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Creativity is an innate human quality. One can see it throughout their lives. When children have imaginary friends and play make-believe to the dreams that every one of us has each night, creativity is something we do not let go of all our lives. Every human achievement is a result of the creative processes of individuals, whether it be a thought, idea, design or a combination of these.
Guy Kawasai: The Art of the Start
Simon Sinek: How Great Leaders Inspire Action
I am not a sellout. Being my own boss would be a dream come true. But when I finished college two years ago, I didn’t have that million dollar idea. I didn’t have all the tools to navigate the world outside of college. And perhaps the most daunting of all, I didn’t have any money. Actually, not having money would have been a blessing; it would mean I was even. But I wasn’t even even! I owed money. Money I didn’t have.
—Mother Ann Le
The message behind this video is at the core of design thinking versus traditional engineering thinking. However, you really need the best of both worlds to be truly successful.
I’ve got money on my mind.
It’s one of the things I think about the most. But not in the way you’d think. The thought of buying a Maybach[1] doesn’t keep me up at night. And dreams of a large mansion don’t keep me in a peaceful slumber. The money that I think about isn’t necessarily my own, its everyone’s. For over a year now I’ve been wrestling with how important money is to my happiness, and that of others.
I think about this because its relevant to my life and those of my generation, and not because it’s an interesting academic or philosophical exercise.
How Bad Do You Want to be Successful?
I just read an article in the LA times talking about how people in my generation (I guess we’re the millenials?) are lowering their expectations about career and financial based success. I have to say, I’m not surprised by the article. I feel the crunch and I have a job that I like and a modicum of financial stability. I guess for me, the debate comes back to wrestling with that “American Dream”. I know it’s overused and now it’s more of a pipe dream than anything else these days, but it’s still there and real. Now, to repeat a resolve that is emerging among our peers—we need a new dream. I’m not going to spend time talking about economics that I only mildly understand—that’s for someone else. I’m not smart enough to come up with that new dream, but I want to focus on our comparison mentality and why change should start there.
I had just finished 7th grade when we moved to our new home in Naperville. It was the start of summer, I had no plans. Except one. Make money. Lots of it.
—Seth Godin
(Source: startupquote.com)
Part 2 of the Series: Cardboard and Foam - Working in 3 Dimensions
Pencil and paper can take you a long way. In this medium you can draw things out just as you envision them, but that can become a limitation. While on paper you can create images and words that describe how something might work, you still need to discover if it will work, and if it does work, how does it feel in reality. Reading that sentence, you may be thinking that there is no way to fully answer these questions without a fully functional prototype. While that is true, we often think we are ready for a full blown prototype long before we really are. Materials like cardboard and foam can bridge the gap between paper, and even higher quality prototypes.
