Time Bending: 365 ways to unlock creativity and Innovation | Ken Hughes | TEDxUniversityofNicosia
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0:25 - 0:28Host: One here, please.
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0:28 - 0:30Ken Hughes: This will
cost you 10,000 euros. -
0:30 - 0:32(Laughter)
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0:32 - 0:34Good afternoon.
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0:34 - 0:38As a playologist,
I'd like to encourage you all -
0:38 - 0:43to look deeper to find that spark
of creativity that lies within us all -
0:44 - 0:45and let it out.
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0:48 - 0:51I want you to imagine for a moment
that you are dead. -
0:52 - 0:55It's not the most inspiring way
to start a talk, I know. -
0:55 - 0:56(Laughter)
-
0:56 - 0:58You follow that white light, through,
-
0:59 - 1:01you come out into a warehouse,
-
1:01 - 1:03an empty hangar,
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1:03 - 1:04and on the ground in front of you
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1:04 - 1:09are thousands of Polaroid photographs
lined up one after the other in a row. -
1:10 - 1:15Each photograph represents
a day of your life, a life just ended. -
1:16 - 1:18And now you walk.
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1:18 - 1:22You walk along those photographs,
looking at the various memories. -
1:22 - 1:25You remember your first day at school.
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1:25 - 1:27I'm not too sure
I quite understood school; -
1:27 - 1:29I think I thought I was emigrating.
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1:29 - 1:31(Laughter)
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1:31 - 1:32So you walk on,
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1:32 - 1:35and you walk past your first kiss.
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1:35 - 1:38This one isn't me, by the way,
this is a stock image. -
1:38 - 1:40I didn't hire a photographer
to hide in the trees -
1:40 - 1:43to record my first kiss - I wish I had.
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1:43 - 1:45So you walk past all these big days:
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1:45 - 1:49the day you graduated university,
the day you got married. -
1:49 - 1:52You remember all these big days
as you walk along these rows. -
1:52 - 1:55There'll be some memories you walk past,
each day that you remember. -
1:55 - 1:58There'll be small things like the day
your eight-year-old son and his friend -
1:58 - 2:00took your brand new Converse runners
-
2:00 - 2:03and filled them
with mashed banana for a joke. -
2:03 - 2:05These days will stand out to you.
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2:06 - 2:08And on your walk - my point is this:
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2:08 - 2:12each photograph on the floor
in front of you is a unique day. -
2:12 - 2:15The photograph is the thing
that happened on that day -
2:15 - 2:17that was different
to every other day of your life. -
2:17 - 2:19Different from before and from after:
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2:19 - 2:21the new thing that you learnt,
the new experience you had. -
2:21 - 2:23In the early years
as a child or a teenager, -
2:23 - 2:25the pictures are quite interesting
-
2:25 - 2:28because when you're young,
you're adventurous; you flirt with risk. -
2:28 - 2:30But I want you to think about those rows
-
2:30 - 2:34that represent your late
20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, -
2:34 - 2:36the days that become a routine,
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2:36 - 2:39days slipping into weeks,
into months, into years. -
2:39 - 2:40You do the same thing every day:
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2:40 - 2:43you get up, you go to school
or college, your work, -
2:43 - 2:45you come home, you sit on the TV.
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2:45 - 2:47These days, think about the photographs,
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2:47 - 2:50and how many of those
photographs are black. -
2:50 - 2:54Blank because you didn't do
anything that day that was unique -
2:54 - 2:56that you had never ever done before.
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2:56 - 2:58Think of the rows and rows of photographs
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2:58 - 3:01as you walk along
that are completely blank. -
3:01 - 3:04A life that could have been full
of all sorts of new experiences, -
3:04 - 3:07new skills, new people, new places,
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3:07 - 3:09but it was just a routine life.
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3:09 - 3:11A life lost to the routine.
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3:12 - 3:14It's a little bit depressing, isn't it?
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3:15 - 3:18And such are the thoughts
of a man facing his midlife crisis. -
3:18 - 3:20This year I turned 40.
