Pow! Right Between The Eyes! Andy Nulman's Blog About Surprise

What I Learned This Week: The Secret of Creativity

Well, as discussed in last week's post, I invested two-and-a-half days of my time at the inaugural C2-Mtl creative conference.

The surroundings were majestic (see above and below).  The folks at Sid Lee, the advertising/creative/disruption agency at the helm of the event, made good use of the mega-budget accorded them by literally creating a high-tech city, showcase and hipster "scene" in the rustic and often rusty confines of Montreal's Griffintown district.

But what the surroundings actually surrounded--the content, particularly the on-stage type--left me in a state of pondering right up until now.

Hence this post.

Despite a flow of heavy-hitters--from HuffPo's Arianna Huffington, Fast Company's Robert Safian and Google's Robert Wong to icons like Michael Eisner, Ian Schrager, Guy Laliberte and Francis Ford Coppola--the inherent difficulty of talking about creativity was, well...inherent.  (To me, the guy who hit it furthest out the park was Jonah Lehrer, author of the best-selling book Imagine.  Although standing at a podium and referring to a prepared text, the content within was so overwhelmingly smart that Lehrer connected far better than most others with a lot more whiz-bang happening on the Cinemascope-esque screen behind them.)

I always felt that talking about creativity was like reading a sex manual, or learning to ski by watching an instructional video on your iPad while at the beach. Being creative is something that's best explained by doing, not necessarily telling. But even there lies a paradox--what to do?  To that end, what made me smile was the fact that so many people talked about taking risks, but did so via the comfort of puffy chairs, or as the third bullet-point in their PowerPoint deck.

Perhaps the most "creative" on-stage moment happened when the lights went out during one of the one-on-one interviews, a format that seems to stifle creativity rather than promote it.  At that point, Dr. Rex Jung and Tim Barber had to improvise, creating a true "human" moment that cut through the formality and truly reached into the hearts and souls of the audience.

And that's when I got it.

Not just the most profound learning of the conference, but this week's lesson.

What's the secret of creativity?

It's having the wherewithal

to deal with what

the world throws at you...

...or having the guts

to throw something

at the world.

Sometimes "creativity" is a reaction; a moment in time where one's presence makes sense of disparate forces seemingly off madly in different directions.

Other times, it's proactive; being a catalyst, a spark, an iconoclast, a rabble-rouser.

Hey...whatever works.

That was easy, wasn't it?

Now, to actually do something about it...

What I Learned This Week: The New Normal of Attention-Shifting

Last week, I spoke at the MixMedias conference on the topic of making digital content and actually getting paid for it.  I had fun and so did the audience.

After my chat, I was making my way through the crowd towards the out door when I was stopped by a young woman.

"I really, really enjoyed your speech and what you had to say!" she enthused.

"Thank you," I replied, "but I don't recognize you."

This is not as creepy as it first sounds.  These days, my speeches are essentially interactive, Q&A-heavy challenges, so I tend to make mental notes of faces, outfits and unique accessories of people in the audience. 

"Well I wasn't at your speech," she explained.  "I was actually at Stowe Boyd's talk.  I just followed the Twitter feed from your session."

At first, I was flattered, and thanked the woman.  But as I walked back to my office, I was overcome with the inherent weirdness of the situation.

What this meant was that someone--actually about a half-dozen people when I checked--spent their time while I was talking dividing their attention between what I was saying and transmitting it to others. 

Meanwhile, others down the hall at Stowe's speech--well, one at least --were dividing their attention between what he was saying and what I was saying...and I suspect what many others were saying.

Yeah, I know this is the new normal.  We have all become broadcasters in search of an audience.

But what does it REALLY say and mean?

On one hand, it may be mere multitasking; does anyone really ever do just one thing at a time anymore?  Consider yourself right now...what ELSE are you doing right now while reading this?

Despite your answer, frankly, I think it goes much deeper than that.

I remember a great term that came to life at the dawn of the VCR age (ask your parents) but took increased relevance with the growth of the PVR--Time-Shifting.  In a nutshell, the recording device freed one from the tyranny of a TV network's schedule, and allowed viewers to "Time-shift" and watch whatever program they wanted whenever they wanted to.

Well, what Time-Shifting was to last decade, Attention-Shifting is to now.

Except that, paradoxically, it happens in real-time.

This says a lot about how modern messages need to be delivered...and how they are ultimately received.  This is why, when I find myself on stage these days, I eschew the over-prepared nature of the usual prose and PowerPoint presentations and deliver something hyper-interactive.  I try to engage people rather than preach to them, but even in doing so, I pepper the conversation with soundbites so that if one truly feels their role is more of a mouthpiece than an earpiece, more an output rather than an input, more a broadcaster instead of a listener, well...at least I make it easy for them.

Still, I wonder, and sometimes fret, about what is actually being understood. If you're busy broadcasting one point, you're probably missing at least the one following.  It's hard to disseminate and contemplate at the same time.  I love that.  Lemme make it Tweetable:

It's hard to disseminate

and contemplate

at the same time.

So what I did I learn this week?  The value of actually listening, I suspect.

And I hope to put this lesson into action as of tomorrow, when I attend the innovative C2Mtl Conference.

I suspect there will be hundreds of people Tweeting, Facebooking, Instagramming, Live Blogging and shouting it out from the rooftops. 

And I suspect, like the young woman at MixMedias, you can follow the conference speakers while at the office, your kids' soccer game, the gym, in the bathroom.

One thing I don't suspect, but actually know:  there will be one guy there, with a Marc Jacobs designer Moleskine and Zebra fine-point pen, who'll be listening attentively, taking notes, and trying to learn something.

