[Applause]
Wow hi and thank you all so much for
coming I can’t tell you how excited I am
this has been a lifelong dream to be on
a TED stage and to talk about something
that is really important to me and close
to my heart this idea of creativity
because I think that everyone is
creative but in different ways and so
I’m really excited to share sort of my
perspective on on what creativity is and
the elusive ‘ti of that which i think is
a really interesting thing that we don’t
think about all the time how many of you
guys in this room remember being asked
what do you want to be when you grow up
let’s see a show of hands see so it’s
quite interesting we’ve got a really
diverse group of people here from lots
of different places with lots of
different interests and yet there’s this
question that sort of permeates our
existence our growing up in our
educational process and I’m sure as with
me this is a question that you’ve heard
not just one time it’s not the first
time that you enter school or the first
time that you graduate or that you come
into your first job it’s something
that’s throughout your entire life so
the next question how many of you felt
the pressure to give a specific answer
let’s see show of hands again the again
I think that’s what I assumed and I felt
that same sort of pressure how many of
you now are either studying or
practicing in that field
the answer to that question
significantly less and I think that’s a
really exciting thing to think about
because so many times along the path of
your career you’re asked you know what
do you want to be when you grow up
what’s the one thing that you that
you’re gonna choose right now that
you’re gonna follow for the rest of your
life and I think that’s really
challenging I also think it’s really
dangerous because what it does is it
makes you think so pigeonhole towards
one goal that you kind of lose the
opportunities to see what’s around you
so imagine instead of asking somebody
when they’re small or throughout their
life what do you want to be when you
grow up
who asked something more like what did
you discover today or what are you
passionate about or did you learn
anything that changed your opinion what
did you learn to
what did you think about what
conversation did you have that shaped
the way you think about the world and
it’s just that small change in
nomenclature that instead of pushing
someone towards a specific answer or the
right answer you’re inspiring somebody
to think about things from many
different perspectives so a small aunt
Atossa
when I was five years old I loved the
Discovery Channel and I watched all of
the brain surgeries programs and I said
I’m gonna be a neurosurgeon and it’s
funny because it was never something
that came as a pressure for my family I
don’t think I have a doctor in the
history of my entire family but for some
reason I latched on to this idea of
being a neurosurgeon and so throughout
my entire educational career I said
that’s what I’m gonna be and I had
mapped out my entire life from when I
moved into high school when I went to
university I studied medicine I did the
whole pre-medicine track and it was
funny because when I first took my first
biology class I actually hated it but I
still felt this pressure this internal
pressure that I said you know I’m gonna
be a neurosurgeon this is this is my
goal this is what I need to achieve and
it was really scary to think that it
actually might be the wrong answer so I
was really inspired by that video that
we just watched where he said you know
sometimes failures sometimes not knowing
is actually a strength and I think that
in today’s age people have kind of been
educated out of being open to the
possibility of being wrong and to find
the power and latch on to that because
sometimes when you don’t know your mind
is much more open to other possibilities
that you’ve never even knew existed
and so long story short about five days
before my applications were due I
withdrew all of them I called my dad and
I said I’m actually not gonna go to
medical school and he said are you
having a mental breakdown and I said
possibly I don’t know um but we’re gonna
see and I sold all my things and I went
on this four-year trip around the world
and what that did was it allowed me to
unlock the opportunities of my own life
and and to find something that I really
am passionate about but I would never
have happened if I wasn’t able to say
you know what this wasn’t the right
answer and that’s okay that’s actually
exciting so I have another question for
you
what do you think this is anyway just
yell her out
art anyone else paper what if it isn’t
anything right it’s so interesting to
think about how something like this
which could be art it could be paper it
could be a card
it could be doodles it could be
wallpaper it could be anything right and
I think that’s the the fundamental
concept of creativity is exactly that
that that somebody looked at something
and thought hmm it’s this it’s based off
of your conversations your experiences
the things that you’re passionate about
and that’s kind of what creativity is
and that’s why it’s so elusive it’s
because what what I think this is is
completely different than what you think
it is or what you think it is and that’s
really powerful so this has kind of led
me to try and think about what
creativity is and in a very simplistic
sort of framework and and what I’ve come
up with is this idea of of creative
dynamism creative reactivity and
creative evolution and and what I what
I’m thinking about here is it starts out
with this dynamic environment right the
world is always changing especially
today’s age you never end up at the same
place where you started and I think
that’s really important because if
you’re focused on trying to find the
right solution to a problem by the time
you get to the end the problem could be
completely different and that’s what I
mean about creativity creative
reactivity is in the sense that in this
moving environment in this world that’s
always changing and challenging you have
to be able to react and adapt as you
move along the creative process because
that’s what creativity actually means
and that kind of goes back to what in
the civvie is as well and at the very
