Improving Creativity

Everyone possess immense creativity.

Unfortunately, our minds have ways to distract us from using our imagination for innovation.

A notebook is the best way you can improve your creative skills.

Sketches, to-do lists, ideas. 

A notebook organizes your thoughts, helps improve your writing, and increases your capacity for deeper thinking. 

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Writing/sketching ideas in a notebook helps bring the imaginary closer to reality. 

The longer an idea sits in the mind, the longer you get to criticize and dissect "why it won't work".  You see an idea you had years ago make someone else rich. 

Putting ideas on paper, removes internal criticism and makes your ideas real. 

Don't like that line?  Draw over it. Draw around it. Erase it. 

You can iterate an idea in your mind, but putting all your work on paper documents the progression.

Even with 3D modeling prevalent in the footwear industry, many designers ideas start out as a sketch. 

Sketching connects your mind with the object you are drawing.  Writing down ideas moves them from the inside to outside, so you can have more inside space for more ideas.

You are creating change you can see.

Improving the concept with each iteration.

Growing your thoughts and ideas into something real. 

When I visited Nike's campus back in July 2016, everyone had a Moleskine.

Next time anything crosses your mind, write it down.

Sources

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/featured/writing-and-remembering-why-we-remember-what-we-write.html

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ellevate/2014/04/08/why-you-should-be-writing-down-your-goals/#4ba430652f14

http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/Putting-Feelings-Into-Words-Produces-8047

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2012/jun/19/joy-moleskine-notebooks

Building Blocks pt. 1

Here's a list of some great books that have changed the way I think and operate:

The Alchemist - The first book I recommend to everyone.  It's the story of life.

The Four Agreements - Don't take anything personally.  This book helped me stop that.

The Shortness of Life - The truest words about how we waste time.

Who Moved My Cheese - Change is inevitable.

How to Win Friends and Influence People - I thought I knew how to win friends, after the 6th person recommended this one, I figured out I was wrong.

Zen Mind Beginner's Mind - How to remove the assumptions and see everything new for the first time.

It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want to Be - It's all about how you handle what situations life gives you.

2 Second Lean - The easiest approach to learning about continuous improvement and fixing what bugs you.  Lean is invention and innovation.

The Goal - After working in factories for a while, the lessons in this book made so much sense.