The Best Ideas are Human
This is your reminder to unplug and let your brain do its thing.
In a sea of advice on how to “master AI,” we’re missing something obvious: AI is a flattener, providing the same obvious solutions to every user. It helps us work faster, organize complex information, and smart use of it is essential for modern work. But to win, we will need to be bold, unexpected, and inspiring.
So the question that keeps me up at night is not “how do I master AI?” but “how do I flex my creativity?”
I asked some of the most creative people I know, my colleagues, how they’re getting inspired and keeping the spark alive. The themes:
Disconnect from the endless stream of chirps, pings, and notifications and letting the mind wander while walking, showering, or just being outside
Connect and converse IRL to spark ideas and get out of your head, like the full NY creative team attending the First Round showcase
Be a sponge as you go about daily life and soak in information from a broad range of conversations, publications, and people watching
Go old school with pen and paper, scribbling ideas, making sketches, feeling tactile sensation
Nurture creativity outside of work, because sometimes it’s nice to not have a brief
Engage in play that makes you think and move differently, like puzzles, word games, with the kids, with the pets
Be brave, because the biggest limiter on creativity is stopping yourself before you even get started
In a culture that idolizes productivity and 24/7 availability, it can be hard to remember that there’s value in just being. This prevailing pressure is trickling down to kids too, as outlined in Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation, which highlights that 46% of US teens feel they’re online “almost all the time” and that limiting smartphone usage likely improves focus, strengthens face to face connection, and promotes better sleep. A win-win-win. Could unplugging from the screen and re-connecting with the world around us be the solve for adults too? Only one way to find out.
Join me in putting an hour of nothing on your calendar this week and trust that your mind is powerful—it’ll take you where you need to go. And if you need an infusion of strategic creativity, you know where to find us.