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3:20 - 3:21Now, I know I don't look it;
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3:21 - 3:24I drink the blood of virgin unicorns
every morning at dawn. -
3:24 - 3:26(Laughter)
-
3:26 - 3:30But nevertheless,
half my life is potentially over. -
3:31 - 3:33Now at the same time,
while I'm having my midlife crisis, -
3:33 - 3:36my father, who is a healthy 73,
-
3:36 - 3:40he's having his - I guess
you could call his end-of-life crisis. -
3:40 - 3:43It's the same as mine
except he is more concerned -
3:43 - 3:46with things like when the day
does actually come, -
3:46 - 3:50how many fireworks I'm going
to be able to sneak into his coffin -
3:50 - 3:52before it's sealed for the crematorium.
-
3:52 - 3:54Because he thinks this will be great fun.
-
3:55 - 3:56He's that kind of guy.
-
3:56 - 3:59So we got talking about time
last Christmas, -
3:59 - 4:02and he was having a conversation
with me that started with, -
4:02 - 4:05"I remember being 65, and now I'm 73,
-
4:05 - 4:08"I have no idea where the last
eight years have gone." -
4:08 - 4:11He said that time seemed
to be moving much faster -
4:11 - 4:13now that he was older,
and I started to laugh. -
4:13 - 4:16I thought, "What?
You're blissfully retired. -
4:16 - 4:19All you do every day is drink coffee
and do some gardening. -
4:19 - 4:23Surely your days stretch out
in front of you slowly, and time drags." -
4:23 - 4:25But apparently not.
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4:25 - 4:27He said that no, time slips past
faster and faster, -
4:27 - 4:31the less you do, oddly,
the faster time passes. -
4:31 - 4:33For most of us, time
is a mental construct really. -
4:33 - 4:36You look back on a week
or month or year that just passed, -
4:36 - 4:38and really it's your memories
that you are using -
4:38 - 4:40to decide how effective that time was.
-
4:40 - 4:42So I wondered if that was true.
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4:42 - 4:45If my father was right, and he usually is,
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4:45 - 4:47what would happen if you reversed that?
-
4:47 - 4:50If you filled your days
and your weeks with new things, -
4:50 - 4:53could you, in fact, slow down time?
-
4:53 - 4:55Just take an average day.
-
4:55 - 4:59An average day has a start and an end.
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4:59 - 5:01So think about it as two fixed points,
-
5:01 - 5:04like two pins in a cork board,
the morning and the night. -
5:04 - 5:07And take a piece of string,
and run that string from morning to night, -
5:07 - 5:09and let's take that as your average day.
-
5:09 - 5:12And on to that average day,
we will put things. -
5:12 - 5:13We put things that we do every day:
-
5:13 - 5:15we get up, we have our breakfast,
-
5:15 - 5:19we commute to work or college,
we spend the day in the office, -
5:19 - 5:22and even the things we do on occasion,
maybe every week or two, -
5:22 - 5:24like that yoga class or soccer training,
-
5:24 - 5:26these are things
that are routine in our lives. -
5:26 - 5:28So eventually, each day, each week
-
5:28 - 5:31becomes this quite
predictable straight line. -
5:31 - 5:35Morning to night, day after day,
week after week. -
5:35 - 5:37And I started to think,
"I wonder if you took something new, -
5:37 - 5:40a brand new experience
that you'd never ever done -
5:40 - 5:42and dropped that pin
into that notice board, -
5:42 - 5:45that's a new point that that string
has to go round on that day. -
5:45 - 5:48So you clearly are going to need
a longer piece of string. -
5:48 - 5:50Same fixed points, morning and night.
-
5:50 - 5:52Your day hasn't actually got longer.
-
5:52 - 5:56But what you do within that day,
you are going to bend time. -
5:56 - 5:58And that's the concept.
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5:58 - 5:59I give you Time Bending:
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5:59 - 6:01bending the time you already have,
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6:01 - 6:04stretching time,
to make more out of your life. -
6:04 - 6:06So on the first of January this year,
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6:06 - 6:09I set out to complete
a 365-day experiment. -
6:09 - 6:11Could I spend an entire year
-
6:11 - 6:14where every single day
I did a new experience, -
6:14 - 6:17something that I have never
ever done before? -
6:17 - 6:20Could I bend time? Could I stretch time?
