“Chaos often breeds life, when order breeds habit.” This intense observation made by Henry Adams emphasizes the complex process that underlines the phenomena of creativity. The world around us is studded with examples of order disintegrating into chaos and chaos giving birth to order. Until recently, such occurences as the oscillation of the stock market, or the random firing of neurons in the brain were considered too "noisy" and complex to be explored by science. But now, with the aid of high-speed processors, scientists have been able to penetrate a reality that is changing the way we perceive our universe. Their findings - the basis for Chaos Theory is one of the most exciting scientific search of our time. The now-famous chaos aphorism that the flutter of a butterfly's wing in Istanbul can change the weather in Santa Monica is a dramatic illustration of what Briggs and Peat describe as an "emerging science of wholeness," a growing scientific appreciation of how everything in the universe is intertwined. From the beating of our hearts to the formation of clouds, from the composition of a poem to the spread of a forest fire are all directed by the Law of Chaos. "Chaos suggests that instead of resisting life's uncertainties, we should embrace them. . . Painters, poets, and musicians have long known that creativity blossoms when they are participating in chaos." A car accident CREATES quadriplegic, cartoonist, painter, musician, John Callahan at the age of 21. "I've learned that circumstances are not happening to me so much as they are happening for me." He knew how to liberate his spirit and to be in the flow. ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) CREATES the brilliant astrophysicist Dr. Stephen Hawking. Again at the age of 21, just before his wedding he was given 2 years to live. He acknowledges that time travel is a scientific possibility. Perhaps, this explains how he lived to be 69 now....... A creative mind is a highly "dynamic system". Irrespective of its surroundings a creative mind will have the audacity to dream, decode and devise. The creative process moves from this primal urge to create, through a period of seemingly utter disarray and disorder before it converges into harmonious unity. Johannes Vermeer, the 18th century Dutch painter created 35 paintings using "two smallish rooms in his house in Delft; they show the same furniture and decorations in various arrangements and they often portray the same people, mostly women". Yet, the limitation of his resources did not hinder him from having a tryst with glittering optics that he is so famously known for. He had a singular way of creating a mood with light and shadow. The concept of Chaos is evolving from a scientific theory into a cultural metaphor. As a metaphor it allows us to question some of our most admired assumptions and emboldens us to ask fresh questions about reality. Engage in the Seven Life Lessons of Chaos and find organizing intelligence in chaos. Articles you might like
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"Steve was among the greatest of American innovators – brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it." President Barack Obama, 2011 At EuroShop 2011, Strohbach & Krey Messebau Design GmbH & Co. KG was bold enough to execute the maxim "Think Different". It transforms the exhibiting space into a sand-covered beach. It even goes a step further. The space gives you the illusion of walking down right into the beach. The built-up pier being the corner stone of the exhibit design is very cleverly scaled. You walk on it and disappear into the large graphic wall mural: a magical union of the 2 dimensions. The running clips of the waves lapping at the beach makes a keen appeal to your limbic system. You are transported. "Think Different" was the new campaign that was the turning point for Apple. It gave the brand much needed vigor and destined Steve Jobs with a cult-like euphoric followers. All because he designed different, so different that he altered our behavior. He propelled the human race forward. Thank you Steve Jobs. You were a phenomenon. Thank you Craig Tanimoto. You were the much needed vitality for the weary brand. "Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward. Maybe they have to be crazy. How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written? Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels? We make tools for these kinds of people. While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do." Articles you might like
The Art of the Start got me started on the "Guy". Guy Kawasaki that is. I was intrigued by the 3 pearls of wisdom that he offered. "Reboot your brain": Break away from old way of doing things and elect new ones, right in accordance with Rumi, "Conventional opinion is the ruin of our souls". "Kill the Cash Cow": Apple killed Apple II in order to make way for the Macintosh. They could have continued milking it, but they would have eventually gotten passed up by everybody else. Clear away the old to make room for the new should be the on-going mantra. Skyline took this mantra to heart and re-defined trade show portability by introducing Arrive. "Polarize People": You obviously cannot be everything to everyone. Your goal is to create "high value, high uniqueness". What is so enchanting about these 3 pearls are its' strong bias towards contrarian belief system. Yet, it is firmly grounded in the perennial nature of our lives. You may use it to enhance your personal brand and escalate your professional career. When Enchantment was published, it was all but natural for me to be bewitched by the "Guy" one more time. Of the 10 enchanting facets he talks about: Overcome Resistance, Chapter 6 was the enchanting