Methods of the Masters

A blog on the art & science of creative action.

Jeremy Utley Jeremy Utley

Make Sense of Things

The very act of writing serves to reinforce learning. Putting things into our own words turns information into knowledge. And sharing has the potential crystallize that knowledge, not just for others, but even more importantly, for ourselves.

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Make It To Make It Better

Philippe Barreaud, Head of Michelin’s Customer Labs, has a hard-won portfolio of insights from leading global innovation for 20+ years. Here, he revels in the paradoxes of prototyping as a toolkit.

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Jeremy Utley Jeremy Utley

Obliterate Compartments

One of the most transformative inputs to shift the trajectory of Phoebe Yao’s start-up, Pareto, came when she least expected it: not during a mind-blowing mentor meeting arranged by a VC, but in a chance encounter with a friend in the park.

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Jeremy Utley Jeremy Utley

The Problem With Solving Problems

I had the privilege of thinking alongside the brilliant Kim Scott, and shared some insights on her “Radical Candor” blog. Re-posting here with her permission. Feedback welcome!

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Jeremy Utley Jeremy Utley

Look For What’s Right

What kind of contributions get rewarded in your workplace? What constitutes brilliance? It’s critical to recognize that the definition of “genius” changes as we shift between convergent and divergent modes of thinking — and what gets rewarded should, too.

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Jeremy Utley Jeremy Utley

Hold A Shoot-Out

Rick Rubin is one of the most successful music producers of all time, in any genre. His approach to production has more in common with technology innovators like Steve Jobs than some fans might think.

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Jeremy Utley Jeremy Utley

Edit Your Subject Line

Early stage founder gets devastating feedback on a rough concept pitch. What should she do? Don’t give up quickly! Make small tweaks before making big pivots.

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Jeremy Utley Jeremy Utley

Don’t Eliminate Failure

What if eliminating failures reduced the likelihood of a breakthrough. There’s lots of research that suggests that’s the case. So why do we carefully craft policies designed to eliminate failure?

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Jeremy Utley Jeremy Utley

Practice What You Preach

A legendary assignment at Stanford puts students face to face with critical gaps in their life. Identifying those gaps is straightforward enough, but closing them is the real design challenge!

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Jeremy Utley Jeremy Utley

Correspond Broadly

Charles Darwin, while working on the theory of natural selection, wrote an astounding 15,000 letters to over 230 collaborators across more than 10 different scientific fields. Few appreciate the power of sharing partially-formulated thoughts as much as he did.

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Vary Cooking Methods

Today’s post comes from Chris Aho, an integral member of the ideaflow council. Chris writes about his 20+ year responsibility to deliver fresh material weekly — and what that taught him about cooking up ideas.

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Jeremy Utley Jeremy Utley

Delay Decisions

John Cleese highlights a classic study of architects in his recent memoir, “Creativity: A Short and Cheerful Guide,” which illuminates the value of purposeful procrastination, and how it sets creatives apart.

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Jeremy Utley Jeremy Utley

Set An Absurd Deadline

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.”

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Embrace Your B-Team

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

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Jeremy Utley Jeremy Utley

Treasure the Night Watch

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!

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Jeremy Utley Jeremy Utley

Keep A Junk Pile

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

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Reduce Experimental Fidelity

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.

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Jeremy Utley Jeremy Utley

Create A Portfolio

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.

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Jeremy Utley Jeremy Utley

Have Lots of Ideas

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”?

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Jeremy Utley Jeremy Utley

Prophecy Over Your Children

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.

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