-
6:20 - 6:21So I decided to keep a journal,
-
6:21 - 6:24and every day I had to have written
something in that journal -
6:24 - 6:28that I had done that day that was unique
and I'd never ever done before. -
6:28 - 6:29And that challenged me.
-
6:29 - 6:31And If I lost just
one day along this year, -
6:31 - 6:33I failed the entire experiment.
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6:33 - 6:35At the beginning
of course, it's quite easy. -
6:35 - 6:38We all have things
that we've wanted to do in our life -
6:38 - 6:39that we have yet to do.
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6:39 - 6:40It's like your bucket list.
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6:40 - 6:42Those are the first things you do.
-
6:42 - 6:45It's easy, so eventually I learnt
to cut my daughter's hair. -
6:45 - 6:48I then went on that mountain
bike extreme course -
6:48 - 6:51that a friend of mine
has been asking me to do for years, -
6:51 - 6:53and I never went with him, so I did it.
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6:53 - 6:55I finally did that half-marathon
-
6:55 - 6:58that I had been threatening
to sign up to for years but I never had. -
6:58 - 7:00So I just did it.
-
7:00 - 7:02Then I spent four weeks
with a physiotherapist -
7:02 - 7:04because it turns out
that you can't do a half-marathon -
7:04 - 7:07on 10 days' training, who knew?
-
7:07 - 7:08(Laughter)
-
7:09 - 7:12But I'd never been
to a physiotherapist before. -
7:12 - 7:13New experience!
-
7:13 - 7:15Herniated disk, new experience!
-
7:15 - 7:16(Laughter)
-
7:17 - 7:18So, the weekends are easy
-
7:18 - 7:21because the weekends
you have the time already. -
7:21 - 7:24So you go to the local reptile zoo,
and you find your hand shooting up -
7:24 - 7:27when they ask for someone
to hold the tarantula. -
7:27 - 7:30You go on a basket-weaving course
to learn how to weave baskets. -
7:30 - 7:34You let your children and their friends
paint you green from top to bottom, -
7:34 - 7:39and you take part, uninvited,
in the local Saint Patrick's Day parade. -
7:39 - 7:41(Music) (Laughter)
-
7:41 - 7:44You know? Why wouldn't you?
Why would you need an invite? -
7:44 - 7:47So, these are easy; these are big things
and these are weekends, -
7:47 - 7:48because you have the time.
-
7:48 - 7:51But the trick of the experiment
is to do this in your normal life, -
7:51 - 7:54your Monday to Friday,
your home, your office. -
7:54 - 7:55These are the days that are harder.
-
7:55 - 7:58You've got to look for things to do
that you've never done before. -
7:58 - 8:02So one day you're in a hotel,
and they run out of pain au chocolat, -
8:02 - 8:05so you decide, "OK, I'm going
to make my own pain au chocolat -
8:05 - 8:09with croissants and chocolate cereal
from the breakfast table for the kids." -
8:09 - 8:10Small things.
-
8:10 - 8:13You take the DVD that your wife
has done all the time for aerobics. -
8:13 - 8:16You've seen her do it hundreds of times,
but you've never done it, -
8:16 - 8:19so you do her aerobics DVD.,
-
8:19 - 8:22You make shadow portraits
from the 18th Century -
8:22 - 8:23because you read it in a book.
-
8:23 - 8:27And this one, you watch your six-year-old
daughter paint your toe nails, -
8:27 - 8:31and you say, "How did I get to be 40
and never had my toe nails painted?" -
8:31 - 8:33(Laughter)
-
8:33 - 8:35And this one, she painted my toenails
-
8:35 - 8:38and no joke - this is one
of the best things I did all year! -
8:38 - 8:42For two weeks I woke up every morning,
swung my legs out of bed and laughed! -
8:42 - 8:44(Laughter)
-
8:44 - 8:46It was like having M&Ms for toes!
-
8:46 - 8:48(Laughter)
-
8:48 - 8:50And I put my socks on and I...
