Creativity

Out of ideas? Try something weird.

When we’re writing, designing, or building, we can unlock new territory by trying something weird. What if your next article had to rhyme? What if your next design could only use Comic Sans? What if your product needed to be made out of paper? Constraints breed creativity.

November 13, 2023

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If it looks right, it is right

I just moved into a new apartment – and things are a little off. But in a weird way, that makes my building a lot like the Parthenon. In design, perfection is often not the goal.

June 26, 2023

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Be so good you can be bad

In physics, our understanding of the universe “breaks down” at extreme scales. The equations and models we learn in high school don’t hold up when we look at massive black holes and at the infinitely small quantum scale – the math has a pesky habit of going haywire. The same phenomenon happens when we look at how some people and organizations communicate.

March 1, 2023

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Samuel Morse and the power of thinking smaller

For most of human history, the speed limit on long-distance communication wasn’t a matter of 5G bandwidth or even how fast an operator could connect your phone call. It was how fast a horse could gallop. Samuel Morse changed that by thinking small.

February 9, 2023

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The biggest thing I learned from writing my first manuscript

Research is broken. I shouldn’t complain too much, as it’s infinitely easier to find facts, data, studies, quotes, and other resources than pretty much ever before in history. When I read of how famed biographer Robert Caro researched his seminal works– something he and his wife are still doing well into their 80s – I count my digital blessings.

January 10, 2023

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Ben Guttmann