#spontenaity

[an-experienced-gentleman]

Anticipating your partner's imagination and creativity.

Six Sexy Words

[iamcherryboo420]

Spontenaity.

[creativesage]

(via Improv can help develop Business Creativity — Destination Innovation)

By Paul Sloane

I often use improv theatre techniques in my workshops on creativity and innovation. They are little plays in which people have to spontaneously handle unexpected situations in front of an audience. Usually delegates approach these challenges with some caution but after a little training and practice they find them entertaining and liberating. The methods can be amusing icebreakers. But they also serve a deeper and more rewarding purpose – they challenge our assumptions about the unexpected.

Throughout life we learn to treat the unexpected with care. This might be based on something deep within our primitive ancestry. In ancient times something that was unknown or unusual might have been dangerous so the safest option was to view it with caution. Our natural instinct is to repel the outsider, to reject unorthodoxy and to repulse unexpected ideas. Improv challenges all of this. It teaches us to welcome the unknown and to turn it to our advantage. In an improv theatre exercise we learn not to reject or question a crazy notion that is thrown at us but to take it on board, go with the idea, build on it and pass it on.

For example, say you are in a two-man improv interview. The other person may start with a random statement such as, ‘I see your pet gorilla is causing trouble again.’ You could close down the conversation by replying,’ No it isn’t.’ Or, ‘I don’t have a gorilla.’ However you quickly learn that is better to take the idea and build on it by saying something like,’ I know, he drinks too much cider.’ Or, ‘I warned him not to join the Milwall supporters club.’ These kinds of responses give your partner something new and useful to build on. The conversation can then go into all kinds of bizarre and amusing directions.

Some people misunderstand improv. They have seen some programmes on TV where clever comedians use improv to deliver terrific witticisms. It seems that improv is all about being funny. But it is not. Improv is about being spontaneous. It is about being imaginative. It is about taking the unexpected and then doing something unexpected with it. Very often this leads to humour and hilarious situations. But they are by-products. The key thing is being open to crazy ideas and building on them. And funnily enough this is exactly what is needed if we are going to make our enterprises more creative and more agile.

Stodgy, conventional organisations have an atmosphere that instinctively rejects anything counter-cultural. Radical ideas are robustly opposed. People fall into what de Bono calls the intelligence trap; the smarter you are the easier it is to find fault with new ideas. Improv helps expose and rebut this approach.

Truly innovative organisations develop a culture where anybody can challenge anything. New ideas are welcomed. Crazy ideas are not rejected – they are used as starting points for ‘What if?’ discussions that lead to radical new concepts. If you want to change the culture in your business to support rather than reject creativity then improv is a good place to start.

[Entire post — click on the post title link to read it at Destination Innovation.]

***

An innovation colleague, Paul Sloane, is Editor of the Amazon best-selling business book, A Guide to Open Innovation and Crowd Sourcing: Advice from Leading Experts, with a foreword by Henry Chesbrough (Kogan Page, 2011). Cathryn Hrudicka, Founder, CEO and Chief Imagination Officer of Creative Sage™, is one of the contributing authors. You can order it here: http://amzn.to/OI_CS

Cathryn Hrudicka co-wrote the chapter, “Building the Culture for Open Innovation and Crowd Sourcing,” with Gwen Ishmael and Boris Pluskowski — more information about all of the co-authors and the contents of this book is available at: http://bit.ly/OI_CS_Google

At Creative Sage™, we can help you maximize the value of your open innovation and crowdsourcing or crowdfunding projects and gain the insights you need to move forward most effectively. To discuss your organization’s situation, please feel free to give us a call, at 1-510-845-5510 (PST, in the San Francisco Bay Area/Silicon Valley). You can also contact us by email and visit our web site for more information. We look forward to working with you and helping you get real results.

***

[moonm0chi]

so..

just bought a flight to LA to visit my best friend once she moves there but also bc I’m trying to go see BTS @ Staples Center HOLLA

[bjorkquotes]

I’m terrified of having a recipe for life. It scares the shit out of me. I wonder about the future, but I never plan on it.

Björk on living spontaneously, i-D Magazine (1996)

[sigilathenaeum]

Could you do a sigil for a spontaneous eventful life that never bores?

“My life is spontaneous and never boring” sigil 

I want to warn you to be cautious with this one anon (and anyone else who uses it). There are a lot of ways your life could be spontaneous and not boring, and they aren’t all good. So if you use it be careful. Make sure when you charge it you are focusing on positive things. If you feel it’s drawing any negative events into your life deactivate the sigil, get rid of it.

[kurttheyrebeautiful]

THEY SAID WE LOOK CUTE IN THE PICTURE OF THE TWO OF US AND THAT WE SHOULD GET COFFEE NEXT TIME THEYRE IN THE U.S.

[homosynthecis]

Look around you and look inside you. How many people do you think are settling? I will tell you: a hell of a lot of people. People are settling everyday into okay relationships and okay jobs and an okay life. And do you know why? Because okay is comfortable. Okay pays the bills and gives a warm bed at night and allows one to go out with co-workers on a Friday evening to enjoy happy hour. But do you know what okay is not? Okay isn’t thrilling, it isn't passion, it isn't the reason you get up everyday; it isn't life changing or unforgettable. Okay is not the reason you go to bed late and wake up early. Okay is not the reason you risk absolutely everything you’ve got just for the smallest chance that something absolutely amazing could happen.