Automation isn’t evil. As a precipitator of performance and efficiency, it’s the stuff of dreams. Pursuing automation blindly, however, leads us towards a cliff edge, with nothing other than manmade systems to prevent our fall. ..
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The issue with the MVP culture, however, is exactly what it first sought to solve – the unending stream of new products introduced onto the market each year. Viable is subjective, and initial consumer enthusiasm is easier to cultivate than sustained interest and eventual product realisation...
Read MoreThere’s no guideline to say how many hours a new idea takes to conceive. Whilst a construction project may take a set number of days or weeks, deciding upon the perfect tagline has no real precedent – no barometer – because it’s new each time. You may stumble upon the solution in a matter of minutes, a number of days or a hapless pile of weeks. Naturally, this is a nightmare for management...
Read MoreBut whilst creativity is a popular guest at any party, it can also be a little awkward. Creative thinkers don’t always fit the paradigm; they’re not always the perfect colleagues or team players, and they rarely settle for ‘as is’...
Read More1/ Escape. 2/ Become somebody else. 3/ Reprogram your mindset. 4/ Turn off the devices. 5/ Quit living through contrast.
Read MoreWe’re trying to recollect futures we once dreamt of. The stream of new Star Wars films isn’t likely to end any time soon. Chock-full of homages and references to the original trilogy, before we had a brash and over eager Anakin Skywalker to contend with, Star Wars’ revival is testament to just how far we’ve entrenched ourselves in a memory. Like similar trilogy revisits, the new movies regurgitate the creative energy of their predecessors, rehashing the same basic premise and storyline to electrified fanfare. Because we’re not after something different. We’re looking to reclaim an instant of our childhoods, a memory, a cultural concern that supersedes reality TV shows and entertainment squeezed through a celebrity culture gone awry. But that’s just one example...
Read MoreCreativity is an individual’s capacity to see beyond their immediate reality. For artists, this is a day-to-day necessity as they spend their lives extrapolating and contemplating fictions. But we’re all capable of envisioning a split in the road and creating new paths for others to follow...
Read MoreBusiness life is rarely smooth sailing for new start-ups. Amidst market saturation and a thousand and one competitors, only certain characteristics, attributes and mindsets are left to determine those that will and won’t survive...
Read MoreMany of us are institutionalised by our existences; they may not be good for us, but in a world where money decorates who we are, it’s enough to feel comfortable and know we’re keeping to the path. It’s rare, but we do also have triumphs of individuality – moments in which we glimpse something through the trees that is worth taking the risk for. Relationships, passions, loves – a finite tableau of ever-tantalising objects that many of us will yearn for, but seldom dare to reach...
Read MoreWhat our parents fail to teach us is what it takes to break from the rules, or stem the flow in the river, is a strength and mental defiance unknown to most. This challenge is not only an active act, of refusing to live as those around us, but a passive one – one automatically entered into the equation behind each decision and action, to the point that our behaviours are self-defined, uninfluenced by the ‘should’ and ‘supposed’...
Read MoreIn the purest sense, any individual is capable of a creative act, of producing a thing that hasn’t been produced before and which sets a new curve. To say an individual isn’t creative is akin to suggesting they have no imagination. And if somebody is unable to imagine a reality outside of their immediate (even if only one compelled by their hopes and desires), then there’s something seriously afoot...
Read MoreAnyone that started their careers in small companies will have a solid idea of what we’re talking about. The sluggish mirroring of late 20th century business practices, whereby stringent office managers count the minutes and out-of-touch directors guide their workforce like blind guide dogs, is the bane of growth. That’s not to say such companies don’t survive – they certainly do – but only that their survival precludes the possibility of their success. Humans may live in three-foot high cubicles, but they’ll never be able to stand tall – businesses that refuse to change must also accept a low ceiling for growth...
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