Simon Sinek on How to Strengthen Your Creative Skills

In Chapter 13 of 16 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, author and public speaker Simon Sinek answers "How is Your Creative Toolbox Changing?"  The more Sinek practices his creative skills, the stronger his toolbox gets.  He focuses on amplifying on his strengths and hiring out his weaknesses to both broaden and sharpen skills.  As a lover of creative people, Sinek looks to try new things such as modern dance choreography and painting to get perspective on creative process.  Simon Sinek teaches leaders and organizations how to inspire people.  His goal is to "inspire people to do the things that inspire them" and help others find fulfillment in their work.  Sinek is the author of "Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action".  He works regularly with the United States Military, United States Congress, and many organizations, agencies and entrepreneurs.  Sinek is an adjunct professor at Columbia University and an adjunct staff member at the think tank RAND Corporation.  Sinek earned a BA in Cultural Anthropology from Brandeis University.

Transcript

Erik Michielsen:  How is your creative toolbox changing?

Simon Sinek:  I’m adding to it. Right? I mean, you know, I don’t think I’ve thrown anything away. I may use some things less than I used to. But the more I learn and the more I get to practice more importantly, the more tools I’m adding to that toolbox. What’s also great is some of the tools change size, in other words, there are some tools that I really like and I’m really good with, and so I use those tools because they’re very helpful to me, and there are other tools that I’ve learned that I’m really no good with and so they’re there if I need them, you know, I’ve never understood the idea of working on your weaknesses, you know, we’re always told in our performance reviews, here are your weaknesses and these are the things you need to work on to get to the next level, I’ve never understood that, the whole idea is to work in our strengths, amplify our strengths, and we, you know, hire our weaknesses or—this is the value of a team, right? What’s the point of having a team if you have to be—if you have to improve on your weaknesses?

The whole idea is we have you on our team because you’re really good at this. You know? And we found somebody else who’s really good at this, which you’re really bad at. You guys are a team. This is the value of a team. And so I think in our workplace, our companies do us a great disservice by telling us that we have to fix our weaknesses or improve upon our weaknesses to get to the next level, they should be encouraging us and giving the tool to amplify our strengths to get to the next level, that’s what they want us for, right? Otherwise, here are your strengths and here are your weaknesses, now you’re even. Wouldn’t you wanna be this? You need to be aware of your weaknesses but we need to amplify those strengths.

Erik Michielsen:  What are a couple of examples of like the creative tools that have brought that out?

Simon Sinek:  I’m a lover of creative people. And so any sort of expression of how you see the world in a—with different terminology is fascinating to me. And so even though I myself am a photographer so I have that visual aspect, I’m a huge fan of modern dance and spend a lot of time sort of with dancers and in the dance world and have, you know, tried my hand at choreography just to see, you know? I’m not good. But it—I like the idea of trying it, you know? And so for me it’s about perspective, which is when I—when you hang out with dancers and you sort of learn to dance a little bit or you learn to choreograph a little bit, or you learn to paint a little bit, you know? I’m not a painter but I painted a painting recently, you know? If you—it’s like chaos theory. Everything’s connected, right? It’s like we conveniently divide up our lives, like here’s my personal life, here’s my professional life, I’m—here’s my social life, I’m looking to find balance. It’s just you. And all the same things apply. And so if you’re good here, you can apply what you learn here to there. And so when you learn how things interconnect and people interconnect, and how human relationships work, and presence, I mean you wanna learn about presence? Take a dance class. You learn all about how to present yourself and be forwards. Take an acting class, learn how to, you know, present your speech. People say, Simon, how did you learn this? It’s like—I’m exposed to all of this. So the tools I’ve learned have just mainly been different perspectives on how other people use their creative talents to see the world in it. If I can get little pieces of those, they help me in many, many different ways.

Simon Sinek on Learning New Ways to Use Your Passions

In Chapter 15 of 16 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, author and public speaker Simon Sinek answers "How Are You Learning to Apply Your Passions in New Ways?"  Sinek first gets clear on what he wants to do - "inspire people to do the things that inspire them" - and then plays the game of finding new ways to do it.  From branching out skills into short-form and long-form writing to working in new industries such as military, politics and government, Sinek sees himself as a student of inspiration and leadership always looking to learn more and grow.  Simon Sinek teaches leaders and organizations how to inspire people.  Sinek is the author of "Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action".  He works regularly with the United States Military, United States Congress, and many organizations, agencies and entrepreneurs.  Sinek is an adjunct professor at Columbia University and an adjunct staff member at the think tank RAND Corporation.  Sinek earned a BA in Cultural Anthropology from Brandeis University.

