Stanford Crash Course on Creativity 2013 - Assignment 2-2 - Observation Lab - Mind Map

1. A Crash Course on Creativity II
Professor Tina Seelig, Stanford University
Stanford University
Esfandiar Khaleghi
Research – Design Engineer
www.esfandiar.co
Assignment 2.II
Observation Lab – Mind Map

2. Observation Lab at Southwark Bridge London
Observation Reflections
To maintain a sense of focus in our creating costs us something. If we want to
understand what we’re trying to do and what is really going on, we have to “pay”
attention to what is happening around us.

4. What are some of the costs
involved?
¡ Discretionary time
When we are disciplined about paying attention to
what’s going on around us, we will need to build time
into our lives to think and make patterns. This means
less gaming, TV and hanging with friends. (The time has
to come from somewhere.)
¡ Opportunity.
We are only able to focus on one thing at a time.
Sometimes the thing that keeps us from focusing on
one idea or point of interest is the potential loss of
another idea or point of interest. We need to make
choices and be willing to cut potentially good ideas in
order to get to the best ones.
¡ Ego.
We want to be right, and when we have an idea we
tend to latch onto it and make it right. We will even
backward-justify our decisions in order to prove
ourselves right. This kind of rigid attachment to one
idea or execution keeps us from noticing new ideas in
our environment. We are closing ourselves off from
new possibilities in order to preserve our ego.
¡ Self Understanding.
When we pay attention we learn things about
ourselves. Some of these things will contradict
understandings we have about ourselves. It’s easier to
ignore these contradictions and continue to live with
our false understanding of who we are. If we are
honest and want to bring ourselves fully to our
creating, we need to receive truth however it comes
to us and never be afraid to apply it to our lives.
>>>
These are just a few ways in which “paying attention”
will “cost” us something. But it’s not really a sunk cost,
it’s an investment. Any movement toward integrity is a
movement toward full-engagement, which is what
we’re looking for in our creating. We want to be able
to bring ourselves – who we really are – fully to our
creating and not self-censor because we’re
“protecting” something.

9. References:
- Accidental Creative [accidentalcreative.com]
- Google Map
- Google Image
- Instagram

10. The used photos are commonly used from online sources and brands official websites. All copyrights belong
to the website owners, blogger, photographers and brands intellectual property.
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