Denise R. Jacobs gave a presentation titled "The Creativity (R)Evolution" at UX Week in San Francisco on September 12, 2014. The presentation focused on nurturing creativity in oneself and others through tiny habits, empowered play, and creative collaboration. Attendees were given homework assignments to develop habits and collaboration skills. The overarching message was that creativity can be cultivated and sustained through individual and social practices, and this can lead to positive change in both individuals and communities.

1. The Creativity (R)Evolution
Denise R. Jacobs
UX Week
San Francisco, CA
12 September 2014

2. SQUEEEEEE!!!!!

3. @denisejacobs
#uxweek
#creativityrevolution

4. Get the slides:
bit.ly/uxweek-cr

5. When 1 ≠ 1

6. Darwin’s wing man
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drthompson/3689420515/

7. A Sneeze of laughter
http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/girls-laughing-uganda-pod/

8. Course change
Photo: Denise Jacobs

9. Today. Now.

10. Conferences = potential for change
http://www.flickr.com/photos/toprankblog/2280204274/

11. Ideas are sparked
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sjliew/1286367571/

12. New social networks

13. The initial excitement about the new
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ableman/543078380/

14. Taken over by old habits
http://www.flickr.com/photos/irrezolut/2311904560/

15. How to take it home? Sustain it? Continue it?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/debord/4932655275/

16. Photo by Derek Kearney
About me

17. The Creative Dose.com

18. is key
http://www.flickr.com/photos/designandtechnologydepartment/4771136128/

19. I’m not the only one who thinks so…
http://business.time.com/2013/04/26/the-time-creativity-poll/

20. A Creativity (R)Evolution!

21. All gatherings are opportunities
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stella12/7045899425

22. Nurture the Creative Spark
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cdoublew/2668216943/

23. The Roots of (R)Evolution

24. Creative? Me! Yes!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/barretthall/3036598475/ &http://www.flickr.com/photos/carbonnyc/3135103537/

25. Creative? Child, please

26. Creative? Um, maybe?

27. “Creativity is all about making
connections and seeing patterns.”
Bruce Nussbaum, Creativity Intelligence

28. What is the “creative spark”?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ogil/1507585665/

29. Everyone has it
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaptainkobold/4812035672/

30. Umair Haque
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nextconference/3504568830/

31. “The sum total of human effort can add
up to not merely more, but to Better.”
Umair Haque, Betterness: Economics for Humans

32. Betterness? Betterness!!

33. (R)Evolution ≠ Revolution
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stargardener/7037360553/

34. The Foundation

35. Our role model: the coral polyp
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drthompson/3689420515/

36. Builds rich environments
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Coral_Reef.jpg

37. Creates new land forms
http://images4.fanpop.com/image/photos/23300000/Coral-Reef-Torres-Strait-Island-australia-23340592-1600-1200.jpg

38. Tiny Habits
http://tinyhabits.com/

39. The structure
http://www.flickr.com/photos/anetq/8543067943/

40. 2 modifications
1. In the positive
2. Present tense

41. Anchor to a current habit
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fotobydave/333883245/

42. Congratulate yourself
http://www.flickr.com/photos/clappstar/6297835482/

43. Feel Good = Neuroscience
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cblue98/7254347346/

44. Big results
http://www.flickr.com/photos/anetq/8543069503/

45. From Spark to Flame

46. Two levels
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fragmented/2734290118/

47. The Personal

48. Are you a terrorist to yourself?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/koomatuomio/4182554398/

49. “Obsessing about preventing bad
things from happening also prevents
good things from happening, or
sometimes prevents anything from
happening at all.”
Scott Berkun, The Year Without Pants

50. You are the gateway
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eschipul/4396790244/

51. It’s all about you being “self-ful”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/siutou_amy/2306794554/

52. Self-ful-ness
Caring for your own welfare so that you
are able to care for the welfare of
others.

53. The Oxygen Mask Theory

54. Love what you do. Do what you love.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmscottimd/616642026/

55. “The only way to be truly satisfied is to
do what you believe is great work. The
only way to do great work is to love
what you do.”
Steve Jobs, 2005 Stanford Commencement speech

56. By nurturing your own spark
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aguslepe/5512044294/

57. You’ll begin to open up
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rvm_71/5011353192/

58. And then magic happens

59. Self-ful transforms
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kara_allyson/5358611092/

60. To Self-less
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mazgrp/2050810720/

61. “One of the best ways to make yourself
happy is to make other people happy.
One of the best ways to make other
people happy is to be happy yourself.”
Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project

62. How?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eyefruit/1097398/

63. Recognize your brilliance
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonathan_hamner/3386076488/

64. DO NOT focus on your weaknesses
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonathan_hamner/3386076488/

65. You will only improve
10-15 %
(and it will be painful)
Tom Rath, Strengths Finder 2.0

66. Enjoy + Good at + Feeling Empowered
http://www.flickr.com/photos/h-k-d/3310336516/

67. = Empowered Play
http://www.flickr.com/photos/anieto2k/8216666102/

68. aka = Flow

69. R-E-S-P-E-C-T

70. Shift into the habits you want to develop
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rene_ehrhardt/2762573549/

71. The Case of the Reluctant Speaker

72. “Who, me? Really? Sure…”
Amanda Dameron, upon being invited to keynote UX Week

73. “Me -- a speaker ? Oh, no.”
Jenna Foreman, upon being asked if she was a speaker at UX
Week

74. You’re about to be @Boonerang-ed

75. Know your goals, like Justin
Photo: Julian Harty

76. Homework: Write a talk description
Think of several topics you are a
bad-ass in. Write up 1-2 talk
descriptions based on your
interests and expertise.
Share them with your partner in one
month.

