Deadlines are notorious creativity saps. All the steady, measured progress we’ve made on a project suddenly seems inadequate when we’re faced with a looming deadline. If multitasking is typically a series of threads we follow throughout our day, now...
Thousands of people every year fight for open positions at the creative powerhouses Google and Pixar. It would be a dream come true to land a position at one of these companies. Google and Pixar embrace and foster creative...
We live in a world of constant change. The computer you bought today is outdated by the end of the year; self-driving cars are a reality; and who knows what amazing possibilities virtual reality will reveal. Unfortunately, an important...
“Smell is a potent wizard that transports you across thousands of miles and all the years you have lived.” —Helen Keller The smell of rose-scented hand lotion instantly makes me think of my great-grandmother. I close my eyes, inhale...
No matter how hard you stare at your computer screen, no matter how long your fingers hover over the keyboard, some days the words refuse to flow. The innovative ideas you fell asleep with at the forefront of your...
Even if you weren’t into science, the lab portion of class was usually interesting, memorable and fun. In teams of two or four, depending on the structure of the lab tables, you teamed up with a partner (or three)...
Consistently, instructional designers are tasked with three objectives: 1) teach learners new information 2) reevaluate current knowledge 3) assess outcomes. When is that last time you turned that rubric on yourself? This is not a train-the-trainer moment – it...
A quote I recently came across asks, “Was it a bad day? Or was it a bad five minutes that you milked all day?” For instance, say you argue with your child over an outfit one morning – do...
Do you think of journaling as a pastime from a bygone era, filled with run-on sentences and ink blots? Think again. Bullet Journals are gaining huge popularity as an “analog system for a digital age.” If you understand the...
Asking questions can spark innovation. But can it also spark creativity? Absolutely, says Michael Gelb, author of How to Think like Leonardo Da Vinci. He states, “Great minds go on asking confounding questions… Leonardo’s childlike sense of wonder and...