Rich Kirkpatrick, Author at Rich Kirkpatrick

Creativity is Addition: Move Fast and Break Things versus Be Present and Make Things

Rich KirkpatrickJanuary 17, 20230321 views

Silicon Valley is where I grew up and now where I once again reside. We moved almost a year ago but it’s still a bit hard to adjust to a new city. For instance, one thing I miss is the creative culture in LA County. The large number of coffee shops, barber shops, food trucks, and the local vibe reflected the high percentage of creative residents. Many people aspire to be filmmakers, musicians, or the next fashion magnet. I used to drive for Lyft and in my car I had cooks to CEOs that all seemed to embrace the creative culture. Returning to the Bay Area is a bit of a culture shock.

Change, Uncertainty and the Creative Process: Five Principles to Remember

Rich KirkpatrickNovember 30, 20220194 views

Subscribe to the audio blog on your favorite podcast app: Subscribe I have been an Apple Mac person since 1990, owning one of the first little beige boxes containing an eight-inch screen and a one-megabyte hard drive. For years, this one purchase would be the largest for our young family. As years progressed, my household moved on to new and newer machines, offering a museum timeline of Apple upgrades worthy of the Smithsonian collection. With upgrading machines, it seems cables don’t always match. We now have USB C, replacing several other iterations of cables. With enough adapters, I have usually kept old-yet-expensive hardware longer than most. One such piece of gear is my 16-channel audio mixing and recording device. I thought retirement was in order. But today in my music studio, I discovered my FireWire 400 audio device still works! There’s a problem, however. It’s just not convenient to operate. Add to…

Creativity’s Invisible Variables: Preparation and Incubation

Rich KirkpatrickOctober 18, 20220173 views

Subscribe to the audio blog on your favorite podcast app: Subscribe We celebrate the moment an idea is born. When a colleague or friend mentions their new idea, we find them in a state of euphoria and energy. New insights seem to arrive in a flash. Like Archimedes experienced, they might hit us in the bathtub. Observers treat us like the crazy mathematician running from his bath while he cried, “Eureka, Eureka!” We all know this part of creativity. A vision, a solution, or a new angle overtakes us. Everyone seems to think our best ideas come to us on their own, but the truth is this. It takes a lot of unseen effort and patience to bring them. Cut-and-Paste Mimicry or Originality What if we are cheating ourselves from our best ideas by simply hoping they either arrive on their own or are from our hustle? We might give up or…

The Magic of Being Present: Connect, Notice, and Thank

Rich KirkpatrickSeptember 12, 20220237 views

Subscribe to the audio blog on your favorite podcast app: Subscribe I had one of those weeks where I felt like I was on a road trip, sharing stories on the winding drive, dreaming with new friends at the campfire, and learning that we all need people to watch out for us while hiking the treacherous inclines in our lives. The pandemic exacted a cost. We lost a bit of the magic of being present—more than I think I care to admit it. Zoom calls, texts, and socially distanced dining—known as takeout—could never replace the real thing. Sure, my favorite restaurant’s food is still tasty. But we’ve lost the carefree table banter that allowed the meal’s main entrée to connect us to each other. So, the past several days have been special with meals, coffees, and serendipitous encounters. With all the talk about mindsets, like some I mention in my new book…

Embrace the Awkward: Create a safe place for tough conversations

Rich KirkpatrickAugust 23, 20220402 views

Subscribe to the audio blog on your favorite podcast app: Subscribe To be human is to be creative Here’s something I’m sure of. Creativity is just another word for being human. One example of this is in how we approach the feeling of being awkward. Awkward is a word that comes from where we get the word backward. It is an opposing force, pushing against the grain. We feel more than annoyed. A powerful challenge to the way our brain is used to thinking ensues, testing our wits and composure. The awkward people we live with I imagine the scene at my dad’s wake where two family members trashed the words of the minister after attending the funeral. One was a white supremacist. The awkwardness was his lack of parenting his children as they said, “Ew, that’s gross” to friends who brought in food for the buffet. The other relative took every…