To have a landscape peppered with snake-like rocks, as occurs in the Bay Area, is not insignificant for creativity and innovation. In every creative act, something is always transformed into something else. When you begin to adapt creativity as a way of living, you begin to see it flourishing everywhere. And part of living a […]
[VIDEO] Creativity and Bay Area Innovation, Part VI: Play!
One of the most undervalued aspects of creativity and innovation is the aspect of play. Though children do it naturally, we adults tend to neglect its value, often falling into the trap of relentless, unceasing productivity. Ground zero for play grounds Recently, I made a trip The Koret Children’s Playground in San Francisco’s Golden Gate […]
[VIDEO] Mindfulness and Creativity in the Workplace: How to Build Cultures of Innovation
Creativity, mindfulness, and your 3 core human needs No matter who you are, no matter what you do, there are three core human needs that drive you. Connection, making a difference, and meaning. At a fundamental level, both mindfulness and creativity share this in common: They are tried and true paths for fulfilling these three […]
[VIDEO] Creativity and Bay Area Innovation, Part III: The Weather Factor
If you are able to sit down at a restaurant with your friends and loved ones, order seasonal foods reverently prepared and sip, perhaps, a few lovely, mind-lubricating wines, if you are able to do all that, you may be unable to control yourself; you may be absolutely and completely unable to keep your creative […]
[VIDEO] Creativity and Bay Area Innovation, Part II: The Great Cultural Mashup
The Bay Area sits at the westernmost edge of Western culture and the easternmost edge of Eastern culture, setting up a cultural edge condition that fosters creativity and innovation. Culture and Creativity Last time in the “Creativity and Bay Area Innovation” series, I talked about the influence of the Asian system of Feng Shui on […]
[VIDEO] Creativity and Bay Area Innovation, Part I: The Feng Shui Factor
The Bay Area is hands down the single most creative and innovative region in the United States, receiving a whopping 32 percent of all the venture capital invested in the United States. Introduction to the “Creativity and Bay Area Innovation” series The Bay Area is hands down the single most creative and innovative region in the […]
[VIDEO] Want the best year ever? Focus on your three core needs
What are your three core needs? Happy New Year! As we all know, the beginning of the New Year is a reset button of sorts, a time to shed outdated or self-defeating patterns and bring in new and empowering ones. In my experience as a student of creativity, and in my understanding of creativity as […]
[VIDEO] The two most important questions for the New Year
The New Year is almost here. What are the two most important questions? Let’s cut to the chase. As a human being you are both perfectly whole and in need of re-establishing wholeness. Seems paradoxical but it not. The perfect wholeness is what allows you to experience creative insights. The need of re-establishing wholeness motivates […]
[VIDEO] Please vote for my breakout session at the upcoming 2016 Wisdom 2.0 Conference
Wisdom 2.0 returns to the Bay Area and I need your vote! I have applied to run an interactive breakout session at the 2016 Wisdom 2.0 Conference in San Francisco entitled, “Mindfulness and Creativity in the Workplace: How to Build Cultures of Innovation.” The first round of voting is open to the general public, which […]
[VIDEO] Make Everything Significant
“Genius means little more than the faculty of perceiving in an unhabitual way. Creativity is the ability to move beyond habitual responses and approach things as fresh.” William James Not long ago, I asked a friend of mine about how he makes important decisions. His response: “I make everything significant.” His words had a strong impact […]