Transcript

Erik Michielsen:  How are you learning to apply your passions in new ways?

Simon Sinek:  The goal of life is to know why you do what you do, right? To wake up every single day with a clear sense of purpose or cause or belief. And the fun of life is just find all the different ways to do that, right? So like I said, I know why I get out of bed in the morning. It’s to inspire people to do what inspires them, right? If we can do that together, we can change the world. Then I imagine this world, I imagine a world in which the vast majority of people wake up every single day to inspire to go to work and come home every single day fulfilled by the work that they do. So to find new ways to do that is almost the game, you know, I can speak, I can write, I can teach, you know? I can write short form, I can long—I can write long form. It also makes me open to other people’s ideas. It makes me open to new industries. I never imagined I’d be working in even half the industries I’ve been exposed to. From government to politics to military, big business, you know, entrepreneurs and every industry you can imagine. And it’s always because it’s—I’m not saying, oh, I’m this kind of consultant, or I’m this kind of expert, I mean—anybody who calls themselves an expert, be very cautious, you know? Because if you think you’re an expert, it means you have—you don’t think you have anything else to learn, right? If anything, I’m a student of inspiration, I’m a student of leadership, I’m a student of these things. You know, I show up every day to want to learn more.

Simon Sinek on When Your Idea is Worth Turning Into a Book

In Chapter 16 of 16 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, author and public speaker Simon Sinek answers "How Do You Take Collections of Ideas and Turn Them Into Books?"  Sinek focuses less on the collection of ideas and more on how to take an idea, attack a problem and do so by taking your readers on a journey.  Simon Sinek teaches leaders and organizations how to inspire people.  His goal is to "inspire people to do the things that inspire them" and help others find fulfillment in their work.  Sinek is the author of "Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action".  He works regularly with the United States Military, United States Congress, and many organizations, agencies and entrepreneurs.  Sinek is an adjunct professor at Columbia University and an adjunct staff member at the think tank RAND Corporation.  Sinek earned a BA in Cultural Anthropology from Brandeis University.

Transcript

Erik Michielsen:  How do you take collections of ideas and turn them into books?

Simon Sinek:  Considering that most books are probably only have enough content in them to be sort of articles, you know, to take a collection of ideas and turn them into a book, you know, an idea to be a book has to be able to advance. In other words, it has to start somewhere and go somewhere. Right? And I think a lot of books that are written have an idea that’s—it may be a really good idea but the whole book is simply case studies that prove the same idea, over and over and over again, right? And a book like in a work of fiction is a story. It has a beginning, it has a middle, and it has an end. You know, there’s a sort of an Aristotelian story arc, you know, where there’s some sort of here’s the world there is something is introduced that makes everything go wrong, you know there’s some sort of resolution and then here’s the—here’s how it looks. There’s conflict, right? So I think a collection of ideas that belong in a book, it addresses a very real problem. Here’s the way the world is. There’s a serious problem with this. Here’s the introduction of something that can help us and here’s what we could do to advance that. And there’s an arc. There’s something that holds your interest throughout the whole thing as opposed to just pick a page, start anywhere, and it’s more of the same. You should feel like you’ve missed the beginning if you start in the middle, you know? So yeah, I mean, a collection of ideas, I wouldn’t call it a collection of ideas, I’d call it, you know, a journey. That—and it doesn’t even have to be a complete journey, it has to be a journey. It has to start somewhere, and it has to go somewhere, even if it’s not a final destination.

Using Journalism Education in a Business Career - Ross Floate

In Chapter 5 of 20 in his 2012 interview, branding and design strategist Ross Floate answers "How Has Your Journalism Education Been Useful in Your Business Career?"  For Floate, journalism skills that teach finding out the fundamentals of a particular issue is hugely useful.  Additionally, the problem solving skills and also the inquisitive skills that come with finding the truth prove very helpful in business settings.  Ross Floate is a principal at Melbourne, Australia-based Floate Design Partners.  Experienced in branding, design and both online and offline publishing, Floate and his team provide marketing services to clients seeking to better communicate business and culture goals via image, messaging, and story. He is a graduate of RMIT University.

