Gregg Fraley

Do you remember the scene in Mary Poppins where they sang the song “I love to laugh?” It was Ed Wynn, a Disney film stalwart and old vaudevillian who played Uncle Albert. When Uncle Albert laughed he rose into the air. Laughter does make us lighter, and being lighter changes our thinking. There is a real value to “going goofy” if you want to shift perspective, if you wish for heightened creativity. Goofiness is an applied creativity tool, and make no mistake, it’s serious business. The subject of my drawing looked vaguely liked Ed Wynn. Like Wynn, he had a wry smile, almost smug, on his face as we rode the train into London. His secret wish is a projection

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Andy Warhol’s famous quote from 1968, that everybody will be world famous for 15 minutes has come true hasn’t it? I just watched a YouTube of a 12 year old dancing to the Maverick’s “Dance the Night Away” — 38,000 views and counting (authentic if nothing else). The democratization of the media has happened, for better or worse. However, if you’ve not quite gotten your 15 minutes yet, I wouldn’t worry so much about it. A secret wish for fame may mask some other need. Peel back that onion before you attempt to break the world’s record for eating ostrich omelettes. Because… Creativity does not require fame. Innovation does not require fame. Full self-expression, in any of its many forms,

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Practical matters are often given as reasons for not doing creative things. “I’d love to try painting, but I don’t have time for that silly stuff.” “Yeah, I love music, but who can spend an hour a day practicing guitar.” “I hate my job, but I dare not change in these troubled times.” It’s true, we have to be practical. We have to pay mortgages, school fee’s, taxes, car payments there is no end to the bills in a middle class life style. No end to the trouble you can get into taking risks in life, and yet, being practical — all the time — isn’t much fun is it? Yes, we need some stability in our lives, but past

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Regrets are something we all carry around. Some of us more lightly than others. Maybe I’m projecting but when I saw “Harold” the other day it occurred to me that his regrets were of the heavier variety. He was working hard on his laptop but occasionally he’d look out the window of the train with a regretful frown on his face. I got out my pen and did a quick sketch. My imagination had him wistfully thinking about a very early crush. When boys are just beginning to get interested in girls there’s that awkward period where you’re scared to ask for a dance, or to even say hello, let alone have a kiss. That doesn’t stop you from thinking

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Some organizations are in a state of procrastination about Innovation. They really mean to do it…someday. “It’s really our intention, next quarter, err, actually, we mean next year,” says the beleaguered innovation director. This is “Innavoidance”. I’ve coined this term. Inavoidance defined in Fraley’s Funky & Wagnally New School Dictionary: INaVOYdanz — a persistent cultural lack of innovation work, process and action, nascent creativity, like procrastination, except specific to new product, service, or business development. Note that inside the new word is “navo” which in Latin means “to do with zeal,” and “dance” — the joyful act of doing the peppermint twist, or watusi. Sadly, both of these positive connotations are negated by the “void” in the middle. Bottom line,

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You’re about 50% of the population, at least. The modest half — overly modest. Generally, the hard working half. You make modest improvements (sometimes big improvements). You focus on the task at hand, and you don’t stir up trouble.  In fact, you seek to bridge gaps in teams or departments, this while not seeking accolades, just seeking harmony and productivity. You probably don’t work in Marketing, or other glamor areas, instead, maybe in HR, or Sales, Administration, or Operations. And, you are Not Creative. If people ask, you say out loud “I’m not creative,” or maybe “I’m not a creative type.” You really believe this lie. Sorry brothers and sisters, I’m calling you out on this — it’s just not

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So, you’d like to be more creative. It’s good news, it’s a giant step beyond “I’m not creative”. If you’re “not creative” — stop saying that to yourself and, boy, do you need the list below! Before the thought and motivation leave you, try to get into action and actually Do Something Creative Now. Something that might become a habit, like smoking, only positive. Many people have the ‘more creative’ impulse and then let it float away on the raft of inaction. 10 Ways to Be More Creative, Right Now: 1. Go out and buy a notebook, a cool one, an easy to carry around one. Then start making lists in it of ideas for your various needs. Have a

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For about three years in the early 80’s I was a stand-up comic. It was a humbling experience. I was bad. Really, bad — particularly at first. I learned how to be a better speaker the hard way. There is nothing quite like “dying” on stage as a stand-up, think the Hindenberg disaster. Multiply by 10 your most humiliating experience — that will give you some idea. Stand-up audiences have a notoriously short fuse for inauthentic, not-funny, boring, stupid, or pretentious comic wanna-be’s. Basically, you have a brief moment to get their attention and hold it. If you haven’t got the attention of a group in the first six seconds — and this is true for any presentation — you

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I’ve recently started to advocate a new theory of creative thinking. Ready? Don’t think, Do. It’s not “Just Do It” — blindly doing something (although that beats inaction).  It’s more like start Doing in order to inform your thinking.  And keep doing to inform your thinking. It’s my view that many of us waste a great deal of time thinking. Thinking is going to happen, what doesn’t happen enough is action. Don’t wait for the perfect idea to get started. Get started, and perfect ideas often emerge. Yes, you need good ideas, and, good ideas often occur to you as a result of kinesthetic or multi-sensory action. If your problem is intellectual, find a way to make it more tangible.

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Here’s a guest post from good friend and colleague Doug Stevenson. A brief note about Doug — he’s probably the most inspirational trained brain to be found on the planet — he’s the ideal “idea man” and if you need someone to give you 100 ideas about Anything, this is the guy. This is his account of his CPSI (Creative Problem Solving Institute) experience. I’d asked him to do a guest post as I couldn’t attend this year. I find it pretty amazing the lengths people will go to to connect with their creativity and the creative community. In challenging times, take Doug’s advice, don’t worry about your brakes — head for the light, and never retreat in your quest for

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