Creativity at Work by Seth Godin
Creativity is looking a something in a new way to gain a new understanding of it, can increase familiarity, increase efficiency, or increase engagement
Difficulty in work/hobbies/personal life can come from continuing to do things the same way, even if you’re good at them (the world changes)
— concept of play and engagement with life
Distractions aren’t distractions, they’re opportunities
Creativity at work can lead to the creation of value
If you strive to be a creative person, your job is to make change happen
Ask: What change are you making? Who is involved? How will you know if it worked?
A problem with a solution isn’t a problem anymore. A problem without a solution is a situation, not a problem. Hearing an outsider’s perspective can give you insights into the problems you can’t solve (for now).
Start by making the problem visible (digestible)
Our job is to find problems to be solved
Solutions never begin as perfect! (you work on that after you start)
Management is required, Leadership is optional (authority vs. responsibility)
You must commit to failure
Being creative means that you will try things that will fail, even when it’s scary
Scientists don’t do experiments to see what works, they do experiments to see what fails in hopes of learning what does work
It doesn’t matter if it’s good; it only matters that it happens (at some point, you’ll stop getting hung up on what’s good and find answers that are less obvious)
Embrace the uncertainty. How can you possibly know if you are qualified to solve a problem that hasn’t been solved?
The goal is to do work that matters for people who care