by Todd Henry
This prompted me to write the words “die empty” on the inside of my notebook and to affix them to the walls at work and home. My goal, each and every day, is to get out of me whatever is inside that is of value to others. To do my work each day. To, hopefully, in some small measure, bring freedom to those with whom I work. As I do this, I am pursuing my own definition of greatness in my life.
In an interview for our podcast, brand expert Kristian Andersen said, “It’s important to realize that you will be known for what you do, so you’d better get busy doing what you want to be known for.” I couldn’t agree more. Regardless of what this means to you, there is no better time than now to get moving on the things that are important, and that begins by choosing to establish rhythmic practices in your life and work.
I hope that you will join me in the effort to empty yourself each day, and to strive to find your unique voice. Don’t go to the grave with your best work still inside of you. Die empty.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book is the culmination of many years of work and unending amounts of wisdom, support, and advice from heroes, friends, and colleagues. I am indebted in more ways than I can count. Rachel, thank you for your support and for bearing with my ideas. You are an amazing partner, and this book couldn’t have happened without you. (I promise I will now stop talking about it.) To Ethan, Owen, and Ava, thank you for supporting Daddy’s dream and for putting up with the times when I disappeared into my office to “write for a little while.” (Yes, I’ll read you a book now.) Thanks to Mike and Jane Henry for your support over the years, for helping me haul the upright piano to and from my first musical performances, for forgiving me when I caught the carpet on fire during that chemistry experiment in the third grade (or did I ever tell you about that?), and for giving me the space to explore my passions. To the McMullians and the Wertenbergs, thanks for your continued love, encouragement, and support of our family.
To my friends and advisers Jim Bechtold, Jerry Rushing, and Brian Tome, thanks for your advice and patient wisdom. riCardo Crespo, Peter Block, Ben Nicholson, Keith Crutcher, Steven Manuel, and Richard Westendorf, your continued friendship and inspiration fuels me, and I’ve learned so much from each of you. To my (brilliant) friend Lisa Johnson, I’m indebted to you for all your advice. I followed it to the letter.
To the “virtual mentors” who have greatly influenced my thinking and passion through their writing and work. Some are contemporaries and some not, but to each I am indebted. A short list includes Thomas Merton, Steven Pressfield, Seth Godin, Søren Kierkegaard, Parker Palmer, Peter Drucker, Tom Peters, C. S. Lewis, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, and Abraham Joshua Heschel.
To the Accidental Creative team and those who have helped significantly in this effort, especially David Valentine, Matt Chandler, Joshua Johnson, and Lucas Cole, thanks for your support and brilliant work.
To my agent, Melissa Sarver, at the Elizabeth Kaplan Literary Agency, thanks for believing in me and for walking me patiently through this process. You are a gift, and you showed up at just the right time. Thanks also to Kimberly Palmer, who wrote the article for U.S. News & World Report that (eventually) opened these doors.
To my editor David Moldawer, Emily Angell, Amanda Pritzker, Maureen Cole, and the entire team at Portfolio / Penguin thanks so much for believing in this book and for your hard work at bringing it into being.
Thanks to everyone interviewed for the Accidental Creative podcast or for this book, including Seth Godin, Steven Pressfield, David Allen, Tony Schwartz, Chris Guillebeau, Lisa Johnson, Keith Ferrazzi, Scott Belsky, John Winsor, Stephen Nachmanovitch, Bryn Mooth, riCardo Crespo, Peter Block, Ben Nicholson, Richard Westendorf, Ann Calcara, Greg Hewitt, Simon Sinek, Gregg Fraley, Chris Brogan and Josh Kaufman.
To Burt Rosen, Steven Taylor, Blake Delanney, and the team at Le Meridien /Starwood Hotels, thanks for the opportunity to be a part of the LM100 Programme.
To the crew at the Madeira Starbucks, including Vanessa, Amy, and Melissa, thanks for hosting and fueling my 5:30 a.m. writing sessions.