factor for me. "Show People Your Magic". He cites an example: After automation, Waterford, the crystal maker in Dublin laid off more than 1000 craftsmen in 1987. Four years later, Dennis Ryan convinced three of these laid-off employees to move to Nova Scotia to preserve their craft. They opened a factory and showroom in 1996 and called the company Nova Scotian Crystal. During warm weather, the company opens a large garage door to the street so people can peer into the factory and watch the craftsmen at work. According to Rod McCulloch, the CEO of the business, enabling people to watch the manufacturing process “gets them into the showroom to buy eighty-dollar glasses”. When people see how your magic works, they develop an interest in what you do and are more apt to buy your products, "support your ideas and join your cause." One a personal note, recently, Apple performed one such magic on me. When my G5 came to a crashing halt, I was crushed. I was equally enchanted by the magicians of the Genius Bar at the Apple store. My G5 is back, running like new at NO CHARGE. And of course, the machine was not under warranty. That day, some one in the Apple chain of command decided to cast the magic spell. It worked! I am still spellbound. Articles you might like
Updated December 2020 with relevant links for our uncertain times As designers and marketers for trade shows and other dimensional spaces, we often encounter reasons as to why an idea or a concept will not gain momentum. We are used to hearing phrases like “I am not sure my boss will like it.” “I don't have the authority.” “We can't take the chance.” “We have always done it this way.” “This is just a passing trend.” “I am all for it, but...”. You get the point. We are too happy to wallow in the safe zone of status quo. Now, the status quo has been challenged. Covid-19 is forcing us to re-think how we do business. This pandemic has created the kind of chaos that necessitates innovation and adaptation. Good thing is, designers are taking the matter seriously. They are using this pandemic as opportunity for a passionate reset. And given the challenging shape of 2020, the design trends of 2021 may offer us the biggest breath of fresh air yet. The Elusive Dance of Passion and Reason As human beings we have been endowed with the power to reason. We use it for the smallest detail in our daily survival to the highest abstraction in conducting business. “From the wheel to the skyscraper, everything we are and everything we have, comes from one attribute of man — the function of his reasoning mind.” Ayn Rand was a eternal champion of the power of reason. The very essence of her philosophy, “Objectivism” stresses the concept of happiness as the moral purpose of a mans' life, “with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.” However, she also realized that nothing moves without passion. She says,“throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps down new roads armed with nothing but their own vision. The great creators, the thinkers, the artists, the scientists, the inventors-stood alone against the men of their time. Every great new thought was opposed. Every great new invention was denounced. The first motor was considered foolish. The first airplane was considered impossible. The power loom was considered vicious. Anesthesia was considered sinful. But the men of unborrowed vision went ahead. They fought, they suffered and they paid. But they won.” What is Reason? What is Passion? Can they Work Together? Central to Enlightenment movement of the 17th and the 18th century, were the use and celebration of reason, the power by which humans understand the universe and improve their own condition. The goals of rational humanity were considered to be knowledge, freedom, and happiness. Reason is a process of observing and understanding the world around us, systematically applying rules of logic and experimentation and generating conclusions that others can follow. For example, during this pandemic, brands had to be relevant to their audience. Else, they would be tuned out. It is this reason for relevancy that compelled them to seek passionate ways to reach out to their audience. They did it in by offering innovative services and often collaborating with competition. Passion is commonly used to refer to strong emotions of any type. To me, passion is not one, but a jumble of emotions – excitement, anticipation, curiosity, desire, love, joy, anger, wonder and empathy – that motivate us to venture deeper and deeper into particular avenues of our interest defined by the passion. For example, the movement of bitcoin and other crypto currencies that evolved from the ashes of the 2008 financial crisis, was a passionate outburst against the traditional financial institutions that found its' manifestation in the novel blockchain technology — a far cry from the 500 year old banking system established by the Medici family. These emotions motivate us to move beyond our comfort zone, provide us with the dedication and commitment to build capabilities in certain fields over extended periods of time and help us ultimately to achieve the potential that resides within each of us. We become passionate explorers in our life journey motivated by a desire to gain new insight into a particular domain by working with others to drive performance to new levels. So, how do passion and reason reinforce each other? “Think of agency versus structure. Passion provides the first by generating energy and creating a sense of freedom. Reason provides the latter by imposing constraint and discipline.” Without structure, agency becomes an aimless whirlwind of activity, constantly distracted by the bright lights of momentary insights, but unable