{"id":3810,"date":"2016-11-13T18:33:44","date_gmt":"2016-11-13T08:33:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/veritysparks.com\/?p=3810"},"modified":"2016-12-02T16:27:55","modified_gmt":"2016-12-02T06:27:55","slug":"smarter-faster-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/veritysparks.com\/?p=3810","title":{"rendered":"SMARTER FASTER BETTER"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"faster\"<\/a>I have been reading finished a book called Smarter, Faster, Better<\/em> by Charles Duhigg (author of The Power of Habit<\/em>). If I was shelving it, I’d hover between ‘Business’ and “Self-Help’. The author has all sorts of surprisingly interesting things to say about how businesses are run and how management can empower workers in such a way as to benefit them both, and so forth. Interesting, but not particularly relevant to me, right now.
\nBut he also had a section on creativity. And it was really, really helpful.<\/p>\n

Here are a few lessons from the book:<\/p>\n

Creativity often emerges by combining old ideas in new ways.<\/p>\n

Be sensitive to your own experience. Paying attention to how things make you think and feel is how we distinguish clich\u00e9s from real insights. Study your own emotional reactions.<\/p>\n

Recognise that the stress that emerges amid the creative process isn\u2019t a sign that everything is falling apart. Rather, creative desperation is often critical: Anxiety can be what pushes us to see old ideas in new ways.<\/p>\n

Finally, remember that the relief accompanying a creative breakthrough, while sweet, can also blind us to alternatives. By forcing ourselves to critique what we\u2019ve already done, by making ourselves look at it from different perspectives\u2026 we retain clear eyes.<\/p>\n

These points were useful to me during the writing of my current book because:<\/p>\n