Learning Professionalism Working in the Newsroom - Ross Floate

In Chapter 6 of 20 in his 2012 interview, branding and design strategist Ross Floate answers "Where Did You Learn Your Work Ethic?"  Floate notes how he likes to work hard when the work is there.  His work ethic is about professionalism and doing the job right so others do not have to fix your mistakes.  Working as a newspaper and magazine designer, Floate learns professionalism and sharpens work ethic by working with older art directors and editors who, through their criticism, teach him the importance of being accountable for errors and mistakes.  Ross Floate is a principal at Melbourne, Australia-based Floate Design Partners.  Experienced in branding, design and both online and offline publishing, Floate and his team provide marketing services to clients seeking to better communicate business and culture goals via image, messaging, and story. He is a graduate of RMIT University.

How Entry-Level Job Teaches Design Career Skills - Ross Floate

In Chapter 7 of 20 in his 2012 interview, branding and design strategist Ross Floate answers "What Skills Did You Learn Working Entry-Level Jobs That You Still Find Useful Today?"  Working an entry-level prepress job in print-based publishing company, Floate learns core craft skills fixing others mistakes that teach him core design skills.  That attention to detail still benefits him today.  Additionally, he learns the importance of workflow and how someone is responsible for each part of a process.  He gets better at his job by gaining respect learning to emphathize with others and respect their responsibility.  Floate learns Ross Floate is a principal at Melbourne, Australia-based Floate Design Partners.  Experienced in branding, design and both online and offline publishing, Floate and his team provide marketing services to clients seeking to better communicate business and culture goals via image, messaging, and story. He is a graduate of RMIT University.

How Hands On Experience Shapes Design Career Path - Ross Floate

In Chapter 17 of 20 in his 2012 interview, branding and design strategist Ross Floate answers "How Has Working With Your Hands Shaped Your Design Education?"  Floate finds it is less about the physical act of making things and, rather, taking pride in the things you make.  Floate finds he dislikes cooking for others, which helps him think about why hands-on work as a child also didn't register with him.  Ross Floate is a principal at Melbourne, Australia-based Floate Design Partners.  Experienced in branding, design and both online and offline publishing, Floate and his team provide marketing services to clients seeking to better communicate business and culture goals via image, messaging, and story. He is a graduate of RMIT University.

Using Twitter to Exercise Creative Writing Skills - Ross Floate

In Chapter 20 of 20 in his 2012 interview, branding and design strategist Ross Floate answers "How Do You Use Social Media to Exercise Your Creative Skills?"  As a trained journalist, Floate uses Twitter as a creative outlet to share thoughts, connect with smart, intersting people and to work through and vet creative ideas.  Referencing his journalism experience, Floate uses what he learned to write lead sentences to write inside the 140-character format of Twitter.  Ross Floate is a principal at Melbourne, Australia-based Floate Design Partners.  Experienced in branding, design and both online and offline publishing, Floate and his team provide marketing services to clients seeking to better communicate business and culture goals via image, messaging, and story. He is a graduate of RMIT University.

How to Stay Ahead of the Innovation Curve - Richard Moross

In Chapter 9 of 17 in his 2012 interview, London entrepreneur and Moo.com CEO Richard Moross answers "How Are You Learning to Apply Your Passions in New Ways?"  Moross shares how making design more accessible to people means he must consider looking beyond paper products to serve his customers.  This requires him to look beyond paper to future options that may evolve from physical to digital.  Moross is founder and CEO of Moo.com and a leader in the London startup scene.  Before starting Moo.com, an award-winning online print business, Moross was a strategist at Imagination, the world's largest independent design company.  He graduated from the University of Sussex, where he majored in philosophy and politics.

