Creative Heart Coaching

Idle Chat makes for Productive Work??

Idle talk between coworkers promotes creativity! We all know that the mid-morning water-cooler chat is a time-honored ritual of procrastination. What would happen if a company encouraged office banter? Or scheduled it?

Christian Nahas of Radiant Systems did just that. In fact, he organized a 15 minute coffeehouse-style sit and chat before every workday. The rules: No phones. No ulterior motives. Nahas soon found that unstructured conversation opened opportunities for creative brainstorming. 

The comradarie of coffee time helped workers make decisions faster too. Nahas recalled an example of how a salesperson was inspired to find a new approach to boost creativity. Bonds created by face to face conversation proved invaluable to day-to-day business.

More than that, imagine how it can increase creativity for us freelance creatives and solopreneurs? Perhaps it's important for us to make time to work with friends at a cafe or co-working space.. to give cohorts a call for inspiration.. The moral of the story? Stay in relationship!

Investor's Daily and Morey Stettner researched this story for their July 22nd column. 

If you're ready to be happier and laugh more in your life, and you feel called to work with me, you can book a free consultation here:

Alicia

How to be a Really Funny Comedian, Part 8: Professionalism

You may have seen fastcompany.com's 2011 output of the 100 Most Creative People in Business back in May. That ridiculous photo of the many Conan's sure caught my attention. Though Conan O'Brien came in 8th place, the focus on his creative process is worth reiterating. Plus, he wrote a guide to creativity. Who doesn't like guides?

The man is a true professional who rides on the success of effective preparation. But key to his real success is the pressure-induced, improv decision-making that follows his good prep. "Prepare like crazy," says Conan. "But then just as you're heading out, half an hour beforehand, forget all of it. It's in your reptile brain. Go out but feel loose enough to grab opportunities as they come up."

Conan draws analogies between horse-racing, diamond-formation, cooking and surfing to the business of creative comedy. Somehow these topics have a few things in common: they are greatly impacted by the chance occurrence of the perfect elements, the presence of a ton of pressure, and the flexibility to go off course should the opportunity arise. Conan puts a lot of weight in the fun factor and maintaining a loose work environment to allow full freedom for mistakes and mishaps that may turn into the next best idea.

Also, knowing what he can and cannot control has allowed Conan to tap further into his improvisation. His job is to set the tone, not to micro-manage his writers. Therefore, his tone is light and he considers the best and the worst to be on equally footing for funny material. The best material from Conan happens when he draws outside of the lines and the audience can tell that something organic is happening. Conan tells his colleagues that "the only way we can screw up is by not being bold enough." 

So what can we learn from Mr. O'Brien's guide about creativity in the business of comedy? 

1. "Creating a show is like playing the horses... No, wait-it's really like the making of a jewel." (i.e. The build up of pressure fosters a great production).

2. "Prepare like crazy so you can wing it." (i.e. Trust your 'reptile brain').

3. "Improvising is like surfing." (i.e. Be open to the whim of the current and ride out the opportunity to improvise).

4. "Creativity should be fun. Seriously." (i.e. Seriously fun).

5. " Fostering a collective comic sensibility is like cooking." (i.e. Get a rough idea, but don't overcook things with intense rehearsals because you need room to seize the moment for improv). 

6. Learn from other creative CEO's, and pep-talk your staff (i.e. Only try to control what you actually can, and create an environment where people are encouraged to be bold). 

Do you want to step up your standup career? If you're read to make a powerful shift in your life and feel called to work with me, you can book a free consultation here:

How to Become a Comedian, Part 5: Your Voice

Check out the earlier blogs for more secrets...

And let's not fool ourselves. Being a comedian is not so simple as follwing some blog entries and then saying you're a comedian, is it? Well, yes it is. All you have to do is follow the simple diagram. I promise you that with these key ingredients of persistence, seeing cutting edge live comedy, appreciating the masters of standup, and writing your humorous inclinations down, you will become very close to being an actual comedian. Or comedyan, if you want to be politically correct. Just kidding.  

The next ingredient is that you begin to write some actual jokes.  

ACTION: Sit down with the notes you've taken in your comedy notebook and begin to look critically at what is actually really interesting in there.  Pick out a few ideas and talk them out, out loud. Use a voice recorder. You can do it alone or with friends who you feel funny around (in the good way.) Just babble and rant about these topics. Question things, be curious, really drill down and just get silly. Try on some different comedians' voices. Pretend you're Ellen, Conan, Seinfeld. Pretend you're Elvis and do your rant with a honkey tonk accent. The idea is to have fun and get loose and let your ideas flow.  

Next: Even more incredible secrets you have to know before you can get on stage.

If you're ready to move forward in your comedy or solo performance career, and feel called to work with me, you can book a free consultation here:

Alicia

 

5 Ways to Deal with Professional Envy

Is someone else getting more attention than you and it's driving you crazy?

Sometimes it can be challenging to watch others finding success in your field while you struggle. Perhaps they started their career after you and are already enjoying compliments, getting great work, and appearing in the limelight.  It's interesting when, instead of feeling inspired, we feel envy or jealousy.  What a great opportunity for growth!  Particularly artists, who are often a 4 in the enneagram, are susceptible to jealousy. I work coaching a lot of artists whose main block is comparing themselves to others.  And let me tell you: jealousy has not made any of my clients more talented, more brilliant, funnier, or smarter.  BUT...

Envy tells us several things:  

1. It points to something we want.  Good to know what you want!
2. It points to somewhere we can grow.  Good to know where you want to grow!
3. It points to someone we can appreciate and admire.  Good to know exactly what you appreciate about them!
4. It points to somewhere we can have compassion for ourselves for not being "perfect" already.  Great!
5. It points to somewhere we have an attachment to things being other than exactly how they are and helps bring you back into the reality of your situation. Ahhh. 

So...  top five ways to deal with professional envy are:

1. Write down what you want, based on what you're envious about.  Allow yourself to feel it.
2. Write down where you'd like to grow.  Take an immediate action based on this.  Do something in the next five minutes that gets you closer to your goal. 
3. Write down the qualities in them you admire, and then meditate for five minutes, feeling into how you already possess those qualities. 
4. Meditate for another five minutes on compassion for yourself.
5. Accept how you are right now.

If you're ready to move forward in your performance or artistic career, and feel called to work with me, you can book a free consultation here:

Alicia