Think about it: creativity is a complex symphony of neurobiology, neurochemistry, and neuroelectricity in the brain. Are you curious as to what’s happening inside your cranium amongst the hemispheres, white matter, and brainwaves when you feel on fire with creativity versus when you don’t? The science of the creative brain completely challenges standard ways to approach concentration, work, order, focus, and productivity. In this session, we’ll take an unconventional journey through story to discover how the brain works best to be creative. Through better understanding key processes, we’ll learn potentially surprising ways to harness your brain’s innate creative powers for increased ideation, innovation, productivity, and getting into flow states to do your work better.

1. Hacking the creative Brain
Working Better to Create More
Denise R. Jacobs
Future. Innovation. Technology. Creativity.
Amsterdam, Netherlands
18 February 2013

2. Tweeting tall
tales
I am:
@denisejacobs
We’re at:
#FITCAms @fitc
I’m talking about how to:
#hackcreativity

3. I used to have long hair

4. I’m part Vulcan. Srsly!
Photo: Stefan Nitzsche

5. I Almost adopted a chicken

6. I Like to make stuff

7. After writing this…

8. I had an epiphany

9. Empowered & empowering

10. Intro
Is this all
there is?

11. Live in Cubicalia

12. The BossMan

13. All of the pressure…

14. Oppressed

15. “Houston, We have a
problem…”

16. No, not these…

17. I mean this

18. Feel Like this?

19. Aka: Meh.

20. Out of Inspiration

21. Or this?

22. We need to be Conversant with

23. “Creativity is newness produced.”
★
“Creativity is the process of
developing original ideas that
have value.”
- Sir Ken Robinson, Out of Our Minds

24. We are alchemists

25. Even though it feels like it…
“Creativity is magical, but is not
magic.”
- Charles Limb,
“Your Brain on Improvisation” TED
talk

26. Let’s get our hack on

27. 1
emancipate
2
Adjust
3
Practice
4
Generate
5
Innovate
6
Produce

28. 1
emancipate

29. Multitasking

30. Unclosed Loops (ZeigarNik
Effect)

31. Communication addiction

32. Busyness

33. The evil voices in your head

34. Fear
(“false evidence appearing real” or
“f*ck everything and run”)
causes unnecessary inhibitions which
obstruct the generation of new ideas
on a biochemical and neurological
level.

35. Banish you inner critic

36. Impostor syndrome

37. Comparisons

38. “An essential aspect of creativity is
not being afraid to fail.”
- Dr. Edwin Land
“Being right keeps us in place. Being
wrong forces us to explore.”
– Steven Johnson, Where Good Ideas
Come From

39. Hack: Reframe #fail

40. 2
Adjust

41. I’m talking about this

42. Balance Your Brain

43. Get your alpha on

44. Get physical

45. Hack: Shower

46. Hack: Be still

47. Lower cognitive filters

48. HACK: “Lo-fi” time

49. HACK: Deliberate
Daydreaming

50. Biophilia

51. Negative Stress > Eustress

52. Hack: Laugh

53. 3
Practice

54. Eliminate distractions

55. Exercise discipline

56. Show up everyday

57. Clean-up your habit fields

58. Manage time

59. Delegate

60. Be Mindful – Do one thing at a
time

61. Restructure Work environments

62. Work standing up

63. Why? Because

64. 4
generate

65. Look for problems to solve

66. Seek chanllenges

67. Change environments

68. Incubate to Generate

69. Gather and Curate

70. Tools
Zootool.com Evernote
Gimmebar.com Diigo
Pinterest.com Delicious
Imgspark.com Flickr
Scrnshots.com
Trello
Vi.sualize.us
Emberapp.com

71. 5
Innovate

72. Do it with others

73. Bring brilliance together

74. Ideas are a network

75. The source of great ideas

76. Sameness

77. Diverse environments

78. Invite others to wonder with you

79. Share Ideas

80. Share mistakes

81. Co-work to collaborate

82. Parallel platy

83. IMprovise

84. Hack: Plus it

85. 6
Produce

86. Tinker

87. Make Prototypes

88. Iterate

89. The d.school process
• observe
• suggest
• tinker
• review
• apply feedback
• reiterate

90. Get into the flow

91. All of the pieces in place…
• Cleared space – work area, time, head
• Concept in mind: know what you want
to achieve and what it looks like
• Necessary materials on hand
• Distractions eliminated
• Practice in place
• Willingness in place

92. Cavalier creativity

93. Outro
Easter Eggs

94. Level Up

95. Level Up

96. Joy in work

97. Creative Confidence

98. “Whatchoo talkin‟ „bout, Willis?”
“…the confidence that, when given a
difficult problem, we have a
methodology that enables us to
come up with a solution that nobody
has before.”
- David Kelley, Ideo

99. From this

100. To this

101. Full of ideas

102. Value YOurself

103. Ultimate outcome

105. Resources
delicious.com/denisejacobs/unfoldyourbrai
n
delicious.com/denisejacobs/creativityhabit
delicious.com/denisejacobs/brainoncreativ
ity

106. Articles for further reading (mine)
netmagazine.com/features/
four-secrets-enhancing-
creative-productivity
alistapart.com/articles/
reigniting-your-creative-spark/
alistapart.com/articles/
banishing-your-inner-critic/

107. Americomorales.com

108. Shameless Self-Promotion #2
Smashing
Books #3 &
#3 1/3
My chapter:
“Storytelling in
Webdesign”
SmashingBook.com

109. Shameless Self-Promotion #1
The CSS
Detective Guide
CSSDetectiveGuide.com
twitter.com/cssdetective

110. Shameless Self-Promotion #3
InterAct With
Web Standards:
A Holistic
Approach to Web
Design
InterActWithWebStandards.com
twitter.com/waspinteract

111. How to find me
DeniseJacobs.com
denise@denisejacobs.com
twitter.com/denisejacobs
slideshare.net/denisejacobs

112. Thank you!