Home Page

Recognizing You Are Creative May Require Recognizing When Inspiration Strikes

August 25, 2026

by:

Joe Patti

I was listening to an episode of the Hidden Brain podcast titled Unleashing Your Creativity. As they were talking about how different scientists arrived at solutions to problems while dozing in front of a fire, gardening, stepping on to a bus, etc, I had a flash of insight myself.

For years now I have been a proponent of helping people realize they have the capacity for creativity. The insight I had is that people may not recognize or value when their unconscious has come up with a solution. If you think creativity and talent is something other special people have, you may not put a lot of stock in those momentary bursts of inspiration you have and work on developing or applying the thoughts you have.

Essentially, it may not be enough to tell people they have the capacity to be creative and teach them different exercises to stimulate creative thinking (i.e. improv, sketching exercises, etc.), it may be necessary to help people recognize the potential value of the ideas that occur to them and grasp on to them.

The main thrust of the podcast was how solutions often come to people when they aren’t thinking directly about them. I have had this experience often where I will think of a good marketing hook or solution to a scheduling issue while hiking, taking a shower, mowing the lawn, etc.

One of the many things I learned from the podcast though is that there is a particular set of circumstances where not thinking about the problem is actually effective. In one experiment in the Netherlands that podcast guest Ap Dijksterhuis conducted, they had one group focus on solving a problem and nothing else. Another group they had think about the problem and then provided them with a distracting activity. A third group they had think about the problem, tell them to forget about the problem because it wouldn’t be brought up again, and then provided them with a distracting activity.

Both the second and third group were introduced to the problem again. (Third group was essentially told, ha ha, we lied about it not coming up again.) The third group which was told to stop thinking about the problem was no more successful than the first group in solving the problem.

Coming to a solution while not thinking about only occurs if the unconscious knows that the problem still matters and needs a solution. Even if you have decided to leave a problem at work and enjoy the weekend, your brain knowing it is waiting for you on Monday keeps itself working in the background on your behalf.

So if you tell people that they may be able to find a solution by not thinking about it, make it clear there are different levels of “not thinking about it.”

Building Public Will For Arts And Culture, creativity

No Comments

Say Not What They Can Do For The Board…

August 24, 2026

by:

Joe Patti

In an article on Blue Avocado, Matt Lynch suggests getting a new generation people to serve on your non-profit board is a matter of highlighting how the experience will serve them rather than framing it as requiring time, expertise, energy and money from them.

He says his own time serving on boards have been loads of fun due to what he got of the experience.

He lists five different Pleasures of Board Service.

First among them is being able to become a subject matter expert in the areas the non-profit operate. He notes there are not only opportunities to gain new knowledge and skills, but also sharpen and expand expertise one already possesses.

Second on his list is Servicing Is Learning:

During my time on nonprofit boards, I learned how to run meetings. I observed other board members negotiate positions with each other as well as staff regarding mission and strategy. I gained insights into fundraising techniques, event planning, budgeting with unpredictable sources of income, media relations, marketing, and legislative lobbying.

[…]

Present board service as a learning laboratory rather than a chore, supported by any examples from your experience. For example, if certain board members or staff have exceptional public speaking skills, are wildly successful when they solicit donations, or are masterful in the art of legislative lobbying, highlight how much you have learned from watching them work.

You can talk about the lessons you’ve learned watching a complicated event move from idea to a success—after all, some event planners have this down to a science!

Source

His third and fourth points are networking opportunities and joining a group with whom you can form friendships. Basically, professional and personal relationships. For some people who find they are have a hard time meeting new groups of people forming new relationships, this benefit may be more highly valued than you anticipate.

His fifth benefit is doing meaningful work that fulfills a passion they may have. For many people their career may not feel meaningful or align with the sentiment of “doing something you love, and you will never work a day in your life.” Working with a non-profit can provide something people seek to add to their lives.

Boards

No Comments

Classical Music 100% Solved Anti-Social Behavior

August 18, 2026

by:

Joe Patti

H/T Artsjournal.com which provided a link to a BBC story about how classical music was solely responsible for a 70% drop in anti-social behavior at a McDonalds in England.

There were fights, threats made to staff and property damage before they started playing classical compositions.

But after that, things immediately took a turn for the better. All they needed to do was start playing classical music and that immediately fixed the problem.

Well, that and turning off the Wi-Fi and charge points. And shutting down parts of the restaurant. And having staff wear body cameras and and personally unlock and relock the restaurant doors for customers.

And also

The PMP also introduced regular, targeted patrols, community warning notices for troublemakers, and McDonald’s bans which were delivered to homes by uniformed officers.

Parents were also visited by police alongside housing providers to warn their child’s behaviour could lead to eviction.

Chesterfield FC Community Trust also worked with the PMP to offer activities in the town to give young people an alternative to congregating at the fast food restaurant.

Source

But beside restricting access, extra security measures, added patrols, bans, intervention with parents, and providing additional places for young folks to hang out, the real hero here was the classical music.

That is what the headline and first sentence of the news story credits as the solution so it must be true.

Apparently the attractive murals in the area weren’t enough of an art intervention to solve the problem. (Checked Google Streetview to verify the correct McDonalds appeared in the story. Murals weren’t there in June 2024)

It totally wasn’t “….the power of a joined up, partnership approach to tackle problem behaviour,” as police Inspector Josh Carter says.

Art(ist) Education, Marketing/PR, Working In The Arts

No Comments

Good Teams Talk About Mistakes

August 17, 2026

by:

Joe Patti

Earlier this month the Hidden Brain podcast had an episode on beneficial mistakes. Early in the episode they discuss a study of medical mistakes in hospitals that podcast guest, Amy Edmondson, was conducting.

There was a period in which Edmondson thought there was a problem with her data because it was showing a strong statistical relationship between good team work and high error rates. She expected good team work to be associated with low error rates.

On a hunch she cross referenced her data with a question she asked people to rate a statement about making a mistake and how likely it would be held against you. It turned out there was a connection between fewer consequences for reporting a mistake and high error rate. In other words, people appeared to be more willing to report a mistake if there were fewer perceived consequences for doing so.

She had a research assistant go to the hospital to dig deeper into this question and the result seemed to bear out.

Amy Edmondson:

Exactly. It’s one of these profound insights that I think way too few leaders or even just people in families recognize that when you insist that we must have error-free performance or error-free lives, the main thing that happens is not that error goes away, it’s that you stop hearing about it.

Source

While we often discuss how the creative process frequently involves making mistakes and trying new approaches and how this is an practice that non-profit arts can offer the commercial sector, the truth is that arts and creative team work environments can have little tolerance for mistakes.

Outside of the official bounds of a creative environment of rehearsals and early design reviews, the expectations of executing quickly and achieving a lot in a short time at low cost can be pretty high.

I recently told some folks that I am glad there has been a general trending away from the negative aspects of the work environment of my early career. I still hear and read about some pretty unforgiving and problematic practices.

It is worth remembering what I quote Amy Edmondson saying above – demanding people eliminate errors doesn’t mean they stop happening, just that people work to make sure no one hears about them.

I sit on the safety committee for my employer. One of the near fanatical focuses they have is reporting near misses because they are leading indicators of problems. Reporting you almost got stung by a scorpion opening up a water meter box and how you and others can avoid an actual sting in the future contributes to the prevention of injury.

But that sort of honest communication only occurs if there isn’t a perception of dire consequences in admitting you should have waited for a co-worker before climbing a ladder.

Working In The Arts

No Comments