Mac Software & Workflow Tools for Academics, Writers, and other Procrastinators

This morning I sat stuck in the London Underground for about 90 minutes. I was listening to the Mac Power User Podcast – their “workflows” podcasts are great. Anyway, it got me thinking about the tools that I’ve wasted hours on over the years. I jotted down a little list on my iPhone as I waited for my train to start moving again.  Here is that list. Continue reading “Mac Software & Workflow Tools for Academics, Writers, and other Procrastinators”

When do you share your ideas?

Some of us share ideas freely, not caring who uses them or for what purpose. Some of us are more guarded, protecting our ideas and strategically selecting those that we share ideas with. Many of us share in some situations but not others – and with some people and not others. Continue reading “When do you share your ideas?”

Children are such geniuses.

3-year-old Jonathan conducting to the 4th movement of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony.  The most joyous, unbridled creativity I’ve ever seen. I wonder: Will colleges start demanding YouTube proof of early artistic talent in their admissions applications?

How great that Jonathan will be able to watch this when he’s a teenager, wondering if any of the glowing things his parents said about him were ever true… Sometimes, Moms are not exaggerating when they said their kids are brilliant.  Enjoy.


Distract Your Inner Critic

ratatat
Ratatat

I have written before about the evils of multi-tasking and especially task-switching. However I’d like to offer a caveat.

One part of the brain – the critic – is logical, rational, judgmental, and oriented to language and analysis. Distract this part with Continue reading “Distract Your Inner Critic”

How to Keep an Idea Log You Will Actually Use

Me & Steven Johnson

Earlier this week, Steven Johnson came to the London School of Economics to present his new book, Where Good Ideas Come From: A Natural History of Innovation. This thought leader’s fascinating talk was sponsored by my department.

(You can watch the video or download the podcast on the LSE Events website.)

At the end of his talk, I asked Johnson to explain how we as individuals can come up with more “good ideas”.

Steven described his method: Continue reading “How to Keep an Idea Log You Will Actually Use”

My new mission statement is an invitation to create

I believe in observation, collaboration, and the open-minded following of ones’ heart and nose. I blog in part to find like-minded collaborators who want to create good work together.

I share hunches and ideas here while they’re still forming – something I don’t often get to do in traditional academic publishing. It’s silly, but this feels risky at times. But my hope is that my little half-ideas can find life out there by combining with yours. I want to talk about design, innovation, and the social context of the creative process – and maybe some day help each other create high-impact solutions to meaningful problems.

Please share your thoughts, questions, and half-baked hunches, whatever they are.