How to Know if You’re a Writer
A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.… Read More How to Know if You’re a Writer
Tag: innovation
Are Teams More Creative When Everyone is Equal?
If you’ve read my books, you know that my answer is yes! The most innovative teams have something that I call group flow. It’s when a group is performing at its peak–realizing the maximum potential of the group. It’s more likely when everyone blends egos and participates equally. It’s the group version of your own… Read More Are Teams More Creative When Everyone is Equal?
“Zig Zag” Published in Japanese!
Sawyer’s book of creativity techniques is now available in Japanese, published by Yamaha Music.… Read More “Zig Zag” Published in Japanese!
Wrigley Wiggles: Zigzagging to Creativity
Creativity is never a straight linear path from idea to execution. … Read More Wrigley Wiggles: Zigzagging to Creativity
Why You Should Attend This Year’s Conference in Person
One of the most solid findings in innovation research is that creativity happens in social networks–what I call group genius. When it comes to innovation, a social network doesn’t mean Facebook or Snapchat. It means the connections you have with other people in real life. People in your profession, of course, but it helps even… Read More Why You Should Attend This Year’s Conference in Person
Fun! Off-Site Retreats Are Back
Corporate retreats: Remember them? Off-site meetings where the entire company flies or drives to a cool location for a few days of team-building, networking, and fostering corporate culture. There might be costumed characters, escape rooms, water balloon battles, yacht cruises around the harbor, open bars, famous musicians on stage. Sometimes, real work actually gets done–brainstorming… Read More Fun! Off-Site Retreats Are Back
The Collaborative Creation of Christmas
The creation of Christmas, the secular holiday, is a story of collaborative creativity. Christmas trees, giving gifts, Santa–all emerged from a distributed social process. It’s a story about history and culture; about the industrial revolution and the family; and about how our conceptions of childhood have changed. It’s a story of social innovation. Some older… Read More The Collaborative Creation of Christmas
Are Immigrants More Creative?
A provocative claim: in any country, immigrants are statistically more likely to generate exceptionally creative works. There’s a long list of immigrant geniuses: Victor Hugo, W. H. Auden, Vladimir Nabokov, Nikolas Tesla, Marie Curie, Sigmund Freud, Albert Einstein. But single cases don’t make a scientific argument. Do we have any statistical data on this? Eric… Read More Are Immigrants More Creative?
The Economist Shouts: “Set Innovation Free!”
The cover story of this influential British magazine is “Set Innovation Free!”* The subtitle says what they really mean: Time to fix the patent system. In this blog, I’ve argued that the current patent regime retards overall innovation. It’s not aligned with empirical studies of creativity research. Patents are awarded to a single entity, as if… Read More The Economist Shouts: “Set Innovation Free!”
Marc Andreessen on Group Genius
Marc Andreesen, the Silicon Valley investor, has just published a free e-book containing his blog posts from 2007 to 2009. This excerpt from the book was just published in the Wall Street Journal–titled “retaining great people”. It’s really advice about how to build an innovative organization: Don’t create a new group or organization within your… Read More Marc Andreessen on Group Genius
The Creativity Guru 