-
8:50 - 8:51(Applause)
-
8:51 - 8:53Thank you.
-
8:53 - 8:55(Applause)
-
8:55 - 8:56It gets better.
-
8:56 - 8:58I put my socks on
and of course you'd forget. -
8:58 - 9:00Of course you'd forget.
-
9:00 - 9:02And you go about your business,
you'd work all day, -
9:02 - 9:05and at the end of the day
you take your socks off and go, -
9:05 - 9:06"Ha! M&Ms!"
-
9:06 - 9:07(Laughter)
-
9:07 - 9:09And for two weeks I smiled
and I laughed twice a day, -
9:09 - 9:13and I thought to myself, "You know what?
This is it, this is what life is about!" -
9:13 - 9:16We need to be reminded
on a continuous basis -
9:16 - 9:19to live a better life, to live a life
that could be more full. -
9:20 - 9:23And when you open a packet of biscuits
you could just eat them, -
9:23 - 9:27or you could build a Jenga Tower
and play biscuit Jenga. -
9:27 - 9:30How many people have played
biscuit Jenga in your life? -
9:30 - 9:32Probably never, and now you all will.
-
9:32 - 9:33These things are so simple,
-
9:33 - 9:35and what you learn about yourself
-
9:35 - 9:39is that you can live a life that's closed
or you can live a life that is open, -
9:40 - 9:42open to a world
of possibilities around you. -
9:42 - 9:46Now I would never walk
past a notice board without stopping -
9:46 - 9:49and reading what events are on
in the community that I can go to. -
9:49 - 9:52I was the only man
in the Zumba class last week. -
9:52 - 9:53(Laughter)
-
9:53 - 9:55What's on? What have I not
done yet? What can I do? -
9:55 - 9:58You'll be surprised how much
there is to do in your life, -
9:58 - 10:00in your own community, in your own home.
-
10:00 - 10:03You just need to open yourself
to all these possibilities. -
10:03 - 10:06So yes, I've walked on fire,
I've done big things, -
10:06 - 10:09I've eaten frogs' legs
which I'd never done before, -
10:09 - 10:12I helped deliver a new born lamb,
which was beautiful. -
10:12 - 10:15When the first winter snow fell
the first thing I thought about -
10:15 - 10:19was taking all my clothes off
and rolling naked down the hill. -
10:19 - 10:22And what you realise
is that you feel so alive -
10:22 - 10:24when you open up to all these experiences.
-
10:24 - 10:27When you start to look at the world
as a new place to do things, -
10:27 - 10:30you are amazed at what
the world can offer you. -
10:30 - 10:31And you become addicted.
-
10:31 - 10:33Every day I had my new experience.
-
10:33 - 10:36Many days three or four experiences,
I became addicted to it. -
10:36 - 10:39What was interesting
is as I became addicted, so did others. -
10:39 - 10:42People watching me on social media
or having conversations with me -
10:42 - 10:43got sucked in.
-
10:44 - 10:45Time Bending is infectious.
-
10:45 - 10:47It's like gravity; it'll pull you in.
-
10:47 - 10:49So when I sent a message to a friend
-
10:49 - 10:52saying I was going to the beach
to do some beach art, -
10:52 - 10:54suddenly we had five, 10, 15 people
all coming with me. -
10:55 - 10:58When I posted the video
of the spray-cream challenge on my face, -
10:58 - 11:02about six or seven people did the same
that day up on Facebook. -
11:02 - 11:05You know, I have signed up
for a 5K mountain run, -
11:05 - 11:07which, by the way, they call a sport.
-
11:07 - 11:09it is not a sport, it's torture.
-
11:09 - 11:10(Laughter)
-
11:10 - 11:12Three or four friends came with me.
-
11:12 - 11:13Haven't spoken to me since,
-
11:13 - 11:14(Laughter)
-
11:14 - 11:16but that's another story.
-
11:17 - 11:19When I went flyboarding,
everyone who saw the video thought, -
11:19 - 11:23"Where can I do that?
I want to sign up for that, too!" -
11:23 - 11:25So people got sucked in to this idea.