Jon Kolko on How to Turn a Collection of Ideas into a Book

In Chapter 7 of 21 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, design educator Jon Kolko answers "How Do You Take Collections of Ideas and Turn them Into Books?"  Kolko shares both his practical and theoretical approaches.  Practically, he simply writes and takes notes consistently and finds the notes and writings progressively congeal into a theme that then may then become a book project which then goes into the standard editing process.  Theoretically,  Kolko finds he fights himself making the decision to green light a book project and finds it happens around the 35,000 or 40,000 word mark. 

Jon Kolko the founder and director of the Austin Center for Design.  He has authored multiple books on design, including "Wicked Problems: Problems Worth Solving."  Previously he has held senior roles at venture accelerator Thinktiv and frog design and was a professor of Interactive and Industrial Design at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD).  Kolko earned his Masters in Human Computer Interaction (MHI) and BFA in Design from Carnegie Mellon University.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: How do you take collections of ideas and turn them into books?

Jon Kolko: The process is pretty simple. There's probably like a theoretical answer as well as a practical answer. The practical is a little easier but my process is typically to just write; to write with no directive, no outline, no goal in mind over a process of about nine months to a year, and I write when I'm at conferences, and I write when I'm in class, and I write when I'm on an airplane. The pro tip here is the more time you spend on an airplane, the more time you have to write. And so, there is sort of a weird relationship with being in extreme physical agony on an airplane, on an aircraft and being massively productive but whatever. And then at some point, the thoughts of all of these different conferences and conversations and writing start to congeal into a theme, and usually sort of in backwards looking. It's sort of like a retrospective. It makes sense, like of course it led to this book theme. But there's never any of that sort of central plan. I've set out to write a book about a certain topic like four or five times and I've never written that book. And so it's much more of an organic process. And then once that clicks and you're like, “Okay, cool. The next book is called Wicked Problems.” Then I deal with standard editing process and outline, here's the different points I want to hit and then revise it and tear it down and write it again, kind stuff. But before that point, it really is all over the place. I'm not even sure that I'm cognizant that I'm doing it when I'm doing it. And so, like on my laptop, I have all my nice little folders and stuff, then on my desktop I’ll have little notepad snippets of just random stuff, you know 500 words, 1,000 words. At some point it all starts to make sense. The tools for this suck. There's got to be a better way to structure that in a way that can start to draw the parallels between disparate ideas more closely. But anyway, that’s the practical way of how you set out and write a book. How I set out and write a book.

The theoretical way, there are points in the process where you're like, “I don’t know if I should write this book. I don’t know if I have this book inside of me.” I've had that over and over and over and it's right around 35,000 words usually, which is kind of weird. A book is 45 to 90,000 words depending on how big it is but right around 35,000 something kick in and you’re like… it's that same old voice, right? It's like you don’t what you're talking about or you're not good enough, or this book will never work, nobody wants to read this. You could squelch that voice, right? You can shut it up. It's weird how consistently that voice shows up and it ran right around at the same point in the process.

Jon Kolko on How an Editor Improves the Book Writing Process

In Chapter 8 of 21 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, design educator Jon Kolko answers "How Did You Learn to Work More Closely with Editors to Refine Your Writing?"  Kolko, who has written three books, meets an editor, Ronni, working on a book with the publisher Oxford.  His editor helps carry his voice when telling his story about design and do so in a positive way. 

Jon Kolko the founder and director of the Austin Center for Design.  He has authored multiple books on design, including "Wicked Problems: Problems Worth Solving."  Previously he has held senior roles at venture accelerator Thinktiv and frog design and was a professor of Interactive and Industrial Design at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD).  Kolko earned his Masters in Human Computer Interaction (MHI) and BFA in Design from Carnegie Mellon University.

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: How did you learn to work more closely with editors to refine your writing?

Jon Kolko: So I have a great editor. I first encountered her.  Her name Ronnie and I first encountered her writing with Oxford. My second book was with Oxford and then I was like, “I'm never working with publishers again!” and the one piece of that process that I retained was hiring a professional editor. And so we were joking about this before. I submit my manuscript to Ronnie and it comes back and literally 50 percent of it is redlined out, like cut, cut, cut, cut, cut. 

In many ways, the first time I experienced that, I was extremely taken aback. It was like “Woah, wait a second, what's going on here?” But in fact, it turns out that having that sort of objective perspective is of huge importance. 

