Kuumba – Bonnie Sandy

The times they are a-changin’.

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‪‪Kuumba Creativity
Creativity is not merely talent, it is not simply craftsmanship. A lot of what people call creative is really more or less “pretty packaging” applied to what already exist! Creativity is,

“the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination”

Wikipedia describes Creativity as:-

A phenomenon whereby something new and in some way valuable is created (such as an idea, a joke, a literary work, painting or musical composition, a solution, an invention etc). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creativity

Creativity is a skill that can be honed with practice, but can it be taught as much as coaxed! mnay brooks havebeen written on teh topic. i’m somewhere mid-point on teh issue. There are many with underdeveloped creativity muscles. These people blossom in teh right environments. Then there are many who lack the gene, but even these can be think or develop ideas that are “outside the box”. So many have serious problems transcending “traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships!” So here are a few tips…

Keep an idea Journal
Let go of preconceived or fixed notions and viewpoint
Force yourself to get out of your comfort zone..
Change habits for a day… use a your left hand, take another route
Be cognitive of your processes…
Be empathic, observe others, listen to what they say they find challenging… this one in particular can lead to such innovation
Act like someone else eg imagine tring to navigating NY City Subway stairs with a baby in tow…
Ask people (yes even complete stranger) about their experience, good & bad, what is their pain point?
Then ask yourself….
Is there another way to do this?
Can I make it better?
Can I make the experience smoother?
Can this be more fun?
How can I change this?
Can I make it more pleasurable or solve a problem?
What if i did X or Y?
What else can this do… Can it be used for?
Look at it from the consumers angle, or the opposite sex, or another age group?
Join Hacker Spaces, labs, improvs?
Paricipate in Group creativity exploration eg www.Quirky.com, www.Thingiverse.com
What new technology exist and how can it affect this product!
Sign up for my Virtual OpenLabs (creativity sessions are included)

The concept for these sandals were created over several years.

These last versions the result of 100+ hrs of work thus far. Creativity can drag and take time. It can come in spurts, so do not be discouraged. They were inspired by sandals handmade by local crafters such as my uncle. Stangely I first found many were unwilling to make the design changes I wanted. Creativity can be rethinking old ideas, and that may not always be welcome. I’m still working on some details such as the sole. Creativity does not mean you have to be perfect pn your first try. while building out these i developed several new ideas! A couple months back I set this aside to work on life’s demands.

So go ahead test your creativity

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About KWANZAA 2014 Embracing the principles in Business, Community Personal and even Digital, Practices ;- I take Kwanzaa as a time of self examinination to define & recommit to my personal vales and principles as it relates to teh Pan African community;-

Reflections on Kwanzaa (2012)

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