-
11:25 - 11:28And you'd be amazed
how open other people are also. -
11:29 - 11:30We had a dinner party
-
11:30 - 11:33where we asked all our friends to wear
their wedding dresses one last time. -
11:33 - 11:35(Laughter)
-
11:35 - 11:37How many women in the room, in the world
-
11:37 - 11:41have a wedding dress
they have worn once and never again? -
11:41 - 11:45And you give people an opportunity,
and suddenly, no problem! Bring it on! -
11:46 - 11:48And you'll, again, realise,
during this experiment, -
11:48 - 11:51just how often you say no.
-
11:51 - 11:53Do you know how often
you all say no in life every day? -
11:53 - 11:56People say, "Can you come
to this" or "I'm doing that," -
11:56 - 12:00and you say, "Yeah, I'd like to, but hmm,
I don't know or I don't, hmm, know." -
12:00 - 12:01You hesitate.
-
12:01 - 12:03When you are a Time-Bender,
you have to say yes. -
12:03 - 12:07Because this could be the day that passes,
that nothing happens in your life, -
12:07 - 12:08and you fail the experiment.
-
12:08 - 12:11So you say yes to everything,
to anything that comes your way -
12:11 - 12:14to make sure that this one day
you don't fail. -
12:14 - 12:15Now, this is dangerous,
-
12:15 - 12:18because your friends learn this,
that you will do anything. -
12:18 - 12:19(Laughter)
-
12:19 - 12:22And then on your
suggestion wall on Facebook, -
12:22 - 12:23they start making you do things.
-
12:23 - 12:27Like Shane, who suggested that I drink
my own urine out of a champagne flute. -
12:27 - 12:28(Laughter)
-
12:28 - 12:30Or I was made get a tattoo.
-
12:30 - 12:33I don't like tattoos; I have a tattoo.
-
12:33 - 12:35(Laughter)
-
12:35 - 12:39I was made wax a part of my body
that has never even seen the sunlight. -
12:40 - 12:42If you ever want to know,
-
12:42 - 12:45the face of a man getting
the crack of his ass waxed, -
12:45 - 12:46(Laughter)
-
12:46 - 12:49this is the face you make
when you get your ass waxed. -
12:49 - 12:52(Laughter) (Applause)
-
12:56 - 12:58The photographs at the other end
are not available. -
12:58 - 13:00(Laughter)
-
13:01 - 13:03And your eight-year-old son
also learns this -
13:03 - 13:06and tells you to go grocery shopping
wearing nothing but a towel. -
13:06 - 13:07(Laughter)
-
13:07 - 13:09I think I'm the only person in the world
-
13:09 - 13:12to be barred from Marks
food and vegetable shop. -
13:12 - 13:14The lesson I learnt
is that it's not a good idea -
13:14 - 13:17to leave your eight-year-old old son
with your fate in his hands. -
13:17 - 13:20But what you also learn
by doing this experiment -
13:20 - 13:22is that life is great fun.
-
13:23 - 13:26When you say yes to everything,
play will find you. -
13:26 - 13:28And I mean play in real play.
-
13:28 - 13:30Real play actually
doesn't really have a purpose. -
13:30 - 13:32Real play is just for play's sake.
-
13:32 - 13:35Kids know this automatically.
They know it naturally. -
13:35 - 13:37And somehow we unlearn it as adults.
-
13:37 - 13:40So you say yes to everything.
Play will find you. -
13:40 - 13:42And what's interesting
about this experiment -
13:42 - 13:48is I suddenly realised that this is how
you permanently foster play in adults. -
13:48 - 13:50We all know that play is really important.
-
13:50 - 13:53OK? We all know that Play leads
to creativity, which leads to innovation. -
13:53 - 13:55There's been lots of books, articles,
-
13:55 - 13:58some fantastic TED talks
in the past on play -
13:58 - 14:00and the importance of play
leading to creativity. -
14:00 - 14:03Small business know this;
big corporations know this. -
14:03 - 14:06And as I played on,
I thought, do you know what? -
14:07 - 14:10Everyone wants creativity;
everyone wants innovation. -
14:10 - 14:12They want this to lead them to success.