77. Homework: Tiny Habits to Nurture the Spark
Think of 1-2 tiny habits you will do to
nurture the sparks ignited at this
conference.

78. Check in date:
10 October 2014

79. Doing this is the first step

80. Recognize & support your spark
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cdoublew/2663137942/

81. This is about something greater
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mangee/195050727/

82. Your attitude is a contagion

83. Happiness is contagious
Each happy friend
increased an individual's
probability of being
happy by 9 percent.
Even perfect strangers
three degrees of
separation away—
friends of friends of
friends—exerted a
significant uplifting
influence
Unhappy people at the
center of the network
are more likely than
those at the periphery to
become happy in the
future.
http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/magazine/17-10/ff_christakis?currentPage=all

84. Your change will spread beyond you
http://behance.vo.llnwd.net/profiles19/1330505/projects/5455539/30cbf8c45952cdcf360ef545b1dcaba9.jpg

85. The Social

86. We need to get our group on
Photo: Denise Jacobs

87. Mo’ people, mo’ creativity
http://www.flickr.com/photos/international-festival/3019543830/

88. Building 20 at MIT
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/01/30/120130fa_fact_lehrer?currentPage=all

89. Escape your silo
http://www.flickr.com/photos/coffeemick/5106610165/

90. Listen. No, really listen
http://www.flickr.com/photos/theory/3193684632/

91. Be the one that starts the process
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Coral_Reef.jpg

92. Be like Molly
http://www.flickr.com/photos/janbrasna/112338913/

93. Be the locus where ideas can mix & mingle
http://www.flickr.com/photos/opensourceway/7496803638/

94. “Getting people together is easy, but
having a culture of getting them to be
good at building upon each other’s
ideas is hard.”
David Kelly, Founder of IDEO

95. Over lunch in 1994
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsters,_Inc.

96. Monsters, Inc was born

97. “Creativity is social….Instead (of
brainstorming) you need ‘magic circles,’
small teams of people who trust each other,
are familiar with each other, and play
together.”
Bruce Nussbaum, Creativity Intelligence

98. Improve with Improv
http://www.flickr.com/photos/roel1943/5740295789/

99. Start where you are
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zen/3446600695/

100. Accept the offer + fully commit
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mcgraths/3277839203

101. Use this structure

102. Make your partner(s) look good
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31246066@N04/4597640798/

103. “Play is how we invent and
experiment.”
Josh Clarke, The Web Gets Real, UX Week

104. Let’s play!

105. Builds trust
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wrote/2646295354/

106. Collaborations get increasingly stronger
http://www.flickr.com/photos/schipulites/5407946699/

107. Photo: Denise Jacobs
Eating my own dogfood: Improv class!

108. Homework: Tiny Habit of Creative Collaboration
Think of 1-2 tiny habits you will do
to cultivate a culture of creative
collaboration around you.

109. Check in date:
10 November 2014

110. Viva La (R)Evolution!

111. Creative power to the people!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/flickerbulb/53116195/

112. This is about imagination, plus
Photo: Denise Jacobs

113. Personal fulfillment (aka Happiness)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pocait/2847866615/

114. Team and company creating Betterness

115. “Betterness can't happen if you're
spending your life churning out toxic
junk. It can only happen when more
meaningful work is done.”
Umair Haque, Betterness: Economics for Humans

116. Bigger than just yourself
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7730492@N03/4958540694/

117. It’s about You + Others
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7730492@N03/4957946157/

118. Eudaimonia = Human flourishing
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bohman/174718774/

119. “Happiness is not just a mood—it’s a
work ethic…..Happiness is actually the
precursor to success.”
Shawn Achor, The Happiness Advantage: The Seven
Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and
Performance at Work

120. At the close of UX Week, with you
http://www.flickr.com/photos/moqub/2745092532/

121. Encourage the eco-system

122. Remember that we can create better together

123. “We don’t have to invent anything; it’s
already all around us.”
Josh Clarke, The Web Gets Real, UX Week

124. We can evolve creatively
http://www.flickr.com/photos/opensourceway/6005503875/

125. Make the switch
http://www.flickr.com/photos/joeathialy/3397362215/

126. “You have the power to…make the
world a better place to dwell.”
Amanda Dameron, Universal Design: Does it Matter? UX
Week

127. I am the lone nut dancing

128. Because I sincerely believe this
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dougbelshaw/4168593521/

129. that you want to see in the world
http://www.flickr.com/photos/20872388@N06/5572306965/

130. And finally…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27620885@N02/2609974180/

131. CreativityRevolution.com

132. Want the slides? Get ‘em!
bit.ly/uxweek-cr

133. Connect!
DeniseJacobs.com
 Sign up on my mailing list here!
denise@denisejacobs.com
twitter.com/denisejacobs
facebook.com/denisejacobsdotcom
slideshare.net/denisejacobs
Photo used with permission: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aarronwalter/4629078087/

134. THE CREATIVE DOSE
A Creativity + Innovation Collective
Work Better. Create More. Create Betterness.
Creative Thinking & Problem-solving
Applying an Innovation Mindset
Creative Collaboration
Team Communication & Cohesion
TheCreativeDose.com
@thecreativedose
“Untitled” by Americo Morales