I was trying to find my way in this new world. We all go through phases when earth shifts under us and we try to find a solid landing to be our creative selves again. Some people call it mid-life crisis. Others call it the second coming of age.

I disappeared for 2 weeks. No diary posts and limited linkedin shares. You noticed.

I’ll try to make up for it with a diary post that helps design a more creative mindset in your workspace, even if you’re not quite settled yet. I’m sharing advice while trying them out myself. So far so good.   

Here are 3 things we can start doing to get our foot planted in a creative shifting ground.

1. Find an anchor to remind you of what makes you strong and creative. This would be a physical object that you place in front of you on the desk, hang on the wall or keep in your pocket or bag to continuously touch through-out the day. The idea is to anchor your goal or remind to stay in the moment throughout the day. For me, a framed calligraphic sentence of a phrase my dad used to say to me: “You are up to it, and you can do it”. In Arabic,  “انت قدها و قدود”. I’m also searching for another symbolic item to keep in my bag and place on my work station wherever I go. Do you have suggestions?  

• Keep your creative fluency sharpened. Ideation helps the dopamine kick in your brain making you, not only happy, but also ready to solve problems. The important part is to fire up those ideas rigorously and in the shortest amount of time. No hesitation to judge an idea good or bad. To practice ideation, start with a 10-ideas quota per day and set the timer for 7 minutes. Come up with ideas that save the world or save your lunch. The intention here is purely ideational. You can increase the intensity with additional number of ideas or less time frame. My plan today is to come up with a list of 15 unusual things my family can experience in a summer vacation. What does your list look like?

• Bring music along. There’s nothing fun about running errands, doing chores, or for some of us, completing a workout. Yet adding a musical element to it, and an internal challenge to finish the task before the song finishes, can kick the boredom out of it, or intensifies its effect. We gain an unfair advantage when we put aside our doubtful thoughts and instead turn them into a home-made dramady or action movie. I’ve started working out on classical music (unexpected, but somehow intriguing), and found laser focused energy doing strategy work while standing in front of a table with a huge world map and a surrounding fast-paced instrumental music. Whatever you listen to, try listening to it in a different context or experiment with new tones to complete unrelated tasks. Be ready to be surprised. What music can you suggest I explore?  

Remember what Confucius once said: “wheresoever you go, go with all your heart”.

I can’t wait to hear about all your experimental stories.

Good luck mavericks,

Randah Taher

A story by Kat Fernandes-Kinsella

I was drowning in trouble but I looked fabulous. I even wore a hat.

“Come on!  Come on!” 

I clung on to the railing, holding myself upright against a screaming and jumping crowd.  I was doing my fair share of screaming and jumping. 

“Come on!  Come on!”

Hooves and colours thundered past us in a million-dollar flat-race.    My eyes were fixing on a bay racehorse, the favourite to win, then losing her in the blur of motion. 

“Come on!  Come on!”

The jockey was a beloved acquaintance and a national treasure.  Strange that you can love an acquaintance who you simply haven’t had time to become friends with.

“Come on!  Come on!”

The excitement of the race was my short respite from going under, but…

“Come on!  Come …come….ooooohhh…awwwww………”

Sixth place.  How?  The horse was at her peak, the jockey skilled and trusted.  While other spectators celebrated their win, I walked round to the stables, dispirited but ready to comfort the jockey.

There he stood, still wearing his helmet, saddle in hand: a lot poorer in both money and prestige than he could have been, if ONLY he’d been in first place. 

He smiled.  Not a trace of sadness or humiliation (my predicted emotions for him), and said:

“Today wasn’t our day.  You can’t push the river.  We’ll have another day. ” 

You can’t push the river.  There I was, open-mouthed, taking that in.  My life was boiling over with difficulty.   And yet here was a just-beaten sage in jodhpurs, handing down wisdom from pretty much every culture who had faced tribulations, failed, learned, survived and thrived. 

My troubled-mind eased: today is not my day.  I couldn’t fix or control anything: I can’t push the river. But I could breathe and let go.  And wait it out: I’ll have another day.

And there. 

Just like that.

Things did not get better. 

But I did.

And slowly, in the time it takes for a river to flow its course, life turned out…alright (…perhaps better than alright)

Was this kismet?  Fate?  Chance? Free will?  I have no bloody idea: go find your own philosophical jockey and get his opinion.  But I do know that the bad times come and go.  And so do the good times.  It passes.  It all passes.  How I respond to the comings and goings, and whether I seek calm in the thrills, and hope in the spills, is up to me.

Problem finding can be as important as problem solving. This is not a call for the misinformed managers who actively search for problems with employees. Those people need a different type of help.

I’m talking about problem hunting with the intention of understanding situations from different perspectives, and not only the original lens we saw the problem with. Searching for problems can highlight unwritten processes and ways of work as well as illustrate tacit knowledge of how people fix immediate problems. When someone faces a challenge at work, they try to fix it as fast as possible so that work can continue smoothly. This sometimes creates additional issues elsewhere or down the road. Without proper reflection mode, this cycle continues.

If we’re properly hunting for problems in the first place, we’re able to see this a mile ahead and fix it with a big-picture lens, so that people don’t loose time and energy looking for information that are not readily available. E. Paul Torrance called it sensing gaps in information. Others call it problem sensitivity, problem discovery, or problem defining. According to Einstein, “The identification of the problem is more important than the solution, which may merely be a matter of mathematical or experimental skills.”

Happy problem hunting,

Randah Taher

The design of the space has much influence on our creativity level and thinking mode. Both exterior and interior design use shape, texture and material to reflect our interpretation of the purpose of the space.

Following last week’s diary post, consider the different activities that occur at work. The design of space can offer a chance for enhanced interactions or create closed areas that boost individuals’ concentration and development of ideas.

And then there’s the sense of movement and progress at work.

An example to share is the The Royal Bath in Alhambra palace.

Completed in 14^th century Andalucía, the Hammam with its contrasting forms and horizontal panels inlaid in the lower area of the walls stimulate the relationship between the walls and the user’s physical body through the sense of sight. “The smallest movement, or the slightest lowering and opening of the eyes, activates this dynamic physical-optical relationship between the seer and the seen”.

The space, in essence, persuades the body to move on to the next experience, mirroring the activities that would take place inside its walls.

Now look again or feel your immediate surrounding. What can you do to inflict the sense of movement to help you progress throughout the day? Just remember “Our senses do not react when we are comfortable”.

Cheers, Randah