-
14:12 - 14:15But we need to understand
how to foster that creativity, -
14:15 - 14:17how can we foster
an everyday sense of play? -
14:17 - 14:21How can we make the people who work
in our hospitals, in our schools, -
14:21 - 14:23in our small businesses and corporations
-
14:23 - 14:26more playful every day
so we can fuel this creativity? -
14:26 - 14:28How to make them play
at everyday level? -
14:28 - 14:31The problem with most corporations
and their attitude to creativity and play -
14:31 - 14:33is that they fail at doing it
-
14:33 - 14:36because they try to enforce it
on their employees. -
14:36 - 14:37It's play on their terms.
-
14:37 - 14:41They send you off to the woods
to shoot each other with paintball guns, -
14:41 - 14:45or they put a snooker table
in the canteen and call it, "Hey! Play!" -
14:45 - 14:47But it doesn't really change things.
-
14:47 - 14:50And I think a corporation
or an organization -
14:50 - 14:51can't actually be responsible
-
14:51 - 14:53for your sense of creativity
and play anyway. -
14:53 - 14:57Just like they can't be responsible
for your happiness or your health. -
14:57 - 14:59I mean, they can encourage,
they can facilitate, -
14:59 - 15:02but the actual spark of who you are
in terms of creativity and play, -
15:02 - 15:05it has to come from you, inside yourself.
-
15:05 - 15:08So if we are going to solve problems
in new ways in the world, -
15:08 - 15:12if we are going to challenge norms
and push boundaries, -
15:12 - 15:14then it needs to start
with you, the individual. -
15:14 - 15:17You can't hope that a corporation
will do it for you. -
15:17 - 15:18It also has to last.
-
15:18 - 15:21This can't be just a book you read
or a TED talk you watched -
15:21 - 15:23or a one-day workshop you went to.
-
15:23 - 15:26If we want to be creative,
it has to be a permanent thing. -
15:26 - 15:28It has to become a philosophy
for who you are, -
15:28 - 15:31and permeate your every moment,
your everyday life. -
15:31 - 15:33This is what I became interested in.
-
15:33 - 15:34100 days into my experiment,
-
15:34 - 15:37I practically heard it
click inside myself. -
15:38 - 15:41I had a perspective shift on the world
that will never go away now. -
15:41 - 15:42It is now who I am.
-
15:42 - 15:45It has changed my personal life,
I've laughed more, -
15:45 - 15:48I've learnt more, I've had more fun,
I take more risks. -
15:48 - 15:51It fuels your relationships,
your sex life, -
15:51 - 15:54you take risks which then
filter into business life, -
15:54 - 15:56and in your business life
you take more risks. -
15:56 - 15:59You become open to opportunities,
you solve problems in new ways. -
15:59 - 16:02And risk, of course, is the heart
of innovation and creativity. -
16:02 - 16:04Nothing ever happens
unless you take a risk. -
16:04 - 16:08A year ago I wouldn't have expected
that I would walk across broken glass -
16:08 - 16:12or that I would go on Europe's
tallest roller coaster. -
16:12 - 16:15I hate roller coasters.
But you just say yes. -
16:16 - 16:19Who would have thought
that I would have pierced a friend's ear? -
16:19 - 16:21I had no idea of what I was doing.
-
16:21 - 16:22(Laughter)
-
16:22 - 16:23I still don't!
-
16:24 - 16:25But you just say yes.
-
16:25 - 16:28You go from being a guy who says,
"Oh, maybe, I'm not too sure," -
16:28 - 16:30you go to being a guy who says yes.
-
16:30 - 16:31You say yes to everything.
-
16:31 - 16:35And here I am on day 318 of my experiment.
-
16:35 - 16:39My new experience for today?
Quite easy. My first TED talk. -
16:40 - 16:42(Applause)
-
16:42 - 16:43Thank you.
