I am a big fan of Lifehacker’s weekly “How I work” series. I have decided to use and answer the series’ question template as the basis for today’s blog post . I would recommend you check out the series on Lifehacker.
Current gig: Researcher, blogger, speaker,
Location: Slaithwaite, Huddersfield, England
Current mobile device: iPhone 4s
Current computer: Samsung X520
One word that best describes how you work: Slowly
I have done a number of posts on perception in the past. This is because I am fascinated with how we perceive the world. I believe that we don’t see the world as it is but as we are. We see the world in a subjective way rather than an objective way. The way we see the world determines how we respond or react to it. I saw a ‘Google talks’ video by Jeff Johnson (User Interface designer) and he talked about the three things that influence the way we see the world around us.
I am currently doing a project at work looking at how academics use iPads for teaching, research and administrative tasks. The project is 6 months old and there are some exciting preliminary findings. There is one specific finding that will be of interest to the readers of this blog.
Have you seen the movie – Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter? I saw it a few months ago and I enjoyed it. I loved the movie’s CGI gory action effects and its plot. What intrigued me most about the movie was the creative concept behind it. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (ALVH) started out as a novel before it became a movie. I discovered a transcript of an interview with the author, Seth Grahame-Smith, on how he got the creative spark that became ALVH.
There are two professions which I find fascinating: architecture and film-making (particularly directing). My admiration for both occupations is based on their leadership and creative features. I grew up with the desire to become an architect like my dad but I realised in my latter years at secondary (high) school that desire was not enough hence I moved into Social Sciences where I was best suited. I recently came across an interesting Metro newspaper quote by Fernando Meirelles (Brazilian movie director) which showcased the leadership similarities between architects and directors.
Margaret Thatcher is one leader who divides opinions in the UK. Some think she was despicable and others think she was respectable. Her death was celebrated by some as good riddance and mourned by others as a great loss. I find the whole thing amusing.
A few months ago, I contacted an American nonfiction author, Glenn Stout, to ask him for his first ever longform article which I was unable to locate online. He kindly agreed to post the article to me. But could you guess the first thing he did when he got an email from me – a complete stranger?
I mentioned in my last post that perception or the way you see the world is critical for creativity to flourish. I will explore the mobile phone industry as I attempt to explain how the original three major players got annihilated. The former major players in the mobile phone industry were Nokia, Blackberry and Sony-Ericsson and they have been upstaged by three companies who were not even players in this industry 10 years ago – Apple, Samsung and Google. The big question is how did this happen?
There are two things critical for your creativity to flourish – your environment and the way you see the world (perception). This post will focus on the environmental aspect of creativity and I will tackle ‘perception’ in a subsequent post.
I spoke to a friend on Saturday and he remarked that I haven’t blogged in a while. I agreed that I have been inconsistent this year so far. This is a result of not creating enough time to write but I am determined to get back on track from April. I have a plan.