To Mr. Bob Mowrey who first challenged me to think critically about problems.
To the thousands of creatives who are a part of the AC community, thanks for your encouragement, insight, and wisdom. I’ve learned so much from our interactions, and I look forward to many more in the years to come!
APPENDIX
▶ Tools to Help You Be Brilliant
Accidental Creative exists to help creatives and teams do brilliant work, and we’ve developed some tools to help you get the most out of your creative process. Below are a few mentioned in this book.
AC ENGAGE
Our virtual coaching community helps creatives and leaders apply the principles discussed in this book through regular audio and video coaching, online meet-ups and more. Learn more at AccidentalCreative.com/engage.
PERSONAL IDEA PAD (PIP)
This is a free-association tool designed to structure your creative thought, help you explore overlooked insights, and help you generate better ideas faster, whether on your own or with a team. Learn more at AccidentalCreative.com/pip.
IDEA TRACTION
This web-based software tool is designed to help teams meet less and create more by providing a virtual space for collaboration and idea generation. Keep all of your creative conversations in one place and share stimulus to spark new creative insights. Learn more or try it at IdeaTraction.com.
▶ IDEA CULTURE TRAINING
This immersive training teaches teams how to establish rhythms and practices that lead to a culture of everyday brilliance. Learn more at AccidentalCreative. com/ideas.
We have a variety of additional products to help you apply the practices you read about in this book. Learn more at AccidentalCreative.com/store.
▶ Resources Mentioned
Here are some resources mentioned in this book :
Making Ideas Happen : Overcoming the Obstacles Between Vision and Reality by Scott BelskyA helpful and practical analysis of why some creative teams are highly productive while others fail.
Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention by Mihaly CsikszentmihalyiThrough brilliant research and interviews, Csikszentmihalyi explores the lives of successful creatives across a variety of domains and draws conclusions about why they succeed.
How The Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In by Jim CollinsIn this book, researcher and business expert Jim Collins explores common traits of companies that, though they seem unstoppable, eventually fail.
Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? by Seth GodinGodin challenges readers to find their unique space in the marketplace and to shun mediocrity.
The Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-Free Play by Neil A. FioreFrom his own experience treating patients, Fiore shares how to overcome the factors that lead to procrastination and less-than-optimal work.
The Answer to How Is Yes: Acting on What Matters by Peter BlockIn this insightful book, Block shares how to act on what matters and by first getting the questions right.
Free Play: Improvisation in Life and Art by Stephen NachmanovitchMusician Stephen Nachmanovitch shares the parallels he’s discovered between musical improvisation and the art of living well.
Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David AllenThis highly practical book by Allen provides a step-by-step, fluff-free method for increasing personal productivity.
On Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins and Sandra BlakesleeA brain scientist and founder of Palm, Hawkins explains his theory of how the mind works and how we can leverage that understanding to build new technologies.
Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil PostmanThough written in the 1980’s, this book is prophetic and holds many lessons for those of us fractured by the age of the Internet and ubiquitous entertainment options.
Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation by Steven JohnsonJohnson d
escribes ideas as “networks” and shares how some of the greatest innovations of history came about.
Who’s Got Your Back: The Breakthrough Program to Build Deep, Trusting Relationships That Create Success—and Won’t Let You Fail by Keith FerrazziA master networker, Ferrazzi shares insights into how to build relationships and develop deep connections with others.
A Whack on the Side of the Head: How You Can Be More Creative by Roger von OechVon Oech shares many highly practical ways to generate ideas when you need them.
The Culture Code: An Ingenious Way to Understand Why People Around the World Live and Buy as They Do by Clotaire RapailleA consultant to some of the biggest companies in the world, Rapaille shares how he uses cultural affinities and attributes to help companies develop new products.
Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work by Matthew B. CrawfordCrawford shares his insights into why physical labor can be so fulfilling and why mind work can be dissatisfying.
