Tim Brown: The powerful link between creativity and play

Talked about the need to engage in:

• playful exploration
• playful building
• playful roleplaying

• Started with an exercise - asked the audience to take 30 seconds to draw a picture of the person sitting next to them. The audience was full of laughter and lots of apologies for their efforts.  His point was that adults are worried about being judged for their ideas, while kids doing this same sort of exercise don’t apologize, they’re proud of their creativity.
• To be creative as adults, we need the security to takes risks, security to play.
• Mentioned a colleague who, when forming a company, sought to find employees who would be like best friends. To build the sense of trust. Friendship is a shortcut to play, the security that allows us to take creative risks.
• Why is playfulness important? It helps get to creative solutions, and do our jobs better.

On PLAYFUL EXPLORATION

• Adults see something new and try to stick it into some sort of category of what we already know, limits the possibilities that we see.
• Kids see something new and ask “what can i do with this?” They’re engaged in open, exploratory play.
• So why have rules for brainstorming sessions?  Brainstorming ‘rules’ seem counter-intuitive, but it’s hard to break our adult habits of limiting ourselves and others.  It helps to have those ‘rules’ to help break us out of habits - eg:  make no judgments toss out lots of ideas, etc.

I think that In the best of situations, the rules aren’t needed, when there is already trust between peers. This reminds me of some of the best group projects/committees that I was ever part of.  We made some challenging things happen through trust, fun and creativity.  Through building on each others ideas, trusting that we could propose crazy ideas, insuring that we looked at things from lots of perspectives.  And it all happened because we liked, respected and trusted each other.

In our libraries (and all organizations!) we need leaders who can create an atmosphere of trust, so we can play and be creative. And anyone on staff can be a leader! It doesn’t have to be from the top down, though that sure would be ideal. Though I’m not sure how long people can remain creative if it’s actively disapproved of.

On PLAYFUL BUILDING

• What is it? Using objects around us to quickly prototype real world tools. This helps to communicate ideas and experience. Thinking with your hands.

On PLAYFUL ROLEPLAYING

• Acting out scenarios. In library settings this might be around customer service issues when we’re developing new services. What will it really be like for the customer.
• Roleplaying helps us develop empathy for customers, users.
• And helps design experiences that work.

Lots of terrific ideas for us to put to use in our work in designing services that work and solving problems in our libraries.

Here’s a list of a few fun blog analyzers that supposedly offer up some insights into your blog and writing style. Note: I can’t validate the scientific integrity of any of these tools. I share them here for your pure amusement purposes only

The tools and my results:

• Typealyzer – Myers-Briggs type of test for your blog’s personality: My blog came out as ESTP - A “doer”, not where I usually test on these things. But my blog must have it’s own personality?

A DOER: The active and play-ful type. They are especially attuned to people and things around them and often full of energy, talking, joking andnengaging in physical out-door activities.  The Doers are happiest with action-filled work which craves their full attention and focus. They might be very impulsive and more keen on starting something new than following it through. They might have a problem with sitting still or remaining inactive for any period of time.

• Genderanalyzer – My blog came out as strongly male! 80%.
• Readability Test - And written at an elementary school reading level. Well, at least it’s very accessible.
• What is your blog worth - $3,951.78. Though I wouldn’t mind having that nearly $4,000 in my pocket, I guess I’m not going to get rich quick.

Have some fun analyzing your own blog or somone else’s!

Checked the online catalog, one copy was supposed to be on the ’shelving cart’. When I got to the library, I dutifully checked the shelves in case it had been shelved. Not there. On to the circ desk to ask for help. And even though I’m a librarian, I still get nervous when I have to ask for help. I’m afraid someone will be cranky with me. That’s not at all fair I know, must be the result of some long forgotten bad library experience.

Enter nice library lady. She checked the shelving carts in the back room. She came out to double check where I’d looked and other places that it might have been mis-shelved. But no luck, not to be found. She kindly offered to place a hold on it, which I turned down, secretly planning to head for Borders to get it. This was truly great customer service and even though I didn’t have the book, I was happy with the experience.

Moments later, while I was looking for some other stuff, over came nice library lady with a big smile and THE book! She knew it had to be somewhere and wasn’t going to give up.

Thank you Colonie Library for a great customer service experience (and for the cookies at the checkout counter!)

TextsVersusCalls via kwout

Personally, it looks like I would fall into the over 65 crowd, but I think my texting age will go down if I ever get a smarter phone. But look at those numbers for those in their teens & 20’s. Is there any doubt how they communicate?

So, how is your library keeping up with this? Does your library provide easy access to information via mobile devices? Does your web site work on a mobile device? Do you provide IM reference? Can your catalog text you with information about library materials? Or are you missing out on new ways to communicate?

And if you think that texting is going to go away, check out the more than 400% increase in just 2 years! Yikes. Bring on that smart phone. And more agile thumbs.

TextsVersusCalls via kwout

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updated 11/11/08 - images got mixed up. fixed.

There are so many issues to consider in this election, and even if we have strong opinions about many (all!) of them, our decisions often come down to one or two that strike us most personally. For me, one of the top issues is health care and who I believe has the best ideas about how to fix a system that doesn’t work for many people. I know that many ideas won’t get implemented exactly as the campaigns suggest they will, but I still have to vote for the candidate who gives me the most hope.

I have a chronic disease, though you wouldn’t know it. Thanks to terrific doctors and really good health insurance, I’m just fine, thank you. But, and this is a really big one, I take lots of meds that cost a lot. One alone would cost over $20,000 a year without insurance. Though that sounds outrageous, there are people who need drugs that cost far more than that. Without health insurance, I can’t see how I could be taking that medicine. And without it, I might not be able to work and contribute to my world in any way.

I am enormously grateful for good insurance, insurance that didn’t turn me down for a pre-existing condition when I switched from one policy to another. My fear? That when I get to medicare age, I’ll be denied these drugs. Irrational? I don’t know. I’m saving my money for that possibility. But still, I’m lucky, I’m working, I can save, for now.

So, the election? The fears I have for the future are the daily reality for too many in this country and my heart breaks for them. We have to find a way to provide good health care for all in this country. And McCain’s tax credit just isn’t going to do it. If I’m poor and deciding whether to pay for housing, put food on the table or buy health insurance? Guess what, that tax credit would go for the roof over my head and food. As for me, give me a $2,500 tax credit and I’ll probably put it in my retirement account. It won’t go towards buying health care for anyone. What’s the point?

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think McCain doesn’t care, I truly believe all the candidates care. I won’t bash anyone here. I just simply don’t agree with the McCain view of how to fix the problems we have.

While Obama inspires me, he gives me hope. I share his values, I trust his intelligence and his heart. And he seems ready for the hard choices and challenges ahead. Here’s hoping for a good day tomorrow and everyday.

But what I really loved about this, was the reaction of a couple of the librarians who started thinking about how they could use the ideas behind these games and have kids create their own games! Kids could make their own Top Trumps cards by using a big huge labs Trading Card making tool.  Use a photo from flickr, add some facts, print them out and play! Cool!  Pictureka-ish game boards could be created with clip art collections.  All themed around topics being covered in classes. Creative and fun.