From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
At WeWork, we believe creators are anyone that's pursuing their passions and contributing to a mission. Regardless of your company size, title or function, you are working towards creating meaning, intention and purpose within your life.
Despite the absence of personal computers, tabletop games, board games, and card games filled this void. To me, the opportunity to govern a simulation of adulthood was immensely appealing, fostering significant cognitive and strategic development even in my youth.
What it means to be creative is pretty simple. It's to do something human, something generous, something that might not work. It has to be all 3 of those things. You will find creative accountants, politicians, housekeepers and engineers… being creative is to solve interesting problems!
We characterise our ideal 'Substacker' in affectionate terms – we call them outsider nerds – they're outsiders insofar as they don't fit comfortably in the dominant media structure for whatever reason – perhaps they feel they can do better work outside of it.
A lot of people assume that I would choose not to have bipolar disorder; but I'm grateful for it. I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world, because I feel like all the ups and downs have formed who I am, and made be braver, tougher… more creative and more capable.
The workplace of the future is hard to predict specifically, but one thing we can predict is that we will increasingly rely on human intelligence and creativity as opposed to human capacity to perform repetitive tasks.
You are NOT a machine: There's a reason that presentations are often called 'death by PowerPoint,' and many of the most masterful presentations don't even need slides… More than anything, you need to realise that first and foremost, you're a storyteller – and in any pitch, you have to engage the emotions and interest of your audience.
There's an entirely different category of knowledge, the utility of which isn't immediately apparent. This category is equally, if not more, crucial, especially for those aspiring to make creative or innovative strides.
I wanted passersby to wonder, 'Have you seen that? What's going on there?' I understood that excellent food would ensure repeat customers, but initially, my primary goal was simply to astonish and differentiate myself radically enough to draw attention.
The more dots you give your brain, the more of them it will connect!
Sometimes, a game just works; it becomes a little engine that generates mystery and interest, prompting questions like 'What happens if I do this?' This is the hallmark of a living game.
To make a great movie, you cannot set out to make a great movie! Great films are authentic, they capture the zeitgeist of a time and place in an entertaining and engaging way. Great cinema becomes something that reflects the mood of the time.