lend form, function and finesse. And, of course, without agency, structure remains an inert mass, sinking deeper and deeper into the ground below it, seeing but unable to explore the world around it. It is the job of passion to empower you with a higher purpose. A purpose, that defines and raises your reason of existence. “When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.” Patanjali Kahlil Gibran in his classic book, “The Prophet”, put it eloquently: Your reason and your passion are the rudder and the sails of your seafaring soul. If either your sails or your rudder be broken, you can but toss and drift, or else be held at a standstill in mid-seas. For reason, ruling alone, is a force confining; and passion, unattended, is a flame that burns to its own destruction. Therefore let your soul exalt your reason to the height of passion, that it may sing; And let it direct your passion with reason, that your passion may live through its own daily resurrection, and like the phoenix rise above its own ashes. Mind is a powerful mechanism. “It is the power of the mind to be unconquerable.” Human beings are limited only by what we allow ourselves to be limited by: our own minds. In our minds, we participate in this dance of passion and reason — a symphony of fire and ice in varying fahrenheit. To realize our full potential, we need to integrate passion and reason in our play and in our work. Reason alone, is cold, calculating, confining and “passion, unattended, is a flame that burns to its own destruction.” Next time, you encounter, “we do not have budget for it” or “we have never done it that way”, be electrified by the passion of your creative solution but be armed by the sword of your reason. Give it 200% - but be prepared for stumbling blocks. Be alert and pay attention to those stumbling blocks. You will see your passion did not fail you. It has sprout new shoots in the most diffident projects and ideas. As we oscillate between passion and reason, I leave you with this thought: Among the hills, when you sit in the cool shade of the white poplars, sharing the peace and serenity of distant fields and meadows - then let your heart say in silence, “God rests in reason.” And when the storm comes, and the mighty wind shakes the forest, and thunder and lightning proclaim the majesty of the sky - then let your heart say in awe, “God moves in passion.” And since you are a breath in God's sphere, and a leaf in God's forest, you too should rest in reason and move in passion. Kahil Gibran Articles you might like: The mind is a creativity. So also is a thought.
The mind says to a thought, "I have you." The thought says to the mind, "You I am." The heart is a creativity. So also is love. The heart says to love, "I have you. " Love says to the heart, "You I am." The soul is a creativity. So also is life. The soul says to life, "I have you. " Life says to the soul, "You I am." The learning of the mind is a creativity, an expanding creativity. The feeling of the heart is a creativity, a deepening creativity. The becoming of life is a creativity, a manifesting creativity. The universal truth finds expression in the poetic grace and beauty of Sri Chinmoy. Often times, our empirical minds only sees the outcome of creativity as an enterprise. Our utilitarian intellect fails to comprehend the muse that inspires us to manifest creativity. The veil of ignorance prompts us to separate creativity from enterprise in such a fashion that debates are being raised if creativity can be taught. More often comparisons are drawn between Nicola Tesla and Thomas Edison prompting the former to be endowed with a visceral gift and the latter to be a tenacious sprinter in perseverance and experimentation. "I became aware, to my surprise, that every thought I conceived was suggested by an external impression. Not only this but all my actions were prompted in a similar way. In the course of time it became perfectly evident to me that I was merely an automation endowed with power of movement responding to the stimuli of the sense organs and thinking and acting accordingly. The practical result of this was the art of tele automatics which has been so far carried out only in an imperfect manner. Its latent possibilities will, however be eventually shown. I have been since years planning self-controlled automata and believe that mechanisms can be produced which will act as if possessed of reason, to a limited degree, and will create a revolution in many commercial and industrial departments." My Inventions: The Autobiography of Nicola Tesla "I find out what the world needs, then I proceed to invent it." Thomas Elva Edison. Compared to the intuitive clarity of Tesla, Edison might seem like a savvy business man yet Tesla's genius inadvertently affirms Edison's legacy. The first commercially viable bulb was produced by Edison. Without electricity delivered widely, safely and efficiently the light bulb was of little value. Tesla's perfection of AC was the tool that made the light bulb so beneficial. Without the expanding creativity of Tesla and the manifesting creativity of Edison, life as we know today wouldn't have existed. Chimera of Creation is the manifestation of thoughts and ideas that transforms, merges and mutates to produce history's biggest breakthroughs. It is the learning of the mind, the feeling of the heart and the becoming of life spanning across several life spans. It is Infinitely Gracious. Articles you might like