I don’t actually think I'm a writer. I think that I'm a fairly okay person at putting together a book. But I'm not a writer. I'm not a writer in a way that I think like somebody like Steven Johnson is a writer. But because I have I think a different story to tell about design and I'm an okay writer, there is something special that comes out of that but because of that, I think an editor plays a much stronger role in my process. 

Typically, an editor doesn’t give you a voice and they try not to take away your voice. I don’t think my editor gives me a voice or takes away my voice. But anything that she helps structure, what are overly argumentative reasonings into something that’s much more absorbable by someone who just isn’t in the mood to get in an argument. I feel as an academic, like I need to defend the things that I'm saying, and I think one of the big points I learned from an editor is these are your points. You don’t need to defend them. Yeah, you need an academic trail and sure you need to cite your sources but go into it assuming that your reader agrees with you rather than assuming your reader is there to disagree with you. And the book will be much more positive and strong and she’s exactly right.

How to Self Publish a Book - Jon Kolko

In Chapter 9 of 21 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, design educator Jon Kolko answers "How Did You Build Upon Past Writing Projects in Publishing Your Latest Book?"  Kolko self-publishes his first book which then was picked up by a publisher, where it found moderate success.  For his second book, Kolko works through a publisher and decides for his third book he will self-publish.  He shares the various aspects of the publishing process he has learned to navigate as he goes through the self-publishing process. 

Jon Kolko the founder and director of the Austin Center for Design.  He has authored multiple books on design, including "Wicked Problems: Problems Worth Solving."  Previously he has held senior roles at venture accelerator Thinktiv and frog design and was a professor of Interactive and Industrial Design at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD).  Kolko earned his Masters in Human Computer Interaction (MHI) and BFA in Design from Carnegie Mellon University.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: How did you build upon past writing projects in publishing your latest book?

Jon Kolko: I learned a ton doing my first couple of books. Some brief history, is I self-published the very first one and we printed a thousand copies and all thousand of them show up in a truck and then you sell them online, blah, blah, blah, and then that got picked up by a publisher. That was moderately successful. The next book got picked up by an academic publisher, that was not very successful. And so, I got to the point where I was like, “Alright, I'm not working with publishers anymore.” I can do all the things a publisher can do, I can do them faster, and I can do them, I think, better. Again, with a caveat maybe of editing. 

So I was able to do all of those things myself and in retrospect there's actually nothing hard about publishing a book. I'm astounded that actually a lot of the big presses are still in business at all because it is so easy. And so, again there's some really pragmatic steps like acquiring an ISBN number, getting your book listed in the various services, books in print, and on Amazon and stuff. But you can Google any of that and it's all there. The only thing that is difficult that remains is what is the book about and what does it look like. Coming soon will be in which digital formats do you support and that’s starting to start to be an issue right now. Even something as simple as exporting to an EPUB and a MOBI and stuff is a pain in the ass and it won’t be in the future. 

But for the time being, if you have a good idea and you know someone who can lay it out or you can lay it out yourself, you got a book. Your audience will find you. Long Tail or any other catchy name for it like that, that works. And so, I think what I learned from the publishing experience is that I don’t need that publishing experience. It gave me the confidence to say that old, tired machine is not for me. 

Jon Kolko on How to Make Social Impact Jobs a Design Career Choice

In Chapter 10 of 21 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, design educator Jon Kolko answers "What Made You Decide to Write a Book on Wicked Problems?"  Kolko writes the book as a call to action for practicing designers and the educators who teach them.  The book, available for free at www.wickedproblems.com, offers innovative approaches to the evolving design career options. 

Jon Kolko the founder and director of the Austin Center for Design.  He has authored multiple books on design, including "Wicked Problems: Problems Worth Solving."  Previously he has held senior roles at venture accelerator Thinktiv and frog design and was a professor of Interactive and Industrial Design at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD).  Kolko earned his Masters in Human Computer Interaction (MHI) and BFA in Design from Carnegie Mellon University.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: What made you decide to write a book on Wicked Problems?

