On the topic of opportunities and answers

Long time ago, I had written the following headline: "See the possibilities in a landscape of no answers". I had this headline lying around for ages, because I did not really know what to do with it. But it is so obviously right. Because that is the way I feel: actually, I am most at ease in the situations where there are no obvious answers, where I have to look into things myself. And that is the case in many situations: if we do not know precisely what to do, it opens for creative thinking and quaint solutions.
For the same reason, it is worth saying: even if there might be an obvious answer for a question, it might actually in some situations be beneficial to try to disregard that answer and start looking into things on our own. Maybe something new is found along the way. And that even if the final conclusion is the answer that was disregarded in the first place.
(Translated from Noget om at se mulighederne, når man mangler svar, originally published November 21, 2015)

The Tribe

Recently, it dawned on me that in my digital universe, something best described as synergy has suddenly emerged; a synergy between an old idea that I have been toying with for years and a phenomenon that is just on the brink of emerging.
After a long time, I started looking into what Twitter basically is and what can be used to, and I have become aware that on Twitter, there's a potential to find some interesting people. People, whose creativity one could appeal to and ask them to come up with their wild thoughts. People, who would be able to inspire each other with their posts and to develop each other's wild ideas with constructive comments.
I am well aware that maybe one out of 100 Twitter followers might be interested in participating in such a project. Might be ready to enter into such a tribal community, to stay in the jargon that surrounds the medium. But it is also not a project that will initially need dozens of people - so actually, it may just work. Once the critical mass is reached - and initially, it just needs to be a couple of people or so doing ping-pong with each other's ideas - it is "just" to set up a forum for communication and get going - and eventually, the snowball effect might just do the trick.
(Translated from Stammen, eller: The Invitationals, part 6, originally published October 12, 2017)

Can I show you my hallucination?

At some point I read a quote - by some people attributed to Thomas Edison, while other people doubt it - and I admit, it might be stated in a fashion more contemporary than what Edison might have done it.
But still, it is a good quote, so I want to share it anyway:

Vision without execution is hallucination

Actually Edison - or whoever is responsible - has a point. All our grandiose ideas are worth nothing, if they are not realised. But still, I do not think that we should abandon all hope, just because we cannot execute our visions on our own.
That's where our networks become handy - and where we should be demanding towards ourselves. Because: if I have a vision so exceptional that I realise that I will never ever execute it myself, then I cannot help but think that I have a responsibility to consider, whether I know anyone present it to - even if to me, it is a hallucination, it might be that they know how to execute it. The quote does not demand that all parts of the process must be carried out by the same individual.
And every time we doubt whether our visions can be executed, we can consider another quote (which is generally agreed to be by William Blake):

What is now proved was once only imagined.

(Translated from Må jeg vise dig min hallucination?, originally published December 5th, 2011)

Silence without loneliness

At some point, I wrote a couple of posts about the choreographer Twyla Tharp and her book "The Creative Habit" - a book that I recently found from my heaps of books in search of the title of a headline.
The headline is about one of Tharp's exercises in the book: "Build up your tolerance for solitude" - to build an ability of tolerance towards being alone. You simply have to sit alone in a room and let your mind fly. Initially for one minute; later on you can expand to ten minutes after which you can begin to focus on whether an idea or goal is formed in your thoughts - otherwise you have to icrease the time used. The exercise is called "ciúnas gan uaigneas" - it is Gaelic for "silence without loneliness" - without loneliness, because the idea you breed will be your companion. As Tharp states, this is the exact opposite of meditation - you should not try to empty your mind, on the contrary, you should attempt to lure thoughts from the subconscious in order to befriend them and stay with them.
I have never really been able to understand the concept of meditation - so I was very happy when I found ciúnas gan uaigneas. I should set aside more time for this purpose...
(Translated from Stilhed uden ensomhed, originally published January 16, 2013)