After an unsuccessful siege of 9 years the The Trojan War was over. Odysseus had successfully deceived the enemy into bringing the colossal wooden horse into the city of Troy. Captivated by the size of this magnanimous horse the Trojans pulled the horse into their city walls as a victory trophy. That night Troy was sacked and the Trojans were massacred. The object of their intrigue turned out to be their inevitable destiny in violence and captivation. It was in the design of this massive scaled horse that the Trojan War was won. It is a phenomenal example of how opposites (big and small, muscle and mind, life and lifeless) come into play to achieve the necessary outcome. It is also an interesting lesson in the duality of our existence.Interestingly enough, it was love and beauty that launched this decade of hate and war. As Christopher Marlowe, the Elizabethan poet, says of Helen of Troy: "Was this the face that launch'd a thousand ships And burnt the topless towers of Ilium? Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss." It is in the "opposites" that creativity sprouts, that an idea gains momentum and manifests itself in form. My favourite poet and mystic, Jalauddin Rumi writes: "God created suffering and heartache so that joyful-heartedness might appear through its opposite. Hence hidden things become manifest through opposites. But since God has no opposite, He remains hidden. For the sight falls first upon light, then upon color: Opposites are made manifest through opposites, like white and black. ......... Know that form springs from meaning as the lion from the thicket, or as voice and speech from thought. Form was born from speech and then died. It took its wave back to the sea. Form comes out from Formlessness: Then it returns, for "unto Him we are returning" Make "opposites" an integral part of your art and design. It commands captivity and creates unity. It is what draws the viewer's eye into the canvas and helps movement in the space. Just the right amount of "opposites" engages the viewers' participation in comparing various elements of the work. The viewer sees the light and shadows of a painting, wide lines and thin lines, light-weight forms and heavy forms, filled spaces and unfilled spaces and so forth. Use size, value, color, type, texture, shape, alignment, direction, movement to take charge of the "opposites". Mastering "opposites" is a lifelong pilgrimage that involves interpretation of functions, both tangible and intangible, physical, and psychological. "For is and is-not come together; Hard and easy are complementary; Long and short are relative; High and low are comparative; Pitch and sound make harmony; Before and after are a sequence."....... Lao Tzu, translated by Raymond R. Blakney. Articles you might like
Create like Van Gogh, live like Michelangelo. Corning is one such company that has a track record of over 150 years of innovation. It goes way back to the days of Thomas Edison: from manufacturing of light bulbs to color tubes, to LCD screens to the Pyrex glass technology and much more. No other house of glass affects our daily living as does Corning. The Reason: Innovation How does a company keeps winning the battle for innovation for 150 years? Frans Johansson, author of Medici Effect, asked this question to Lina Echeverria, who heads the glass research group at Corning. "I want the researchers [at Corning] to have the creativity of Van Gogh but lead the life of Michelangelo." She tells them to follow their hearts. This is where passion comes from and passion is the house for creativity. Believe it or not, there is a "creativity room" at Corning where researchers can talk about whatever is on their mind to encourage cross fertilization of ideas. This is the field of INTERSECTION. Innovation happens here. Ideas that were always seen as completely apart, merges to form this extraordinary new phenomena. Eric Lewis is one such innovator who lives and breathes at the INTERSECTION. He created a new musical identity: ELEW......it is rock, it is jazz, it is classical piano. Experience innovation as it happens. Now, that you have watched innovation in real time what does it mean to have the creativity of Van Gogh but lead the life of Michelangelo. Vincent Van Gogh was a starving painter of his times. He sold only one painting in 1890, the year he took his life. Yet he laid the foundations of modern art. He did not paint what he saw as reality. He created his own reality. It is an inter-dimensional concept. When Vincent van Gogh was asked, "Your trees always go beyond the stars...?" he said, "Yes, because I understand trees. I have felt always that trees are the ambition of the earth to reach the stars. Otherwise why? To touch the stars, to feel the stars, to go beyond the stars – this is the desire of the earth. The earth tries hard, but cannot fulfill the desire. I can do it. The earth will understand my paintings, and I don't care about you, whether you understand or not." "The emotions are sometimes so strong that I work without knowing it. The strokes come like speech." This is what it means to create from the seat of passion. It is the rhythm of the heart. Michelangelo breathed life into stone. He was the master magician. Yet, he was painting for the church. His famous painting is God creating the world, very much in sync with the signs of the time. Michelangelo, was skilled, disciplined and had good business acumen. Michelangelo was the man living in the world, creating and helping others. Van Gogh was not of the world – he created for the sake of creation. "I can very well do without God both in my life and in my painting, but I cannot, suffering as I am, do without something which is greater than I, which is my life - the power to create." Vincent Van Gogh Whatever you do to live in this world, live it but always DREAM. Dreams are the paintings of your passion. You will know it. It is not of this world. Give life to that which is out of the world, innovation is bound to follow. Articles you might like
