I've been putting on a series of talks at Shoreditch House on the subject of 'Where good ideas come from'. It's basically a few drinks and a chat in The Snug about how you can get better at producing and developing ideas. I've talked a lot over the years about creativity and helped lots of organisations through talks and workshops. But this is the first time I've been able to really pull the process apart and dive deep into all the elements.
The last one looked at how people who are obsessive collectors and hobbyists become really creative in what they do at work. The wonderful Roo Reynolds showed us some of his collections whilst Radio 1's Laura May Coope gave us a frightening list of all the things she's obsessed about over the years.
The next event on November 28th will examine combinatorial creativity and tell you why you MUST steal from others if you want to generate great ideas. From Picasso to Oscar Wilde to TS Elliot some of the greatest creators down the years have been telling us that nothing is original and everything is derivative of something else. It's even written in the bible:
"What has been will be again. what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." Ecclisiastes 1:9
So, if you want to hear stories of how Steve Jobs stole from Xerox and how George Lucas ended up making Star Wars instead of Flash Gordon come a long. If you want putting on the guest list drop me a tweet or if I can help you or your company/organisation develop your idea generation process get in touch. Now, enjoy 5 minutes of lightfingered awesomeness from Quentin Tarantino...
Would love to come along. Put my name down. Or is there an eventbrite page to sign up on?
Posted by: Andrea | November 05, 2012 at 12:20 PM
Hi Andrea. I'll put your name down on the list. Kicks off at 7.
Posted by: Hugh Garry | November 05, 2012 at 05:49 PM
This is quite something - one of Darren Aronofsky's greatest influences is Satoshi Kon: http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_md10m8nwex1qazcga.jpg
Posted by: Katie_khan | November 05, 2012 at 05:59 PM
Katie. Nice. 'All ideas are second hand' (Mark Twain). I wish more creative people would 'do their working out in public'. I like to see the journey they went on to produce their final work.
Posted by: Hugh Garry | November 05, 2012 at 06:18 PM
Would love to come Hugh. Big fan of Stephen Johnson's last book exploring this theme.
Posted by: Invisibleinkdigital | November 05, 2012 at 07:49 PM