On the topic of signs

Before the summer holidays, I had the pleasure of visiting the ARoS Museum of Modern Art in Aarhus, Denmark - and I have to admit that I share the museum's idea that it is not only a museum but also a mental fitness center. Just as, it is fair to say, many other excellent museums.
One of the biggest experiences I got was on the floor hosting the exhibition "No Man's An Island - The Satanic Verses", which presents works from the museum collections. And what made me particularly impressed was the Finnish artist Jani Leinonen's work, Beggars' Signs, which consists of framed signs, Leinonen has purchased from panhandlers in different cities.
I know that the museum in the accompanying text tells me that Leinonen hereby exposes "the world of art as a massive economic circuit" in a world, "where everything can be acquired for money: apparently even suffering people's cries for help."
Now I do not know how Leinonen has made his purchases - if I had been in his place, I would (because he could hardly bring all these people in a situation where they would be permanently without the need to beg) primarily have given a substantial payment for my contributors and have made sure that they would immediately have been able to produce a new sign. Thus I would just have been one of many who helped people who had fallen through the security net towards the bottom of society.
But I was most affected by a specific one of the signs displayed:

Excerpt from Jani Leinonen: Beggars’ Signs (2009-2015) ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum

Skiltet var angiveligt indkøbt i Los Angeles og bar teksten:

PLeaSe HeLP
Need Money For clothes And Haircut to Look For A Job.
Am willing to work Hard.
Ready to change My Life.
Need HeLP to stART
Thank you!

Now, I'm not rich enough to be able to afford a profound change in the lives of another human being - but this sign immediately gives me greater desire to make a difference to the one who made the sign. Not giving money - but by taking them out and organizing a haircut and some clothes and by checking if I had someone in my network that would be able to use that person in a job. And then, keep in touch and find out how things went. It is far from certain that the beggar would get a bright and happy life out of it - but the sign shows a willingness that gives the viewer a hope that a penny spent here will make a greater difference than a penny spent on one of the other panhandlers.
And as a final point: I do not agree with the accompanying text that "by purchasing material instead of producing it, Leinonen undermines the idea of ​​the artist as the creature genius". Because it is Leinonen who has got the idea - and first of all, it is precisely him who has been the creative soul. Yes, he bought the signs - but other artists also buy their raw materials and put them together so they become art, right?
I have since read an interview with Erlend Høyersten, director of the museum, in the Danish paper Kristeligt Dagblad, where he mentions this work as one of five especially suitable for mental fitness because "it's a collection of panhandlers' signs and in most religions it is seen as a virtue to help others". At least it was mental fitness to my mind. And maybe it's my protestant upbringing, which means that I feel like a greater virtue in helping those who show the greatest willingness to make an effort to help themselves in the future.
(Translated from Noget om at skilte med noget, originally published August 9th, 2017)

On the topic of possessiveness and co-creation

On top of the recent post on ownership and possessiveness, Rebecca Elvy made me think of a story I heard recently. Unfortunately, I cannot remember where I heard of it – but I remember that someone told me about the trick they used at this person's workplace in order to make people feel ownership without possessiveness. The trick is that they do not reward the good ideas people get, instead they reward those who contribute to making the ideas of the original idea generators even better. An idea is simply not rewarded before one person has conceived it and another person has refined it.
In this way, it is ensured that the good ideas are shared, and at the same time people will feel good sharing their ideas – because anyone knows that next time, she will have the possibility to refine someone else’s bright idea.
There might be downsides to this as well, of course, but essentially, instead of inspiring possessiveness, this approach breeds co-ownership and co-creation.
Which is a good thing for two reasons. Not only is possessiveness (which we established recently is the evil twin of ownership) discouraged – but it must also be remembered, (now that we are talking about “the ancestry of ownership and possessiveness”) that there is another unfortunate cousin in the family tree – the sentiment of “not-invented-here”, where people have an inclination to reject the ideas of others, simply because these are not their own ideas. The rewarding of co-creation is also quite good against “not-invented-here”, as it inspires people to be open-minded with regards to the ideas of other people – because they might be able to make them even better. It simply has a tendency to make people go from saying “No!” to saying “Yes, and…”, which is one of the pillars of creativity.
(Translated from: Noget om besidderiskhed og samskabelse)

Once upon a time, I learned something about target audiences

Years ago, when Denmark went on preparing for the EXPO 2010 exhibition to take place in Shanghai, the architects of the company BIG had the idea that the original statue of the Little Mermaid should be a key element in BIG's winning project for Denmark's pavilion at the EXPO 2010 World Exhibition in Shanghai.

