The Day I meet George Clooney at 7-11 in yoga pants
It never happened. Unfortunately. Or maybe fortunately. Or perhaps it did happen, but I missed it because I was checking Instagram. Listening to a Podcast. Or lost in daydreams. Or maybe I didn't see him because I wasn't looking for him, or maybe I didn't recognize him.
Oslo is bubbling over with incubators, accelerators, creative studios, lofts, co-working spaces, and so on. All designed to create perfect creative spaces. To create valuable encounters that facilitate innovation, creation, and preferably revolution. Those of us here have managed to free ourselves from this burdensome heritage, the boring history, the narrow-minded preconceptions and limitations that have characterized the rest of the world and large companies until now.
And here we sit with our Macs, hipster glasses, drinking overpriced coffee, waiting for the Great Idea. Meanwhile, we read the same blogs, the same books, and attend the same lectures; we look at each other and play ping pong while we wait. And when the idea finally drops in, we believe it will be completely unique, entirely different from everyone else's.
I don't think magical moments happen here, in the way we've planned, or when we're prepared. That doesn't mean it's wrong to search and practice - on the contrary, I think it's super important to train, both in seeing and creating opportunities. And sure, we might get lucky, or be incredibly skilled, so that we manage to make it happen exactly as and when we want. But I think it's more important to train so we're prepared to recognize the truly good ideas when they appear, and to receive and refine them into something more than just a good idea.
I believe in the importance of practice. I practice looking for things I don't know exist. Noticing what's happening around me, all the time. Trying to recognize something I haven't seen before, looking at things from a different perspective, through others' glasses. Understanding why people think, act, and feel differently than I do. Sometimes by asking and digging, but mostly by observing and reflecting. For me, having a camera in my pocket has helped sharpen my senses. Because I enjoy taking pictures, I'm constantly looking for subjects, and it has made me notice things I hadn't seen before.
I don't always need to follow the textbook to gain insight and find inspiration. Process and methodology are useful tools to have, but they're not goals in themselves. The most important thing is feeling confident that what I know is good enough for me to venture out onto thin ice, even when I'm not prepared. And knowing that it's perfectly fine to do things I haven't done before. And it is, especially if I do it with great people I trust.
Besides, I'm convinced that it's healthy to be a bit bored sometimes. We shouldn't constantly optimize our lives, minute by minute; only watching the coolest series, only listening to the most educational podcasts, or only going for the most local, most authentic experiences, where our senses are overstimulated with stories and flavors, all the time. Then it can be difficult to notice things happening around you. So doing completely ordinary, everyday, and slightly boring things, in perhaps boring places, with ordinary people who aren't exactly like us, can be both nice and smart. For the brain to function and creativity to awaken.
The devil is in the details. And, in the rush to create something completely magical and new, that no one has seen before, one should never underestimate the value of good craftsmanship. Even though it can be incredibly fun to taste something new, it can be absolutely magical to eat the perfect pasta. Good ideas aren't so good if they don't work.
Back to George Clooney. Maybe I have met him without realizing it. Or maybe it's that George Clooney isn't George Clooney, for me. I hope I'm able to spot gold when I least expect it, and see opportunities that aren't obvious. In the meantime, I practice :)
Denne artikkelen publiserte jeg først på Medium.com 22.11.2019.