end and and one of the things that I see
as a challenge is that a lot of the time
people get stuck between this phase 2
and phase 3 so you get into a reactive
mode where you think oh my gosh I see a
problem I’m trying to be creative I’m
gonna react right now to this point in
time instead of saying I’m going to
continually adapt continually react
until I get to whatever that solution
might be and chances are it’s gonna be
completely different and that’s what I
mean by creative evolution so a small
antidote again I used to work at a
digital agency in Korea and we service
one of the largest telephone brands in
the world
and we had a project where we were
creating a commercial for this brand and
we showed up on this ship on the set in
the morning and our client said to us
how much money can you get back if you
just cancel this entire shoot and we
said excuse me we can get the taxi fare
back for the actors so they haven’t
arrived yet but I mean that’s about it
and they said okay well then we need to
rewrite the script on the spot and we
thought to ourselves how like how are we
gonna do this how are we gonna solve
this problem so of course we were
panicked and we called our creative
director and this was the answer that he
said he responded we thought a solution
to the problem how wonderful this is
what he sent us and he said the next 24
hours Henry said well this is gonna be
really fun and so the whole point of
this in fact I’m just gonna leave it on
repeat a little bit cuz I think it’s so
funny but the point is that sometimes
you’re put in situations that you have
to react to and you have to be adaptable
and you have to be able to find a
solution and that’s what creativity is
and so I want to leave you with kind of
three things that I think are really
important the first is to be aware so be
aware of yourself be aware of your
environment and don’t be afraid to take
chances and don’t be afraid to be wrong
because that’s one of the most powerful
things that you can be is learning from
the mistakes that you make in the world
and that kind of leads into this idea of
being confident right don’t be afraid be
excited and be fearless go into every
situation in your life in your job and
your studies with positivity and
open-mindedness and the excitement of
knowing that there are endless
possibilities in this world that we call
creativity and kind of as a last point
find creativity in anything and so I
want to leave you with this quote
actually from one of my favorite
TEDTalks by a man named Sir Ken Robinson
called do spoons kill creativity it’s a
brilliant talk and I recommend everybody
watch it but he says I don’t mean to say
that being wrong is the same thing as
being creative but what we do know
designers are not prepared to be wrong
you will never come up with anything
original and I think that’s such a
powerful statement that we don’t think
about these days and so I’d like to
leave you with the the power of being
open-minded to the unknown opportunities
that are in front of you and to embrace
the idea of being wrong as something
really positive thank you very much
[Applause]
Wow hi and thank you all so much for
coming I can’t tell you how excited I am
this has been a lifelong dream to be on
a TED stage and to talk about something
that is really important to me and close
to my heart this idea of creativity
because I think that everyone is
creative but in different ways and so
I’m really excited to share sort of my
perspective on on what creativity is and
the elusive ‘ti of that which i think is
a really interesting thing that we don’t
think about all the time how many of you
guys in this room remember being asked
what do you want to be when you grow up
let’s see a show of hands see so it’s
quite interesting we’ve got a really
diverse group of people here from lots
of different places with lots of
different interests and yet there’s this
question that sort of permeates our
existence our growing up in our
educational process and I’m sure as with
me this is a question that you’ve heard
not just one time it’s not the first
time that you enter school or the first
time that you graduate or that you come
into your first job it’s something
that’s throughout your entire life so
the next question how many of you felt
the pressure to give a specific answer
let’s see show of hands again the again
I think that’s what I assumed and I felt
that same sort of pressure how many of
you now are either studying or
practicing in that field
the answer to that question
significantly less and I think that’s a
really exciting thing to think about
because so many times along the path of
your career you’re asked you know what
do you want to be when you grow up
what’s the one thing that you that
you’re gonna choose right now that
you’re gonna follow for the rest of your
life and I think that’s really
challenging I also think it’s really
dangerous because what it does is it
makes you think so pigeonhole towards
one goal that you kind of lose the
opportunities to see what’s around you
so imagine instead of asking somebody
when they’re small or throughout their
life what do you want to be when you
grow up
who asked something more like what did
you discover today or what are you
passionate about or did you learn
anything that changed your opinion what
did you learn to
what did you think about what
conversation did you have that shaped
the way you think about the world and
it’s just that small change in
nomenclature that instead of pushing
someone towards a specific answer or the
right answer you’re inspiring somebody
to think about things from many
different perspectives so a small aunt
Atossa
when I was five years old I loved the
Discovery Channel and I watched all of
the brain surgeries programs and I said
I’m gonna be a neurosurgeon and it’s
funny because it was never something
that came as a pressure for my family I
don’t think I have a doctor in the
history of my entire family but for some
reason I latched on to this idea of
being a neurosurgeon and so throughout
my entire educational career I said
that’s what I’m gonna be and I had
mapped out my entire life from when I
moved into high school when I went to
university I studied medicine I did the
whole pre-medicine track and it was