What I Learned This Week: Breaking Down Is Good To Do

Over the past two weeks at work, I've seen five people melt down.  To tears, all of them.  A couple left the building for a few hours to de-compress and re-compose.  The others retreated to the solitude of their closed-door offices.

Of the five meltdowns, two were people I hired since last year.  During the interview process, I warned both of them of the pressures and stress of the job, and told them that they'd break down sometime before the festival.  Both looked at me and smiled, one warily, the other with bravado.

Both broke over the past two weeks.

Now I'm not making fun of the situation, nor of my colleagues. Every one of us at Just For Laughs has--at least once--broken down messily.  That includes founder Gilbert Rozon, and yours truly (whose complete trashing of an office with a baseball bat is still legendary in the company's lore).  No shame.

It ain't pretty.

But chez nous, it's a rite of passage.

And despite its outward unpleasantness, it may be helpful--perhaps even necessary--on the inside.  Of both the company and the individual.

I don't know of too many jobs these days that don't put an undo amount of pressure on those holding them.  Never mind jobs, but the day-to-day travails we all go through can bring us to the boiling point.  And at that point, one can either hold things in, or let them out. 

So with apologies to Neil Sedaka, I think Breaking Down is Good To Do.

I'm no mental health professional, but I find a good meltdown cathartic. It's a release, a diffusion of a pressure cooker before the carnage of a more damaging explosion (says he who wielded a bat and tossed it through a glass door). Nothing to be embarrassed about, especially chez nous, where only once you lose it are you truly "one of us."

Over the years, I've seen two ultimate reactions by those who have cracked:

1) They have left the company, saying "This is too much for me."

2) Or they have come back stronger than ever, rhino-skin toughened, ready for battle.

Either reaction is good, depending on the reactor.

There will be more meltdowns, crack-ups and breakdowns at Just For Laughs between now and July 29, when we put the 30th Anniversary edition to bed.

And to those about to crack, I salute you. 

Welcome to the club.

And to close it out, in your honor, this little ditty from Tom Petty...

 

What I Learned This Week: Do Lots of Little Things Blindly

I am very proud of Mitch Joel.

A friend, a colleague, a former employee and currently, a key partner at Just For Laughs via his TwistImage  agency.  (By the way, that's NOT him above.) He has grown into one of the world's key speakers, thinkers, authors and authorities on the digital landscape.

And this week, I was amazed to learn that I had a part in it all.  With all modesty, this is from a recent blog post, an open letter he wrote to the legendary Tom Peters:

Dear Tom,

It has been a while since we last did an event together, but I was just thinking of you yesterday and I felt compelled to write you this note. I don't think I ever told you this, but over a decade ago, I took a job as a Director of Marketing for a mobile content business. I was very excited about this opportunity because it involved working directly for Andy Nulman. At the time, Andy was best known for being the founder of the Just For Laughs comedy festival, but he decided to try out the technology and content world. I was both excited and intimidated by this opportunity because Andy is quite the character (and I mean that in the most loving way possible). I knew it would be hard to impress him, because this was a guy who had seen and done everything to turn Just For Laughs into the world-class brand that it has become.

On my first day, I walked into my new office and he handed me a copy of your book, The Project 50. Up until that point, I don't think I had ever (truly) read a business book. I had given up on book reading after not enjoying my formal education. The book was small and Andy insisted that I read it before working on any projects.

I devoured that book.

Not only did I devour that book, but it sent me on a virtual spiral to read, consume and find anything and everything like it that had ever been written before. In short, your book, your thinking and your writing style was the catalyst (along with some prodding from my good friend, Andy) to learn. Not to read, but to learn. Not to worry about school, but to get a real education. Since then, I have probably read thousands of books (including all of yours) and my life has dramatically changed because of it.

It wasn't a big deal. It was a random, off-the-cuff gesture. The books were cute, easy-to-read and incredibly relevant. I gave Tom Peters books to six people that day; most probably never opened their copy.  But it changed Mitch's life...and by extension, mine.

Another story--at Just For Laughs, I have a somewhat crude way to measure the value of any project, namely:

Get Paid or Get Laid

To explain, I explain that there are only two reasons to take on any project--either there's a substantial financial payoff, or it feels good (i.e. builds relations, builds brand, helps out a charitable cause).  If any project cannot meet one of these two simple criteria, it's not worth doing.

I've told this to various staff members in about three or four meetings over the past two years. No great agenda; it just happened to fit the conversation at the time. Basic reaction--perfunctory nods of yes followed by checking of Blackberrys or iPhones. 

So imagine my surprise when I was called into the office of one of my younger employees to read something on her computer and saw, printed out and stuck to the bottom of her screen, the words "Get Paid or Get Laid."  (Please don't tell her parents!)

Some things you do, no matter how minute and trite they seem at the time, may be monumental in future scope.  It's as if you are planting seeds that explode into Sequoia trees. 

Thing is though, you never know while you're doing it. Even if you are foolish enough to say to yourself at the time "This is going to be so far-reaching and momentous!" chances are that it'll be inconsequential.

On the surface, this week's lesson is that you never really know of the many things you do or say which one will eventually have a life-changing impact on someone else.

But some--dare I say "many"--will. 

So what I REALLY learned this week is to keep doing lots of little things; blindly, without really knowing what you are doing.  Give away books.  Spout strange platitudes.  Give advice.  Treat someone to lunch.  Give a bigger tip than expected.  Cheer someone else's team.  Whatever...

You may never know the end result.  But chances are, you'll be changing someone, something, perhaps even the world, for the better.

(P.S. Mitch's next book comes out in Spring, 2013.  Wonder who I'll be giving copies away to?)