Author Archives: cochrancreates

I Chanced Upon “The Rules” Again Yesterday

Posted on by
3

JohnCage.TheRulesI chanced upon “The Rules” again yesterday. They’re the ones attributed to John Cage, one of the most influential American composers and pedagogues of the 20th century. Many of his works disrupted the way we think about listening. To Cage, music was everywhere and could be made with anything. Chance plays a big role in many of his works.

Although his “Rules for Students and Teachers” were probably penned in the 1960s, I think they can apply to any of us today. Here are a few of my latest reflections on his “RULES.”

His RULE TWO and RULE THREE can just as easily apply to the workplace, as to the classroom. Each of us should pull everything out of our leaders and of our colleagues – and vice versa.

RULE FOUR, RULE SIX and RULE TEN come straight out of any course or book on Design Thinking today. I know it’s an understatement, but Cage was way ahead of his time.

RULE SEVEN is an excellent reminder. We still need to put in the hours, i.e., practice, to become accomplished at anything.

RULE EIGHT is another good reminder, as we probably all fall prey to editing our ideas before we’ve even given them a chance to develop.

RULE NINE is an important one. If we can enjoy ourselves, our work will be that much better.

His HINTS are pretty important, too. I think Cage is reminding us to practice empathy by getting out in the world. He’s urging us to stay curious and gather our dots for connecting later.

What do you think?

by Rebecca Cochran

Can Snow Days Boost Our Creative Capacity?

Posted on by
2

SnowDayThanks to this year’s unusually disruptive winter weather, we’ve probably all experienced a few days in which our daily routines have been disrupted, as well. If you’re like me, your first reaction to these disruptions is probably negative. This year, however, I decided to rise above that negativity and turn each disruption into an opportunity.

When my first “snow day” of the year appeared, I decided to take the upper hand and proactively change my daily routine. Instead of heading out to my local Starbucks for coffee first thing, I decided to stay off the icy roads and enjoy a cup of tea at home. And, rather than quickly jumping online, I sat at my kitchen table and began mentally mapping out my workday. This led to my grabbing a sketch pad and marker and drawing a “mind map” to help me think through a new client project.

It had been awhile since I had begun a new project offline. With all of our digital tools so close at hand, it can be easy to forget the power of even a crude hand sketch to sort out a process. I ended up sharing my sketches with my client and I think that helped him better visualize our process, as well.

On another snow day, when all of my meetings were cancelled or rescheduled, I decided to flip my routine. Instead of saving my work-related reading for late in the evening, I began that morning with a reading session. Not only were my eyes fresher, but I was also able to apply several fresh, new ideas to my design work immediately that morning. This new routine made me wonder how many fresh, new ideas I “sleep on” and promptly forget following a late night reading session.

These little changes in the workday routine pointed out how valuable it can be to change things up more often. Rather than arbitrarily sticking to a set routine five days a week, we should allow disruption in more often. It just may boost our creative capacity and help us come at a problem from a new perspective.

What do you think?

by Rebecca Cochran

Whatever Happened to Creative Homage?

Posted on by
Reply

One evening last week, while tuning in to American Public Media’s Performance Today show, I happened to catch Luigi Boccherini’s Symphony in d minor, Op. 12 No. 4, nicknamed La Casa Del Diavolo or The House of the Devil. As a flutist, of course, I’m familiar with Boccherini’s great output including his Flute Concerto in D, his trio sonatas with flute and his numerous flute quartets and quintets. I admire his cello concerti and guitar quintets — the Fandango comes happily to mind.

However, upon my first-ever hearing of La Casa Del Diavolo last week, I was truly incensed. It wasn’t the ominous name that bothered me, but the outright plagiarism of the allegro finale. It was obvious to me that Boccherini had stolen it, practically note-for-note, from Gluck’s opera, Orpheus and Eurydice. Now, Gluck is downright monumental among us flutists, having composed one of the most sublimely beautiful flute solos ever written in his opera scene, Dance of the Blessed Spirits. He precedes that blissful flute solo with pure chaos via his Dance of the Furies, making the flute solo that follows even more sublime.

So, I got online and did some research. I discovered that in Gluck’s and Boccherini’s time (the mid-to-late 18th century), imitation was common practice. The act of plagiarism was considered a sign of respect and, in fact, a way to pay creative homage to an artist one admired or looked up to.

Who knew?

I wonder when these sentiments changed. Just now, I conducted a search on the words “intellectual property.” Google instantly returned 1.8 million results. Perhaps we’ve gone too far in protecting each and every one of our thoughts, theories, ideas and inventions. Perhaps we’d all be more creative and productive if we weren’t so protective — if we freely shared and reused each others’ ideas as a matter of course.

What do you think?

by Rebecca Cochran