Jon Kolko: Wicked Problems, the book, is a call to action for practicing designers. I would like to see all designers start to question not just the quality of the work they're doing, but what problems they're actually working on. And so, the initial thought was what kind of project can we do at Austin Center for Design to get the word out about the curriculum we're teaching, the types of projects we're launching, and companies we're starting. And so, it was like alright, we’ll do a book, maybe some videos and then the thought was like why not just give it away for free? And so, the whole project is available at WickedProblems.com and my hope is that there's a couple different tiers of designers, like sort of segments of designers that will find it interesting. 

The most immediate is design educators. There's a tiny, tiny number of design educators in the world. And so, if five of them changed their curriculum, suddenly we've affected a lot of practicing designers to be in 10 years. And so, like, here's a curriculum for you, it's cut and dry, it's already done, now you just have the easy task of pushing it through a curriculum council which is another 10 years at some places. But it's to set a precedent for them. 

Another audience is for practicing designers and for practicing designers that are five and six years out, they really start to hit a wall with a huge degree of regularity and they're looking for both examples of what other things they could be doing and also permission to do it. And I found it really effective to just say that to younger junior designers like it's okay to exit the corporate consultancy game. It's okay. There are other things you can do. You can take design and take it policy. You can take it to finance. You can take it to film. You can take it to art. You can take it to Wicked Problems. You can do a lot of things with design. It doesn’t have to be jammed into business. And that’s really, really refreshing, I think for them to hear or so it has been in my experience. 

The last audience is for designers who are right now like seniors in college who are about to graduate and they're scratching their head going, “You know what? I don’t want to work at --“name your Fortune 20 company, “and these flashy consultancies. I don’t want to work there either.” Those used to be rogue designers and design programs. They're the norm now and they have grown up with a set of ideals that it's part of them to work on things that matter. Well, like, Okay, cool. Here's your handbook. Go work on things that matter and make the world a better place.

How to Be More Creative by Changing Your Surroundings

In Chapter 5 of 17 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, leadership philosopher Bijoy Goswami answers "How Has Changing Your Surroundings Made You More Creative?"  He notes how altering patterns and routines creates a more open-minded or curious mindset that fuels his creative thinking. 

Bijoy Goswami is a writer, teacher, and community leader based in Austin, Texas.  He develops learning models, including MRE, youPlusU, and Bootstrap, to help others live more meaningfully.  Previously, he co-founded Aviri Software after working at Trilogy Software.  Goswami graduated from Stanford University, where he studied Computer Science, Economics, and History. 

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen:  How has changing your surroundings made you more creative?

Bijoy Goswami:  You know, you get into patterns, right? So, when I'm in Austin I'm in my pattern. I mean, there’s a set of things that I do and I think Austin is a very creative place because there’s so much serendipity that happens both from things like South By and other festivals, Fuse Box and things like that happen through the year and they sort of immerse you into these different environments but otherwise with those happening you’re kind of on a particular pattern.

I think you start to get grooved in, you know, things start to solidify and you don’t really think outside the box but when things like South By happens, it’s really interesting because it’s actually an experience layered on to the same environment all of a sudden I'm in a different mode, you know, and so it’s a very interesting thing because you’re not going toward something you’re more open to receiving things. So, your mindset is very different. You’re saying, oh, what’s new? What’s interesting? You’re looking up and around rather than forward and ahead. So, I think that’s what that does, I mean, in Austin our festivals do that.

For me, it’s whenever I travel that’s what happens. I mean, you know, I go to London or go to UK or I was in Oslo last year, I mean, it’s just always interesting because – and it’s also funny because you see the similarities of what makes culture the same but you also see all these differences and you’re like, oh, that’s really interesting and I can see where that came from and the weather influenced this and, you know. So, I think it just jogs you out of your routine, which is really cool.

How to Get into a Flow State of Productivity

In Chapter 6 of 17 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, leadership philosopher Bijoy Goswami answers "When Do You Find Yourself Entering a Flow State of Productivity?"  He shares how flow only comes after an immersion process.  Once the immersion is under way, flow occurs and he is able to find a zone of productivity. 

Bijoy Goswami is a writer, teacher, and community leader based in Austin, Texas.  He develops learning models, including MRE, youPlusU, and Bootstrap, to help others live more meaningfully.  Previously, he co-founded Aviri Software after working at Trilogy Software.  Goswami graduated from Stanford University, where he studied Computer Science, Economics, and History. 

