Whitney Burks is one of the most creative people I know. She boasts prodigious output across a varied stream of responsibilities and interests. Her secret: “obscene, ostentatious deadlines.”

This post comes from super-designer, Adam Weiler, Global Manager of Social Innovation at Steelcase. Adam writes, “…

B.F. Skinner is one of the most influential psychologists of all time. His strict working habits reveal not only how he became such a prodigious writer, but also how he became such an inventive researcher: he made the most of the night watch!

How does one increase the velocity of experimentation? According to Thomas Edison, “To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.”

Every innovator should know how to craft clever experiments; but one clever experiment is hardly sufficient. One critical insight is that quantity matters - as does resolution, and velocity.

We tell our students at Stanford to create portfolios of early stage directions for a simple reason: it increases the likelihood of success. Research shows that we’re unlikely to select our highest-potential idea.

Linus Pauling, the only person in history to win two individual Nobel Prizes, succinctly describes the essence of productive creativity: “The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas.” Sounds simple enough. But just how many is “lots”?

A theme has emerged in my studies of breakthrough thinkers: the role that parents play in shaping aspirations. Breakthrough parents not only plant bold dreams in their kids’ hearts, but they also prove willing to make the sacrifices necessary to realize those dreams.

This fabulous provocation comes from the host of ABC’s This Working Life, Lisa Leong. Lisa says, “A curious, creative collective is emerging to redesign the world of work. Underpinning the second renaissance is the idea of bringing humanity back to the workplace.”

Entrepreneurial endeavors are fraught with uncertainty and risk. Being rigorous about one’s approach is one way to maximize the likelihood of success: running cheap experiments with scientific precision is the best way to resolve that uncertainty.

In her legendary memoir on writing and life, Anne Lamott shares a simple but crucial tip for avoiding one of the worst feelings that can ever befall an individual in the midst of creative pursuit.

A love for the truth fuels the innovator. What we learn from Plato, Newton, and Einstein is, when you’re on the brink of ushering in a new era, you’ve got to be willing to resist well-intentioned opposition.

So new ideas are really just unexpected combinations of old parts. Surprisingly, the best way to sell a new idea is to emphasize the old parts it’s made from. Folks are suspicious of too much novelty.

When Bob Sutton told our class, “There is no such thing as a new idea; only old things combined in new ways,” I thought he was wrong. Turns out, I was the one who was mistaken.

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.