Creativity and tools–you need to be open and try new things
February 13, 2008 by Tris Hussey
Filed under Business News
I saw this post earlier from Chris Brogan–Tools Restrict Your Thinking : [chrisbrogan.com]–and it got me thinking about work and how you get things done.
Chris is right, riffing off his idea if I got it right, the tools you choose to do your work defines how the work will be done.
Think about how you write a blog post or read RSS or even fix something around the house. What do you use to get the job done? Of course there is the right tool for the job, but sometimes I’ve found that just trying a new way is the key to inspiration.
I was trying NitroDesk today. It’s a cool app, in beta, that lets you move pics from say Flickr to Facebook just with dragging and dropping. It handles the leg work of transferring in the background. Interesting … just moving data around like that.
There is my favourite mindmapping, which I know some people don’t get. My daughter doesn’t nor does my best friend, neither of them think like that but…
Showing them a mindmap I did for my daughter’s project helped them focus on the ideas. New tool, new way of doing things.
Maybe we should all take a sec and think about how we get things done and then see if there is another way. If you post to your blog online, maybe try an offline editor. If you read RSS through a client app (like I do) maybe trying Google Reader for a little while would be good (I’m going to to test the new aideRSS tool they have in private beta).
A tool is a means to an end and the end is the completed work. Don’t let your tool become a barrier to that.
I like this idea. It struck me that it’s another reflection of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle where the act of looking changes what you are looking at. Using a different tool changes your view. I’ll try it today - cheers!
I try hard to go even further back and squint and ask myself, “What am I trying to get done, and why have I chosen blogging as the tool?” That comes wayyyy before picking the right blogging tools. And then, from there, I can then try and find the right path to the tool.
It gets weird, the further back you look at it all. : )
I haven’t been by the blog instead of using the feed. Very nice. : )
David, exactly. From the anthro world I came from, we learned in our methods class about the effect the observer had on the observed. And there is the Heisenburg principle as well … yes, exactly.
Chris, thanks for swinging by. Yeah, that is a great idea. Sometimes it isn’t blogging that does it … and asking the question of Why keeps things fresh. Keeps you out of a rut, or just being a blind devotee.
Tris,
Finally Nitrodesk is live.. Just thought i would let you know..
New in the release is Youtube/Vimeo/SmugMug video uploads, Zenfolio, and finally album/site synch with desktop folders.
cheers,
-goutham
http://www.nitrodesk.com