Most cultural creatives, no matter how inspired they are at the beginning of a project, eventually end up feeling down in the dumps. They start focusing on everything they haven’t done and everything that hasn’t happened instead of focusing on their progress and the fact that they are actually getting closer to their goal.

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I finally figured out why so many brainstorming sessions fail. It’s the exact same reason why so many marriages fail. The couple shouldn’t have gotten married in the first place. Many brainstorm sessions that are called never should have happened…

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Some years ago, there was a big problem at one of America’s most treasured monuments — the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC. Simply put, birds — in huge numbers — were pooping all over it, which made visiting the place a very unpleasant experience. Attempts to remedy the situation caused…

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If you work in a big organization, small business, freelance, or eat cheese, there’s a good chance you’ve participated in at least a few brainstorming sessions in your life. You’ve noodled, conjured, envisioned, ideated, piggybacked, and endured overly enthusiastic facilitators doing their facilitator thing. You may have even gotten some results. Hallelujah! But even the best run brainstorming sessions are based on a questionable assumption — that the origination of powerful, new ideas depend on the facilitated interaction between people.

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Everything begins as an idea. Whether you’re in business, school, jail, or debt, that’s how it all gets rolling. First there’s the idea, then there’s the manifestation of the idea — assuming, of course, that the person with the idea has their act together.

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