The Journey of the Creative Brain

Denise R. Jacobs From the Front / Bologna, Italy / September 2012

Tweeting tall tales

I am: @denisejacobs

We’re at:

#ftf @fromthefront

I’m telling a story about a: #creativebrain

I have a question for you…

How many of us are working at odds with our primary tool for creating and producing?

No, I am not talking about your gadgets, computer or the groovy apps contained therein…

I’m talking about your brain.

Once upon a time…

upon a time..

…there was a brain, who was

There was a brain…

Who...

…who was oppressed.

1 emancipate

Welcome to Cubicalia

Another day sitting chained to its desk in Cubicalia….

(The BossMan)

“Um, yeah. You’re lagging behind, bigtime. I need you to come up with something brilliant and innovative – and for, like, today….”

the pressure!

Pushed to its limits with no respite, little to no information is getting in, and certainly nothing but steam is coming out.

A wise woman once said:

“Make awesomeness. Do good.”

- Leslie Jensen-Inman, MAP4

Awesomeness

“Check your chains.”

“I can show you what you are capable of.

Check your chains.”

(empty desk)

The next time the BossMan passed the Brain’s desk to bark out more orders, the Brain is nowhere to be found.

2

embark

Fleeing Cubicalia

Fleeing the squat, gray, windowless buildings of Cubicalia, the Brain didn’t notice the obstruction in its path.

Meet the RaynMann

It tripped, and tumbling to the ground, the Brain realized that it is a man in a trench coat, with the head of an umbrella.

He Hands his business card

“Allow me introduce myself: I’m RaynMann: Holistic Cerebralist and Purveyor of Actualization – at your service.”

Labyrinth at their feet

…For the first time, the Brain noticed that they were standing at the entrance of an enormous green and gray labyrinth on the ground.

Starting along the path…

As they took their first steps, the RaynMann coughed…

Cough, Rumble, Flash!

With a 3-pronged flash of light and a “whoosh!” they whisked off to their first destination.

3

integrate

Moving too Fast…

… It was overwhelmed by the bright flashing signs, the noise, and the constant feeling of things whipping past him.

“Ouf!” A women appeared out of thin air, falling to the ground with a thud just behind the Brain’s outstretched arm.

I’m looking for my brain…

“My brain always seems to somewhere just ahead of me, and my soul always seems be lagging behind…”

She Smiles…

“She drops the phone to her side and gazes off wistfully across the surrounding scene of blurred shapes and colors of people rushing about …

Beta v. alpha

“That poor woman – in fact all the people of this land as far I can tell – are stuck in the beta brainwave state.”

“They could use with a more of what you recommended: slowing down. When you relax, the brain actually works better and you can create more…”

Close your eyes…

“Can you get into alpha on purpose?” “Absolutely. Close your eyes…”

But relax!

“…No, like that – stop scowling and relax.”

The Alpha Brainwave state

“Being in alpha also helps your brain hemispheres work in a balanced synchronized manner, with electrical impulses jumping easily back and forth between them…”

The Left hemisphere

“The left hemisphere is made of neatly stacked vertical columns, much like pancakes, which allows the clear differentiation of separate mental functions, but less integration of those functions.”

The right hemisphere

“Creativity comes from giving the right brain a chance to leverage the axons in the brain (aka “white matter”) to access all of the information stored in other places of the brain and putting it all together in a new way.”

The satori moment

“Expanding those in-between moments is often the source of ideas.”

A Wise man once said:

“Genius is the offspring of the in-between.”

- Jonathan Fields

Communication Addiction

“Indeed. She’s suffering from a very pronounced case of communication addiction…”

Lo-fi time

“The anecdote? Lo-fi time: time away from technology.”

A wise man once said:

“Don’t force creativity. Allow it to come to you.”

- Erik Ford, To Sketch or Not to Sketch

4 collaborate

It looked like an assembly line…

They landed in a huge room of tables with countless numbers of people sitting at them, doing rote actions over and over again.