How to Be Excellent at Anything by Tony Schwartz and Jean GomesThis practical and research-driven book provides a deep dive into how to structure your life for maximal energy and effectiveness.
The Contrarian’s Guide to Leadership by Steven B. SampleSample shares how some of the most effective leadership practices are those that go directly against the grain.
John Adams by David McCulloughMcCullough provides insight into both the public and private life of one of America’s founding fathers while also shedding light on how he approached his work and studies.
Birth of the Chaordic Age by Dee W. HockHock shares some of his philosophy and how it led to his becoming one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world.
Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul by Stuart Brown and Christopher VaughanIn this fascinating book, Brown and Vaughan explore the curious connection between play, life, and work.
The Artist’s Way by Julia CameronThis engaging work by Cameron is a practical guide for reawakening the creative soul.
INDEX
Accidental Creative (company)
accountability
AC Engage
active listening
Adams, John
Adams, Scott
adjacent possible
Advertising Account Planning (Kelley)
Alda, Alan
Allen, David
Amos
Amusing Ourselves to Death (Postman)
Andersen, Kristian
Answer to How Is Yes, The (Block)
Artist’s Way, The (Cameron)
Art of Possibility, The (Zander and Zander)
assumptions, false
Barnett, Thomas
Be Excellent at Anything (Schwartz and Gomes)
beavers
Belsky, Scott
Big 3 lists
Idea Time for
tips for establishing of
Birth of the Chaordic Age (Hock)
Blakeslee, Sandra
Bloch, Alice
Block, Peter
Brown, Derren
Brown, John Mason
Brown, Stuart
buffers
burnout
Cameron, Julia
Challenges
Idea Time for tackling of
checkpoints
benefits of
dream lists in
examples of
monthly
quarterly
weekly
choice, in implementing practices
circle meetings
clustering
applying practice of
benefits of
Collins, Jim
comfort zones, dangers of
Community (Block)
compartmentalization
fallacy of
competition
as source of expectations
completion anxiety
complexity, unnecessary
“continuous partial attention,”
Continuous Web
Contrarian’s Guide to Leadership, The (Sample)
core teams
cover bands
Cozolino, Louis
Crawford, Matthew
creating, unnecessary, see unnecessary creating
creative growth
creative process
“birth” of ideas in
confusion and myths surrounding
“flow” phenomenon and
gestation period in
idea “conception” in
importance of purposeful approach to
natural rhythms of
practices and structure for fostering of, see rhythmic practices and structure
stimuli input and
structure’s role in leveraging of
three assassins of, see creativity assassins versus-product tension
Creative Rhythm
five elements of
practices and structure for, see rhythmic practices and structure creative work
“accidental” vs. traditional
benefits of
burnout in
challenges and pressures of
choosing to chart original path in
collaborative, see team work create-on-demand dynamic in
cultivating relationships in, see relationships; relationships-related practices defining and clarifying objectives in
definition of
dissonance and negative impact on
energy management in, see energy management
equation for sustaining brilliance in
expectation escalation in
falling into habits and rituals in
fear as block in
five key elements of
“flow” phenomenon in
focus in, see focus; focus-related practices
hobbies and personal creating as fostering success in
Idea Time in
mental ruts in
occupation vs. vocation and
possibilities vs. pragmatics in
rhythmic practices as recovering meaning and engagement in
shifting priorities and dynamic nature of
simplifying tasks in
specialization in
stimuli and, see stimuli; stimuli-related practices
taking new ground vs. protecting old ground in
tapping into resonant frequency and
time management and structure in, see time; time-related practices
Creativity (Csikszentmihalyi)
creativity assassins
expectation escalation
fear
organizational dissonance
Crespo, riCardo
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly
cultivating stimuli
Culture Code, The (Rappaille)
Dante Alighieri
de Bono, Edward
defining objectives
Demonstrations in Physics (TV show)
Developer mind-sets
digital note taking
discipline, in implementing practices
dissonance, organizational