because for him, rules haven't been written yet.

On people throwing stuff on the ground

When I walk down the streets in my city, I cannot hide my bewilderment when I see any kind of stuff you might imagine thrown on the ground. And when I say "any kind" I really mean anything. It's not just cigarettes —I have been a smoker, it's not easy to find a place to throw the stub— or a chewing gum wrapper, not the bus ticket and not even an ATM receipt.

Don't think I am too moaner, I finally got used to slalom across rubbish and I am a master at anger management. But I wonder what would you think if you happen to discover that someone "forgot" a dirty diaper in the full city center, a juice tetra-brik or even a full dog poop plastic bag forgotten on the pavement (I appreciate the dog owner to fill the bag, I only miss a last effort, come on). And what if you see people throwing rubbish straight from the window in the middle of the street? Isn't it disgusting?

This story related by an acquaintance of mine triggered this post. He was walking on the pavement and two ladies (presumably a mother with her daughter) were walking in front of him. At a certain point, the woman lost a sheet of paper, so what would the man reasonably think? Possibly that she did not realize it had slipped out of her bag. So once he collected it from the soil, he went straight to the woman.

—Sorry, I guess this is yours, you just have lost it— he said, gently offering her the paper.

—Oh, no. I don't need it, I have thrown it away, thanks anyway— she answered sarcastic.

—I see, so do you want me to throw it for you to the nearest trash-bin?— he replied.

—Well, it really doesn't matter. At least we'll keep street sweepers busy doing something— she finally answered insolent and proud of her attitude before her young daughter.

The world is full of motherfuckers. And yes, I am totally zen.

How to close your speech with impact

Whenever you speak in public, never forget to start with a great introduction to capture your audience from the very beginning. But also, never forget to close your speech in an unforgettable manner. Your conclusions must awake people inner feelings, you must inspire them and provide them with a practical way to introduce your lesson into their own life.

If you don't transmit values and touch people's heart, your preparation and work would seem boring and useless to them. Your conclusion must also deliver the sense that your speech is over, not just by saying "Thanks so much for your attention".

If you deliver the right value, your audience will thank you. So I want to propose you three excerpts taken from the following speeches. They have been greatly useful to me.

"Every problem you face is an opportunity for a creative solution. We each hold the key key to our innovation engine and have creativity waiting to be unleashed. It is up to you to turn the key."
—Tina Seelig video

"Our creativity comes from without, not from within. We are not self-made. We are dependent on one another; and admitting this to ourselves, isn't an embrace of mediocrity and derivativeness, it's a liberation from our misconceptions, and it's an incentive to not expect so much from ourselves and to simply begin."
—Kirby Ferguson video

"There is a mismatch between what science knows and what business does. And here is what science knows. One. Those motivators we think are natural part of the business do work, but only in a surprisingly narrow band of circumstances. Two. Those if-then rewards destroy creativity. Three. The secret to high performance isn't rewards and punishments but that unseen intrinsic drive. The drive to do things for their own sake. The drive to do things cause they matter. And here's the best part. We already know this. The science confirms what we know in our hearts. So if we repair this mismatch between what science knows and what business does, if we bring our motivation, notions of motivations into the 21st century, if we get past this lazy, dangerous idealogy  of carrots and sticks, we can strengthen our businesses, and maybe, maybe, maybe, we can change the world."
—Dan Pink video