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| David Kelley, IDEO |
David Kelley talks about "creative confidence" in this famous TED video.
His point, in essence, is that creativity is not the domain of only a chosen few.
Most people think that they aren't the creative type and shy away from tasks they deem requiring creativity because they fear that they can't do something creative. But he argues that, through a series of small successes of creative experience, people can transform themselves into the people who have the "creative confidence."
It might not be accurate to say and it might be misleading to say that people can transform into a creative type because saying so suggests that people are not creative in the first place but can become creative through Kelley's process.
Kelley's point is that people are naturally creative but they lose the "creative confidence" to be creative, somewhere along their life, most probably during early childhood. So it would be more accurate to say that people need to regain the "creative confidence" that they have lost than to say that people can change to have the "creative confidence".
How does one lose the "creative confidence?" Kelley gives an example of 3rd grader Brian. 3rd grader Brian was making a horse out of the clay and one of the girls who was nearby commented, "that's terrible. that doesn't look anything like a horse." and that discouraged Brian to make a horse ever again.
I had a fresh perspective on this issue because of my recent Junior Achievement(JA) volunteer activity. I taught 2nd graders as a JA volunteer and I was struck by how these 2nd graders were willing to raise their hands in every single opportunity they could get. When I posed a question or asked for a volunteer, all 24 hands of 24 students in the class would go up, wanting to participate and wanting to give his or her answer. I noticed that these kids weren't afraid to give a wrong answer and they weren't afraid to fail. I would say that these kids still have a "creative confidence." I talked to other JA volunteers who taught 4th and 5th graders and their willingness to raise hand or participate in class were quite different, more subdued. I think it's safe for me to conclude that some of these kids have lost their "creative confidence" as they advanced to 4th and 5th grade.
I presume that more of these kids will lose the "creative confidence" as they grow older. They will get more bruises and get hurt over the course of their lives by not-very-thoughtful people who hurt them with their words, put them down, and says things like “that’s terrible" or "that's stupid idea.” This is a sad reality and we need people to grow up with "creative confidence" somehow intact.
Accomplishing this is a tall order for society and if accomplished, our workforce would have more people with "creative confidence" and would be better off as a result. In the meantime, intermediary solution for companies is to recognize that employees in your workplace are naturally creative and set up a corporate culture to help them regain their creativity and unleash their creativity.
Art of enchantment. We all want to be enchanting.
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| Guy Kawasaki |
We want to be enchanting so that we can mesmerize people with our irresistible charms and enchant people with products and services we create. Enchantment is an art and we need this artful skill if we want to be successful in our family life, social life, and in careers. Speaker and author Guy Kawasaki showed this art of enchantment masterfully in his Stanford talk with many funny jokes and illustrative examples. Here are my actionable takeaways to be more enchanting in personal and business contexts.
1. Achieve likability through your smile. Work on your smile. Improve your smile. Shake hands firmly and with vigor, at least 2~3 seconds.
2. Achieve likability - Dress for a tie. If you are under-dressed for an event or meeting, it might signal you don't really care or that you don't respect others in that event. If you overdress, you are essentially saying, "I am better than you." So dress for a tie. Don't dress to show-off. Don't be too carefree with your wardrobe. Put some thought into it and dress appropriately.
3. Enchant Up: Enchant your boss. This is a critical advice for those working in any sort of organization. When your boss gives you an order, drop everything else and just do it. You might think it is useless, stupid, or even sub-optimal to do what your boss tells you do. But your boss most likely have a good reason. Drop everything and just do it.
4. Enchant your boss part 2 - Prototype & Bad News. If your boss gives you one week to complete a task, bring him or her what you worked on, your prototype, the next day. Get feedback and work to improve your prototype. Also when you have bad news for your boss, deliver bad news early. At the same time, make suggestions to fix that problem or bad news. Your boss will surely be impressed and be enchanted by you.
5. Enchant down: enchanting your staff or those working for you. Provide MAP for those working for you. MAP. Mastery, Autonomy, and Purpose. If you can convince people that "when you work for me, you will acquire new skills, master those skills, and will be provided opportunities to improve yourself", people will follow you. Provide latitudes to be autonomous once you have given the order. And provide a higher purpose, that intrinsic motivation, to work hard and make them understand that their work matters and that they are instrumental in doing good for the world.
6. Enchant your staff part 2 - Suck it up. Don't ask people to do something you wouldn't do yourself. If you tell your people to fly coach on a plane, you should be willing to fly coach yourself.
7. Trust others. When you trust people, people trust you. Onus is on you to trust first. You can even make trustworthiness as your business or product strategy.
- Amazon: You can buy book from us and return in 5 days. Even though people can read a book in less than five days and return, Amazon trusts you to do the right thing and you trust them back.
- Zappos - people trust Zappos because Zappos has trusted you first by paying for shipping both ways.
8. Tell a story. A story that is compelling, memorable, and easy to understand will be more powerful when you launch. Case in point: Pierre Omidyar and eBay. Silicon Valley legend is that Pierre Omidyar started eBay because his girlfriend wanted to sell PEZ dispensers online. Even though this story is not true, the story took on a life of its own and became a legendary story. Don't make up a lie but maybe bending story a little to make it more memorable and compelling might be necessary when you are selling your presentation or your start-up company.
9. Default to yes. When you meet people, always think, "how can I help that person?"
10. Invoke reciprocation.
Let me share two fabulous stories about power of helping people and reciprocation. First story is about people of Mexico and Ethiopia. Italy invaded Ethiopia in 1935 and people of Mexico sent money to Ethiopia to support them. Almost 50 years later, people of Mexico were in need because of devastating series of earthquakes in Mexico and People of Ethiopia, even though they were in worse situation because of extreme famine and poverty, collected money and sent money to people of Mexico. Second story is about people of New York and Columbia, SC.
Right after the civil war, people of Columbia used bucket brigades to fight fires because they didn't have right fire-fighting equipment. People of New York, including Union soldiers, heard about this and donated money to buy city of Columbia, SC a state-of-the art hose carriage. A boat that was carrying it sank but they raised money to send it again. About 140 years later, after 9/11 struck a city of New York, people of Columbia, SC raised nearly half a million dollar to buy a fire truck for New York because people there pledged that they would come through for New York if it ever needed its help.
As you can see, helping people and reciprocation is powerful. They are not just ways to enchant people. They make enchantments endure and they will help you make powerful and lasting relationships. Some practical tip Guy gave with regards to invoking reciprocation: when people thank you when you help them, you say, "I know you would do the same for me", acknowledging camaraderie between you two, and allow that person to pay you back in the future. Then you can do more favors for him and let him pay you back again, further enriching your relationships.
Now, are you ready to enchant people around you?