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen:  When do you find yourself entering a flow state of productivity?

Bijoy Goswami:  I think it’s a matter of taking enough time to do a task long enough that you get into it. So, what I found is a flow state occurs, you know, in any given moment, you need about an hour or two of ongoing work in that task and then you find yourself in a flow state.

So, there’s something about – There’s a settling in process and settling down process and then once you’re in that zone, you’re in that flow state but you can’t – I very rarely find myself starting in the flow state and so, you know, I’ll ramp up a task and start doing something and then as I’m doing it more then I’ll find myself in the flow state.

So, I mean, like, you know, South By is a great example like, you know, again you’ll start and you're like, oh, yeah South By and you have these festivals and there’s panels and, you know, and then you just start going, you start getting into it and by the first day or second day you're down the road and you’re just gonna stop by, you know that you’re in the process of it. So, I think it’s a really interesting thing, it did take some setup and then once you’ve setup then you can start to groove in.

How to Make Your Creative Work More Lasting

In Chapter 12 of 17 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, leadership philosopher Bijoy Goswami answers "How Are You Learning to Make Your Work More Lasting?"  He notes how constant iteration helps him uncover deeper truths behind the models he creates in his writing.  He shares how each year offers additional perspective to build upon his core concepts and create something more truthful, lasting, and pervasive.  Bijoy Goswami is a writer, teacher, and community leader based in Austin, Texas.  He develops learning models, including MRE, youPlusU, and Bootstrap, to help others live more meaningfully.  Previously, he co-founded Aviri Software after working at Trilogy Software.  Goswami graduated from Stanford University, where he studied Computer Science, Economics, and History. 

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen:  How are you learning to make your work more lasting?

Bijoy Goswami: I do two things. One is you have to keep working at it to make sure that it’s actually right at some level that it is – The longest that I've worked in terms of models is MRE (Maven, Relater, Evangelist) with The Human Fabric and so I started with that model probably in 2000 with my buddy Bruce when we started our company together in 2000 and then moved on from there and get some other things, 2005 I wrote Human Fabric with a friend, another friend David Wolpert and I wrote this book The Human Fabric which described the three energies and often times you’d say well great, that was the book and you’ve really done it and what I've found now in 2012 is that 2005 and 2000 were just the beginning like writing the book was just the beginning of the process. I've learned so much more about the MRE, about how those energies work in the intervening seven years and I would guess that in the next 7 or 20 or 30 or however long I get, I'll keep doing that. So, to me the thing is, you gotta – There’s something about your trying to tap in to something that’s actually true that it’s verifiable, you know. And the more true the thing is that you're finding out, the more lasting it is because that’s what, you know, pervades is truth.

So, you know, people say, you know, with evolution, oh evolution is just a theory. Well, there’s a complete misunderstanding of what a theory is, right? A theory is something that is articulated and has been attacked and evolution has been attacked for the last 200 years or however long it’s been and still has stood up. So, clearly something that Darwin found was a deep truth that actually is true about the way the universe and the world works.

So, when you confine something that is true in some deep sense I think by its definition it is gonna be lasting. So, that’s certainly one thing is you can’t just promote something that is, that’s just because you feel promoting it, I think that’s not necessarily going to last. So, you gotta find something that’s true and gotta be able to say, well, you know, this part that I said before is not true and so I'm gonna amend it, I'm gonna change it so that I can really articulate the deeper truth that I now know.

But I think the other piece of it is I do think that there’s sort of this deeper truth but there’s also your truth and so that may be the piece of it that’s really interesting. When you look at great artists, when you look at people like who’ve done something that we as a civilization back and go, Oh, my gosh. What is it? They express something uniquely. They found their way to, you know, do painting. They found their way to make a company. When you look at Apple, there’s no other company like Apple whenever you look inside that company, it’s like there’s not the 10 principles that Apple uses. They’re their principles.

So, there’s this interesting tension between things that are true at some fundamental level and things that are true for you. So, I completely, you know, disagree with the idea that the whole studies that go, here are the five things that works for everyone because what are the things that work for you. So, I think that’s what really also interesting is that what’s lasting is also what’s particular true and unique to the person, to the organization, to that place or whatever it is.

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