Man with no name

A man who appeared sad and lost, with a round belly wearing a saffron-colored robe walked amongst the workers looking like he planned to interject some useful information…

The Land of Paravel

“I hear that there is a land called Paravel where the people there work with their best friends, using their complimentary talents and skills to create amazing things…”

The importance of play

“That land has shown that friendship can be a shortcut to productive play – that creation amongst a group of people happens in a secure, relaxed, and encouraging environment.”

A wise man once said:

“When you are playful, you are activating the right side of your brain. The logical brain is a limited brain. The right side is unlimited. You can (do and ) be anything you want.”

- Madan Kataria, The

Laughter Guru

Disposable prototypes

“…start with disposable prototypes so that they can think with their hands and work out the problems of the item as they make it…”

Soon the room was abuzz

People shimmied, mash-potatoed, cabbage-patched and thriller-danced through the aisles…

Infectious laughter

But the laughter and joy was highly infectious, and he started to laugh himself. In a short time, he was laughing uncontrollably…

Aha moment

“…it's during the let-go period that that gamma spike is most likely to arise, along with that "aha!" moment.”

A wise woman once said:

“Bursts of creativity and insight are just like bursts of laughter: surprising and delightful.”

- Denise Jacobs, The Journey

of the Creative Brain

5

unify

An epiphany

The moment the Brain stepped foot in the center of the labyrinth, it realized why it had suffered so much in Cubicalia…

There is an alternative

Indeed, there is a road less traveled; an alternative way of being that the Brain had only hoped for.

Embrace paradox

In order to do so, however, it has to embrace paradox.

A wise man once said:

“Creativity is the merging of two incongruent ideas: creativity is about embracing paradox.”

- Frank Chimero, Build

Conference Nov. 2010, The Shape of Design

RaynMann was no longer at its side…

It turned back to see the RaynMann, still in the center of the labyrinth, starting to fade away behind a wall of light drizzle.

6

transform

return to cubicalia

Upon its return to Cubicalia, the Brain, now feeling fairly fearless, went directly to see The BossMan.

I have just one thing to say:

"BossMan, talk to the hand!"

Practices that encourage alpha

It instilled practices that encourage alpha, like deliberate unstructured time for walking, changing context, daydreaming…

Incorporate play

Playful collabation, improvisation and plussing…

Seriousness sucks

Taking oneself seriously is verboten – everyone must practice unselfconscious creation…

Seek problems to solve

The brain was on a roll, and eventually added practices for leveraging eustress by encouraging people pursue problems to solve…

Transforming diffused focus…

Turning distraction and inefficient work …

To creatively productive focus

…into focused creative productivity and flow states!

7 innovate

Changes from Bettah Balancia

The balanced and now wildly productive creative brains of Bettah Balancia caused the land to become prosperous and abundant beyond measure…

Not only that, but…

…and were an endless fount of inspiring products and services that were not only innovative, but that also contributed to the greater good.

Questions abounded

Word traveled swiftly to the other lands, and soon, many were clamoring to know the secret of the land of Bettah Balancia: “How…?!”

WTF?!

…Whaaaaat?

The End

(Or is it just the beginning?)

(My) Articles for Further reading

netmagazine.com/features/ four-secrets-enhancing-creative-productivity

alistapart.com/articles/

reigniting-your-creative-spark/ alistapart.com/articles/

banishing-your-inner-critic/

Shameless Self-Promotion #1

Smashing Book #3: Redesigning the Web

Smashing Book #3 1/3: The Extension

My chapter is “The Missing Element of Redesign: Story”

SmashingBook.com

Shameless Self-Promotion #2

The CSS Detective Guide

CSSDetectiveGuide.com twitter.com/cssdetective

Shameless Self-Promotion #3

InterAct With Web Standards: A Holistic Approach to Web Design

InterActWithWebStandards.com

twitter.com/waspinteract

Original cover art

Americo Salas Morales AmericoMorales.net (sister) twitter.com/nivims

This presentation is Dedicated to

My Grandmother, Robbie Mae Lowe (aka “The Bug”) My Grandfather, William James Lowe, Jr. (aka “Lowe”)

I tell stories. I design. I teach. And I evangelize creativity.

DeniseJacobs.com denise@denisejacobs.com twitter.com/denisejacobs

Thank You!

Now it’s really The End!