[I originally posted this on my blog – www.exhilauren.blogspot.com/]
If you map the thought patterns of the creatives out there (ie; people with ideas), especially when he/she is in his creative element/moment/inspiration, you might see something like this:
 |
| photo credit www.mindmapinspiration.com |
Ah yes. If you can relate, you’ll know that when you’re in this type of thinking, you feel like a monkey is swinging around upstairs happily grabbing branch after branch, with just a banana here and there for sustenance. And, you’ll probably agree, this “map” doesn’t look like it ends at any particular point. Bingo!
BUT, there DOES exist an army of creatives out there who consistently engage the monkey, and teach him to churn out quality products that drive our country forward. How do they do it? Discipline! Indeed. They discipline the monkey and make him work for his bananas.
Now, I’d like to credit the amazing site the99percent (with their tagline – 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration, or as I’ve dubbed it 1% inspiration, 99% awesome) for helping out us creative folk with some tricks of the trade. Their site is dedicated to the following: “It’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen.”
At 99%, Behance‘s think tank, we focus on what happens after inspiration—researching the forces that truly push ideas forward. Our profiles of proven idea makers, action-oriented tips, best-practices sessions, and annual conference are all designed to help you transform ideas from vision to reality.
Thanks for the shoutout to Behance. I’m listening to “Making Ideas Happen” by Behance’s founder, Scott Belsky, and I’ll be taking a workshop with him next week. Very excited!
Oh my gosh I thought you had taken a snapshot of me thinking about fifty million things at once Lauren! that’s really funny.
Serious – great point about managing creativity effectively to make change happen. I will click over and take a look at the site.
I just scanned the site briefly and forwarded the link to my boss. They really do seem to focus on a critical missing ling between creativity and productivity.