Bon Jovi took an unconventional approach to deciding which tracks to include on their third album: they took the cuts in contention to a local pizza joint and played them for high schoolers. We’re all glad they did.

One of the most insidious restraining forces inhibiting professionals creativity is the incessant sequence of back-to-back-to-back meetings throughout the day. The most productive innovators wield their calendar as a weapon that enhances their practice, rather than be a victim of their schedule. So how to structure one’s time differently?

The stars of Second City recite a profoundly moving mantra before heading onstage together: “Break a leg. Got your back.” That second sentence speaks volumes on the nature of collaborative creativity.

Napping really works as a means to tap into the subconscious. But There’s a great deal of misunderstanding of what it takes to trigger a hypnagogic state. Salvador DalÍ’s “Slumber With A Key” relieves guilt, and the suspicion of wasted time.

This post comes from Nicholas Thorne, one of the most gifted innovators I know. He writes, “I kindof cringed the first time I asked two people to separately help me with the same creative project. I felt like I was cheating on someone. Creative partnerships, however short-lived, have always seemed monogamous to me. 

One of the most surprising things about discovery is how easily overlooked some breakthroughs are. When Thomas Edison invented the phonograph, it was nothing more than an absent-minded, off-handed comment during an after-hours diversion.

Brainstorming is a well-known (and popularly-derided) practice of generating ideas together. What’s the best way to maximize creative output of a group ideation session?

Richard Wilding, founder of advertising agency WMW, writes, “Beware anyone suggesting that you invest a heavy amount of your severely limited time in doing Strategy. A strategy is the first step which gets you out of the door. It’s a first step, which is important, but nowhere close to the most important steps. ..”

In the pursuit of creative excellence, it’s easy to forget that one of the simplest ways we can build our creative legacy is by encouraging others in their craft. A simple compliment has an amplifying effect.

Of course, we all want to steward organizational resources responsibly. But sometimes, the problems we face aren’t clear, and neither are the solutions. In such cases, good stewardship requires divergent thinking, which often feels irresponsible.

This post comes from noteworthy d.school alum William Hardaway. Will writes, “What I urge you to do is think out loud, write it down, and get more feedback than you can handle…”

An incumbent can afford to attract world-class talent. But what about a scrappy start-up? How do they do it? In “In The Plex,” Steven Levy shares how Google managed to attract the brightest in computer science before it had 10 employees. Large orgs should take note, too.

Breakthroughs are often ushered in by surprises. And surprises take many forms. Sometimes you go seek them out, but other times, the surprises seem to do the seeking, at least to the person who’s aware of their tactics. One of my favorite tactics of a surprise is to sneak up like a joke.

“‘You can't understand Google unless you know that both Larry and Sergey were Montessori kids,’ said Marissa Mayer. ‘Montessori’ refers to schools based on the educational philosophy of Maria Montessori, an Italian physician born in 1870 who believed that children should be allowed the freedom to pursue what interested them.”

It’s been nearly 18 months since I worked in regular physical proximity with my team at Stanford. Of all the things I’m looking forward to, I must say that eavesdropping is near the top of the list. And no, I don’t just mean overhearing others’ conversations (although I certainly do mean that!); I mean people overhearing mine, too!

All too often we are trapped by implicit assumptions and definitions that arrest our thinking. But how do we overcome these blind spots? One way is to deliberately seek out interpretations that challenge our own definitions of words like “customer delight.”

Google recently blocked PM’s time to “Sharpen the Saw,” inspired by Abraham Lincoln’s quote, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” But what does that look like for an information worker? My $0.02: carving out time to invest in learning.

Innovators from Aristotle to Einstein to Beethoven to Edison have wielded the power of a nap. And while I’ve long appreciated these examples, I’ve never had a “nap-to-eureka!” story of my own… until recently.

While reframing is necessary to generate breakthrough solutions, oftentimes a new frame in and of itself is insufficient to unleash a team’s breakthrough thinking: many still find themselves at a loss for how to proceed. This tool creates breadcrumbs for moving forward.

At the d.school, we have long held that the environment where creative activity occurs is a foundational element of the creative process; so much so that instructors often refer to the space (both physical as well as emotional) as “the other teacher.”