Image courtesy of Pixabay / hbieser

This called for a lot of discussion. The sculptor's heirs were displeased, and many people meant that the creative class had gone too far when a national heritage and tourist magnet like the Little Mermaid were going to Shanghai.
Even I had to put down the coffee cup when I heard a newsflash in national radio, in which architect Bjarke Ingels from BIG told that

... one of our first visions was clearly that she should sit as a figurehead on the container carrier Emma Maersk as she sails into Shanghai ...

My first thought was: When this idea were not made reality (BIG won the project, but The Little Mermaid went to Shanghai in a less spectacular way), why not consider what such a Utopian idea makes "ordinary sane people" think about "the creative class"? A little self-censorship might be in place to avoid this? There was already so much debate going on about the so-called creative class as many found that some people from time to time have difficulties to harness their creativity, thereby in their enthusiasm letting some ideas loose even though they should never have left Brainstorm Island. If for no other reason, then he should know that it will only contribute to the adversity towards the aforementioned creative class.
You can come up with all sorts of creative methods and ideas, but if you do not carefully choose to bring to an environment open to the ideas you bring, it makes only little sense. The point of all inspiration is to bring it to places that are open for inspiration. That's why I thought it was a bad idea to bring to the population hardly capable of imagining the little mermaid away from Langelinie, the concept of the statue sitting as a figurehead on a container carrier sailing into Shanghai Harbour. It's like any other case of seduction - it must move a little step at a time. You can unfold it where the mind is open, and then wait nicely for the adverse sides of the mind to let it in. If you just fast forward with everything you've got, you risk the opposite: everything that has been open towards you will be shut. And then you've broken more than you've achieved.
But then it struck me: despite the fact that the message was delivered in a national radio newsflash, the target audience for the message was not John and Jane Doe, choking on their morning coffee - for Bjarke Ingels is not interested in them approaching him to have blueprints made for their new garden shed. He needs people who like big visions and who are interested in erecting monumental architecture - the kind of people who acknowledges the vision of a well-known sculpture as the figurehead of the world's largest container ship, and therefore he's busy keeping each and every such mind open. That way, it can cost the support of all common people - because they are not part of the target audience...
(Translated from Engang lærte jeg noget om målgrupper)

On the topic of What and How

This quote comes from a source that might be unexpected; general George S. Patton, Jr., Commander of the United States' Third Army during the battles in Europe in 1944-45 - but nevertheless, it's an interesting quote:

Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do, and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.

It's interesting because it does not only have military relevance; in fact, this is the case in most situations: if you tell people how to do things; well, they might do just that - but what if they had better ideas, which they simply keep in due to reverence towards your authority or similar reasons?
Of course, you can give people your opinion if they ask how to do things done - but it would in any case be a good idea to encourage them to come up with their own ideas on how things should be done. They might actually surprise with their ingenuity, and come forward with suggestions you never imagined.
(Translated from Noget om hvad og hvordan, originally published July 25th, 2013)

Life's too short for people like me

At one point I attended an event on creativity, where one of the conclusions was - albeit phrased somewhat differently - as stated in the heading.
The reason is simply that you do not get inspired by people who say the same as yourself - mostly people who have the same background as you or in some way resemble you. Inspiration comes from people who are different than you are.
People who agree with you in everything, who are in the same point in life as yourself, are not able inspire you; you can use them to pat yourself on the shoulder, and although that itself may be very nice, it's not what moves the world forward.
What moves the world forward is people to disagree with, or to discuss with, whether or not it originates in constructive criticism or an curious question as to why you behave the way you do.
Even in the company of the people you agree with, you should look at the differences between you and them and examine them.
Because it is thereby you are going to consider whether your attitudes are rational, and to be inspired to do new and exciting things.
(Translated from Livet er for kort til folk som mig, originally published December 27th, 2011)

