John Cleese on creativity

John Cleese - a lecture on Creativity from janalleman on Vimeo.

be open, relaxed, look at things as they are and consider possiblities and be curious about what is up. Penecilin wouldn't have been discovered if the scientist had been closed and just went about his business, instead of being curious why this one petri dish didn't grow what he wanted.

be closed once you know what you're gonna do, be focused and see it through

conditions that can encourage being in the open mode
1.space
can't be playful and creative under usual pressures, because you're closed mode to get stuff done
2. time
have to have a time period to have your space in, you know you won't be interupted
3. time
most creative people are willing to put extra time in instead of taking the 1st easy answer that comes, push for the creative one
4. confidence
open to fail, just experimenting
"you can't be spontaneous within reason"
5. humor
gets us from closed mode to open mode quicker than anything else
laughter makes us relax by turning the world on it's ear

then keep your mind gently upon the subject your trying to crack

it is easier to do trivial little things we know we can do instead of big things that we're not sure about like "being creative",resist the noise of your mind looking around for a distraction. 1/2 hour to get in the zone

more creative when playing with friends, be open and positive. just like the rules of Improv, never say no.

joke comes when you connect 2 different frameworks in a new waya new idea is the same thing, connecting 2 seperate ideas in a new way

if you're stuck, start generating random connections and your intuition will tell you which ones are worth keeping

* found on animation