Thirty years ago, I was bored and directionless in a Ph.D. program at the University of Chicago. My father had just died somewhat unexpectedly at the youthful age of 57 and I committed from that moment on, I would ONLY do work that was fun, juicy, and creative. After a couple of months spent grieving…
During the final hearing for my Ph.D. dissertation at the University of Chicago, my advisor, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi pulled me aside and whispered to me: “NEVER use the word heart in a job talk.” My Ph.D. dissertation was on how adults learn in everyday life and I’d mentioned the heart too many times. Mihaly could tell…
What inspires growth is having access to a more expansive set of possibilities–a larger frame of reference. We think learning is about knowing, but it’s actually about not knowing. We have to not know in order to learn. Click here to read the full article I co-authored with Mihaly Csikszentmihaly: https://arts.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Csikszentmihalyi-Hermanson-1995_Intrinsic-Motivation-in-Museums.pdf
“Creativity is an intelligence. When we respect its needs—for freedom, not knowing, beauty, a big vision, intrinsic motivation, and space—it will flourish.” 1. Creativity needs space, both internal and external – How can you give yourself internal space? If something is on your mind, take care of it before diving into new creative work. –…
“It would be difficult to see how a species as dependent on learning as we are could have survived if we didn’t find the process of making sense of our environment pleasurably rewarding.” ~ Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Kim Hermanson ~ From the article “Intrinsic motivation in museums: Why does one want to learn? by Mihaly…
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