The term bi•zarre |biˈzär| means odd, eccentric and strikingly out of the ordinary. The bizzare is the construct of our creative, nonconformist right brain. It is absolutely absurd, crazy, nonsensical, preposterous. It is unreal. It is wild. It is fanciful. It is the bizzare that creates movements and sets trends. An example is The Dada (movement or more of a non-movement) that began in Zurich in reponse to the insane killings of World War I. The movement was spearheaded by people walking in the bizzare. Artists, poets, writers, intellectuals all concerted their efforts on anti-war politics by denouncing the prevailing standards in art through anti-art cultural works. Their purpose was to taunt what they considered to be the nonsensical nationalism, rationalism, materialism and any other -ism which they felt had contributed to a senseless war. An example of the outrageous Dada art is the painting of Mona Lisa with a mustache by Marcel Duchamp. As crazy as it sounds, the movement chose the name “Dada” by inserting a slip of paper into a French dictionary. It so happened that the paper landed on the word dada, which happens to mean a hobbyhorse or child's toy. A bizarre idea to create non-art moved on to be a powerful influencer of avant-garde, downtown music, surrealism, Nouveau réalisme, pop art, Fluxus and punk rock. We are in an age of bizarre mass media homogeneity. Very often, we are concerned about the market approval rather than our inner consent. As easy as it is to follow the trend and become a part of mediocre mainstream, it is crucial as designers and thought leaders to step out of the proven path of mediocrity and experience the backroads of bizarre....there is only one rule. Never follow any known rules. You will be amazed! I owe this indulgence in the bizarre to a bizarre blog that I had come across a few days ago. It seems like the writer, if even for a moment happend to realize the illusive nature of our universe. Articles you might like
In Latin, December means the tenth month. History dictates that in 700 BC, the Roman King Numa Pompilius moved the beginning of the year from March and added January and February. From here on, the nameless dark stretch contributed to the 12 month Gregorian calendar as we now know.
December to me, is the month of instrospection and reflection. It is a white canvas in waiting. White is the merging of all that it is. It is light. It aids mental clarity, evokes purification of thoughts and enables fresh beginnings. It is intellectual intelligence that requries us to go through such a period of "whiteness" before creativity manifests itself in the form yellow daffodils, in early spring. "The first of all single colors is white ... We shall set down white for the representative of light, without which no color can be seen; yellow for the earth; green for water; blue for air; red for fire; and black for total darkness."– Leonardo Da Vinci The Room gives us an exclusive experience in white. Designed by Toronto-based Yabu Pushelberg along with The Bay CEO Bonnie Brooks, the 1858 sqm space uses white as color base, punctuated by polished metal, glass, chandeliers and geometric curves to showcase its wares. The design changed and transformed the perception of space as we understand in retail. Launched in October of last year at a cost of $3.8 million, the refurbishment saw the doubling in size of the store’s iconic St Regis Room to create The Room. It now encompasses more than 70 high fashion labels and European lines, some of which are exclusive to The Bay. Smart, effective and timeless white ensures endurance and resilience–a key layer to any design classic! One sunny afternoon a blue butterfly decided to sit on my car windshield. I watched—it was as if poetry paused only to lure me into this labyrinth of curiosity and wonder. I marveled at this beauty that defied all laws of evolution to become an innovation in itself. It is as if, in it's mission to unite mother earth and father sky it goes through its own complex stages of disruptive innovation. Coined by Prof. Clayton Christensen, in his book The Innovator's Dilemma, disruptive innovation is the process in which a product takes root initially in simple applications at the bottom of a market and then relentlessly moves ‘up market’, eventually displacing established competitors. Some examples of disruptive innovation include: Disruptor Disruptee Cellular phones Fixed line telephony Community colleges Four-year colleges Discount retailers Full-service department stores Retail medical clinic Traditional doctor’s offices In the portable trade show arena, the story of Skyline seems to be a marvelous example of continual Disruptive Innovation at work. More than 20 years ago the portable pop-up solution created exhibiting opportunities for customers who otherwise could not afford to exhibit. Skyline gained impressive market share and defined portable exhibiting. With this growth in market share there arose a new class of customers who wanted more efficiency at a lesser cost. We saw the emergence of online vendors step in to fulfill the Theory of Disruptive Innovation. Skyline had to innovate in a new way to be more beneficial than the existing competitive products in the marketplace. It went through its own Disruptive Innovation and introduced Arrive, an even more portable solution for trade show exhibitors. It made the grand entry in the market by winning the 2010 Best New Product Contest. Only time will tell if Arrive will be another paradigm shifting blue butterfly. Articles you might like
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Don’t bend; don’t water it down; don’t try to make it logical; don’t edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly. Franz Kafka |