funny because when I first took my first
biology class I actually hated it but I
still felt this pressure this internal
pressure that I said you know I’m gonna
be a neurosurgeon this is this is my
goal this is what I need to achieve and
it was really scary to think that it
actually might be the wrong answer so I
was really inspired by that video that
we just watched where he said you know
sometimes failures sometimes not knowing
is actually a strength and I think that
in today’s age people have kind of been
educated out of being open to the
possibility of being wrong and to find
the power and latch on to that because
sometimes when you don’t know your mind
is much more open to other possibilities
that you’ve never even knew existed
and so long story short about five days
before my applications were due I
withdrew all of them I called my dad and
I said I’m actually not gonna go to
medical school and he said are you
having a mental breakdown and I said
possibly I don’t know um but we’re gonna
see and I sold all my things and I went
on this four-year trip around the world
and what that did was it allowed me to
unlock the opportunities of my own life
and and to find something that I really
am passionate about but I would never
have happened if I wasn’t able to say
you know what this wasn’t the right
answer and that’s okay that’s actually
exciting so I have another question for
you
what do you think this is anyway just
yell her out
art anyone else paper what if it isn’t
anything right it’s so interesting to
think about how something like this
which could be art it could be paper it
could be a card
it could be doodles it could be
wallpaper it could be anything right and
I think that’s the the fundamental
concept of creativity is exactly that
that that somebody looked at something
and thought hmm it’s this it’s based off
of your conversations your experiences
the things that you’re passionate about
and that’s kind of what creativity is
and that’s why it’s so elusive it’s
because what what I think this is is
completely different than what you think
it is or what you think it is and that’s
really powerful so this has kind of led
me to try and think about what
creativity is and in a very simplistic
sort of framework and and what I’ve come
up with is this idea of of creative
dynamism creative reactivity and
creative evolution and and what I what
I’m thinking about here is it starts out
with this dynamic environment right the
world is always changing especially
today’s age you never end up at the same
place where you started and I think
that’s really important because if
you’re focused on trying to find the
right solution to a problem by the time
you get to the end the problem could be
completely different and that’s what I
mean about creativity creative
reactivity is in the sense that in this
moving environment in this world that’s
always changing and challenging you have
to be able to react and adapt as you
move along the creative process because
that’s what creativity actually means
and that kind of goes back to what in
the civvie is as well and at the very
end and and one of the things that I see
as a challenge is that a lot of the time
people get stuck between this phase 2
and phase 3 so you get into a reactive
mode where you think oh my gosh I see a
problem I’m trying to be creative I’m
gonna react right now to this point in
time instead of saying I’m going to
continually adapt continually react
until I get to whatever that solution
might be and chances are it’s gonna be
completely different and that’s what I
mean by creative evolution so a small
antidote again I used to work at a
digital agency in Korea and we service
one of the largest telephone brands in
the world
and we had a project where we were
creating a commercial for this brand and
we showed up on this ship on the set in
the morning and our client said to us
how much money can you get back if you
just cancel this entire shoot and we
said excuse me we can get the taxi fare
back for the actors so they haven’t
arrived yet but I mean that’s about it
and they said okay well then we need to
rewrite the script on the spot and we
thought to ourselves how like how are we
gonna do this how are we gonna solve
this problem so of course we were
panicked and we called our creative
director and this was the answer that he
said he responded we thought a solution
to the problem how wonderful this is
what he sent us and he said the next 24
hours Henry said well this is gonna be
really fun and so the whole point of
this in fact I’m just gonna leave it on
repeat a little bit cuz I think it’s so
funny but the point is that sometimes
you’re put in situations that you have
to react to and you have to be adaptable
and you have to be able to find a
solution and that’s what creativity is
and so I want to leave you with kind of
three things that I think are really
important the first is to be aware so be
aware of yourself be aware of your
environment and don’t be afraid to take
chances and don’t be afraid to be wrong
because that’s one of the most powerful
things that you can be is learning from
the mistakes that you make in the world
and that kind of leads into this idea of
being confident right don’t be afraid be
excited and be fearless go into every
situation in your life in your job and
your studies with positivity and
open-mindedness and the excitement of
knowing that there are endless
possibilities in this world that we call
creativity and kind of as a last point
find creativity in anything and so I
want to leave you with this quote
actually from one of my favorite
TEDTalks by a man named Sir Ken Robinson
called do spoons kill creativity it’s a
brilliant talk and I recommend everybody
watch it but he says I don’t mean to say
that being wrong is the same thing as
being creative but what we do know
designers are not prepared to be wrong
you will never come up with anything
original and I think that’s such a
powerful statement that we don’t think
about these days and so I’d like to
leave you with the the power of being
open-minded to the unknown opportunities
that are in front of you and to embrace
the idea of being wrong as something
really positive thank you very much
[Applause]
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