On the topic of constructive waiting time

A lot of people are concerned about the fear of the blank page - about having the urge or need to write, but not be able to do so.
I feel privileged not to suffer from such anxiety, and I think I know why. I am well aware that inspiration is something that can not be forced, inspiration is something one has to wait for, and use the time waiting constructively.
If at the same time, one has a plethora of stuff on the reading list, this is a match almost too good to be true. For how to spend time better while looking for inspiration, than by seeking inspiration, for example by reading something one finds interesting?
One should not wait for inspiration with idle hands. On the other hand, inspiration should not be left waiting when it arrives.
It will obviously not always turn up in an opportune moment, but as a minimum, enough key words must be written down to enable rediscovery of the inspiration when time and quiet is available to get it translated into text.
(Translated from Noget om konstruktiv ventetid, originally published February 2nd, 2010)

Plagiarism and inspiration

There is a thing which has been on my mind for some time - the difference between plagiarism and inspiration: why is it that something will be categorized as plagiarism, while others slip through the eye of the needle and are recognized just to have been "inspired"?
When one subscribes to the opinion that not only have most things been said before; most have also been said in a better and clearer way before, then one must simultaneously accept that most of the things one can acheive, must be acheived through inspiration - very little comes from nothing. So the important thing must be to make sure that one has something to be inspired by.
Somewhere, I have seen the quote that you have to read thousands of books, before you can write one, and most likely, this is true, then you will have been exposed to sufficient amounts of information (and quite probably also information of divergent nature and content) to form and formulate your own opinion.
And when you have formed and formulated your own opinion, then you can always start looking back at the things you were inspired by and use these as references, make sure that quotes appear verbatim et cetera - and then, you have not leaned on any single source, not copied, not plagiarized.
(Translated from Plagiat og inspiration, originally published January 18, 2010)

100 days of creativity

If you listen to the same circles on Twitter, as I usually listen to, you will know that today, Elle Luna starts a new round of #The100DayProject: "a free and open project for anyone who is hungry to jump-start their creative practice, who is curious about being a part of a supportive, nurturing community that celebrates the process, and those who are busy busy busy and searching for a bite-sized way to nurture their creativity: one chooses an activity that one wants to pursue, repeats the activity daily for 100 days, while publishing it under a common hashtag, to have all the activities gathered in one place.
If I had listened to these circles for a longer time, I probably would have been prepared, have had a plan ready and would have started - regrettably, it tells a bit about how spontaneous I am (not); now I will most likely settle for yet another 100 posts (of which some will hopefully be translated) in 100 days - but it is clearly a call that is worth passing on to others: jump on the bandwagon and get creative. I have touched upon it in a previous post: It works!
(Translated from 100 dages kreativitet)

On the topic of being creative

Image courtesy of Pixabay / qimono

In my list of blog topics was a point taken from a lecture I heard the Danish professor of educational psychology at Aalborg University Lene Tanggaard give in the fall of 2010 - it merely said:

Be creative - it works!

- to cut a long story short: let the creative ideas loose when they emerge; have them written down to an extent so that they can be reconstructed as needed, and then leave them to mature and have a critical look at them later.
As it has been said so often: if there is just one good idea that turns into something, then it has been worth it - but it begins when you give yourself the permission to get the good ideas; and the easiest way to do this is to allow yourself to have a lot of ideas and hold on to them. Then, you can always later find out which ideas that are indeed good, and try to use these as the basis for innovation.
(Translated from Noget om at være kreativ, originally published January 5, 2013)

Do not copy the achievements of great people

It is my pleasure to pick up a quotation, which I originally thought was by the American writer Ralph Waldo Emerson, but actually seems to originate from the poet Muriel Strode:

I will not follow where the path may lead, but I will go where there is no path, and I will leave a trail.

I am especially happy to use the quotation here because it fits so well with a headline, I collected at a lecture on creativity and innovation a number of years ago: "Do not copy the achievements of great people - become great in your own right".
It is so obviously right, when you look at it: if one has the desire to become great, it will actually not happen by following the path of others, copying their great achievements, but rather by following one's own path and discover new ground - and as a matter of fact it is quite possible that even if one has no ambitions to become great, one will becomes one's best self in the happiest way if not following a great role model's beaten path.
It may well happen that it will not be quite as easy - but it has a certain probability to become a more interesting, funnier and more exciting process.
(Translated from Kopier ikke de store, originally published July 23, 2013)