Want better outputs? Focus on finding better inputs.
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This past weekend, I flew to San Francisco for an event called OpenSauce. OpenSauce is hard to describe... it’s sort of a weirdo Maker science fair combined with a family reunion for creators. There are some of the biggest makers on Youtube (people like Colin Furze and Ali Spagnola and Mark Rober and Matty from Unnecessary Inventions), but there are also tons of hobbyists who bring their cool projects to show.
Everywhere you looked, there were amazing ideas that had been brought to life. But there were also amazing people who had brought those ideas to life. I got to meet them, ask them questions, and learn about their creative process. OpenSauce is a great example of what I call “input-rich environments”. These are places that are chock-full of inspiration, and they can massively level up your ability to have great ideas of your own (and more importantly, to bring those ideas to life!). The reality is, your creative outputs are dependent on your creative inputs. This means that surrounding yourself with great inputs is a great way to level up creatively. This is why places like art museums and bookstores are often so inspiring: because they’re filled with examples of other people’s ideas, and those examples are often exactly what you need to unlock your breakthrough. Your input-rich environments will probably look different than mine, because you’re solving different problems with different sets of constraints. But once you find one, it’s a powerful creative accelerant. In my new book, I talk about why input-rich environments are so vital to the first stage of the creative process. But more importantly, I tell you what these environments look like and how to find them for yourself. The book is called How Ideas Work, and it distills everything I’ve learned from over two decades of bringing ideas to life. I can’t wait for you to read it. We just announced preorders, so if you want to be one of the first to grab a copy, you can do that here. Happy Friday, friends. Make it a good one. Kyle Scheele |
Kyle Scheele
One useful idea about creative leadership, once a week
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