-
16:47 - 16:51But you don't have to follow me
on the 365-day version. -
16:51 - 16:54100 days of your life,
three months, 12 weeks -
16:54 - 16:57is all it will take
for this perspective shift. -
16:57 - 17:01So I'm travelling the world now
recruiting Time-Benders, -
17:01 - 17:03[who] agree to live a life less ordinary.
-
17:03 - 17:05A life in colour instead
of the black and white. -
17:05 - 17:08So go home and write
your list, 20 or 30 things. -
17:08 - 17:11They can be small things
and don't have to be jumping off planes. -
17:11 - 17:13Small things that you're going to do.
-
17:13 - 17:16Ask your family and friends,
they'll give you another 20-30 ideas. -
17:16 - 17:18Ask the internet, you'll get 2,000 ideas.
-
17:18 - 17:20Keep a journal; it's a good way.
-
17:20 - 17:22Keep a journal every day,
challenge yourself -
17:22 - 17:23into, "What did I do?"
-
17:23 - 17:26"What did I do today
that was different, that was unique?" -
17:26 - 17:29How can we expect
to solve problems in new ways -
17:29 - 17:33if we do the same thing every day,
if we take things for granted? -
17:33 - 17:35I travel a lot. I spend
a lot of time in hotel rooms. -
17:35 - 17:37Hotel rooms can be quite boring places.
-
17:37 - 17:40This is what you get.
This is not how I slept last night. -
17:40 - 17:42How I slept last night was like this.
-
17:42 - 17:44(Laughter)
-
17:44 - 17:48Don't take what's given
to you for granted. -
17:48 - 17:51And again, this was a hotel
two weeks ago around Halloween. -
17:51 - 17:54This is how I arrived.
This is how I left the hotel room. -
17:54 - 17:55(Laughter)
-
17:55 - 17:59What rule? Is there a rule that says
you can't decorate your own hotel room? -
17:59 - 18:00(Laughter)
-
18:00 - 18:02I'd love to have seen
the face of housekeeping -
18:02 - 18:04when they opened the door.
-
18:04 - 18:05"What the heck?!"
-
18:05 - 18:07So I'm curious.
-
18:07 - 18:09You have to change things all the time.
-
18:09 - 18:12Look at the work spaces that we work in,
your own work space. -
18:12 - 18:13Think about your own work space.
-
18:13 - 18:15Why would you think
-
18:15 - 18:17you're going to be suddenly
be creative one day -
18:17 - 18:20if you sit in the same chair,
same desk in the same corner, -
18:20 - 18:21in the same office every single day.
-
18:21 - 18:24Change your work space
every two or three weeks. -
18:24 - 18:26Change the art, change the decor,
change the building. -
18:26 - 18:27Change where you work.
-
18:27 - 18:30How are you going to be creative
if you keep things the same? -
18:30 - 18:33Once you open up,
once you start this experiment, -
18:33 - 18:35what you learn is that it becomes a habit.
-
18:35 - 18:37You actually don't need
the journal anymore. -
18:37 - 18:40You don't need the challenge
of having to do something every day -
18:40 - 18:44because you will do two or three or four
things every single day regardless. -
18:44 - 18:47Who would have thought
that if you went into your dentist -
18:47 - 18:50and asked him, instead of him
cleaning your teeth, -
18:50 - 18:51that you were going to clean his,
-
18:51 - 18:52(Laughter)
-
18:52 - 18:54that he would say yes?
-
18:54 - 18:56The world will say yes to you.
-
18:57 - 18:58Time Bending.
-
18:58 - 18:59The world is a playground.
-
18:59 - 19:02All you need to do is step up and play.
-
19:03 - 19:04Thank you.
-
19:04 - 19:07(Applause)
- Title:
- Time Bending: 365 ways to unlock creativity and Innovation | Ken Hughes | TEDxUniversityofNicosia
- Description:
-
In this talk, Ken Hughes explains that when we fill our days with new, challenging and playful activities, we change our concept and awareness of time. We unlock our creative and innovative thinking and feel engaged each day rather than being a passive observer. This way we stretch time, and bend time.
"My passion," Ken says, "is to motivate others to unleash their creativity through a blend of discovery, fun, play, mischief and risks. Once you get started, it’s addictive."
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 19:26