Subscribe to the audio blog on your favorite podcast app: Subscribe What’s in a face? Sherlock, our new puppy, expresses many faces. These let us know when he feels proud about going potty, unhappy when he’s hungry, and crazy when he’s pouncing and playful. The face of a puppy is irresistible, even through the eyes of a sleepless dog owner like me at three o’clock in the morning during a puppy potty break.  Creativity, like my puppy, has distinct faces with corresponding emotions. Three come to mind. They are faces of curiosity, dissatisfaction, and joy. While we may not feel as ..read more

Subscribe to the audio blog on your favorite podcast app: Subscribe Silicon Valley is where I grew up and now where I once again reside. We moved almost a year ago but it’s still a bit hard to adjust to a new city. For instance, one thing I miss is the creative culture in LA County. The large number of coffee shops, barber shops, food trucks, and the local vibe reflected the high percentage of creative residents. Many people aspire to be filmmakers, musicians, or the next fashion magnet. I used to drive for Lyft and in my car I had cooks to CEOs that all seemed to embrace the creativ ..read more

Subscribe to the audio blog on your favorite podcast app: Subscribe I have been an Apple Mac person since 1990, owning one of the first little beige boxes containing an eight-inch screen and a one-megabyte hard drive. For years, this one purchase would be the largest for our young family. As years progressed, my household moved on to new and newer machines, offering a museum timeline of Apple upgrades worthy of the Smithsonian collection. With upgrading machines, it seems cables don’t always match. We now have USB C, replacing several other iterations of cables. With enough adapters ..read more

Subscribe to the audio blog on your favorite podcast app: Subscribe We celebrate the moment an idea is born. When a colleague or friend mentions their new idea, we find them in a state of euphoria and energy. New insights seem to arrive in a flash. Like Archimedes experienced, they might hit us in the bathtub. Observers treat us like the crazy mathematician running from his bath while he cried, “Eureka, Eureka!” We all know this part of creativity. A vision, a solution, or a new angle overtakes us. Everyone seems to think our best ideas come to us on their own, but the truth is this ..read more

Subscribe to the audio blog on your favorite podcast app: Subscribe I had one of those weeks where I felt like I was on a road trip, sharing stories on the winding drive, dreaming with new friends at the campfire, and learning that we all need people to watch out for us while hiking the treacherous inclines in our lives. The pandemic exacted a cost. We lost a bit of the magic of being present—more than I think I care to admit it. Zoom calls, texts, and socially distanced dining—known as takeout—could never replace the real thing. Sure, my favorite restaurant’s food is still tasty. Bu ..read more

To be human is to be creative Here’s something I’m sure of. Creativity is just another word for being human. One example of this is in how we approach the feeling of being awkward. Awkward is a word that comes from where we get the word backward. It is an opposing force, pushing against the grain. We feel more than annoyed. A powerful challenge to the way our brain is used to thinking ensues, testing our wits and composure. The awkward people we live with I imagine the scene at my dad’s wake where two family members trashed the words of the minister after attending the funeral. One was a white ..read more

Why write a book about the creative process? Most people think creativity or innovation is something only a few have access to. I believe, with the help from brain scientists, researchers, and creative practitioners, that it’s a process we can learn. In fact, there is proof that we are ALL wired to be creative. What we need is a way to unlock this innate human ability. My book, MINDBLOWN: Unlock Your Creative Genius by Bridging Science and Magic, is finally here and shipping. I wrote this book after my experiences with institutions and leaders that were ill-equipped to guide creative ..read more

Excerpt from my new book: MINDBLOWN: Unlock Your Creative Genius by Bridging Science and Magic. In my book, I write about the creative process and my three steps, The Dream, The Sandbox, and The Story. The excerpt refers to The Sandbox, where we develop our ideas. We now have arrived at step two—The Sandbox. This is where we test our creative limits. It doesn’t surprise us that creativity comes with real-world limitations, such as deadlines, human resources, and budget. For some of us, this is the part when you see your creativity soar—forcing us to budget time and resources to maximize our pr ..read more

Have you ever wondered why work seems meaningful to some and not to others? Perhaps it has to do with how we see ourselves. Are we creators or employees? There are a few recordings that playback in the mind of innovators and creators and they begin early in life. In grade school, the teacher says, “Sit still, color within the lines, and stop daydreaming.” They scolded us for the doodles on the edge of the folder and shamed us for our sensitivity. In the old days, teachers simply put you in the corner of the room. The mission of education, in the mind of a myopic society, aims for conformity an ..read more

If you want to see eyes roll, tell the team you planned a brainstorming meeting. The hope is to practice innovation, foster teamwork, or prop up low morale. Motives, whether sane or desperate, propel such a meeting to the calendar. The effectiveness of these types of meetings is another story, however. Be honest. They suck. Let me jog your memory. The dreaded no-idea-is-bad on the white board turns into three people dominating the meeting while the rest watch the clock, hoping to get to the break room microwave first to warm the leftovers they brought for lunch. After an hour’s work, the white ..read more