Psst... Year of The Dragon - 7 things Quentin Tarantino taught me about creativity.

It's 2012 – the year the rubber hits the road. The year you finally get to achieve your dreams of success, before the Mayans return and ask for their ball back.

It’s also the Year of the Dragon.

With time running out, how are you going to tame your inner dragon and achieve creative mastery? Are you going to fight like Bruce Lee or Uma Thurman?"

Before you answer that let’s look at two possible scenarios.

Enter Beatrix Kiddo (Uma in Kill Bill) stage left…

Martin wakes up and declares “Things will be different this year.” He reaches for his computer and starts THE DEFINITIVE LIST. From now on he’s going to think like a Ninja.

Oh yes.

He smiles as he starts to experience the download on his new life. First he will banish any thoughts that are not “all kick assy and shit”. He knows all about the Law of Attraction.

"Set a clear intention and the world will beat a path to your door."

Next he starts to build the platform for his new life – after all, the universe will need some sort of landing strip on which to deliver his goods.

He writes a brief for a website re-design and fires it off to a brand consultant. He knows what he wants – something that clearly demonstrates the fact that he’s a total badass. His fingers fly across the keyboard. He wants visual impact (people are time poor - they like pictures), buzz words (but like totally authentic man), and above all a newname – one that is a better representation of his Ninja status!

He pauses and curses his mother for calling him Martin. How on earth was he expected to succeed with such a lame name? He starts Googling Punk Rock heroes for something more suitable.

"Create your own reality."

Perhaps he could do a Don Draper and completely re-invent his past! Father an American scientist. Mother a Russian ballerina. Or no parents at all! Caught with false papers in Berlin and sent to a Gulag. Romance AND intrigue.

Special people were usually orphans – look at Harry Potter. And let’s not forget Bruce Wayne didn’t become Batman until his parents were murdered.

"Dream bigger" (or is that "Make the lie big enough!")

The creative muse is now doing double backflips in Martin’s mind, demanding something… Caffeine!

He goes to the kitchen to make a triple espresso – two sugars. The detox can start tomorrow. No rush on that one. He knows that if he eliminates all carbs and drinks wheatgrass he can lose twelve pounds in a week.

He goes back to the computer and orders the One Hour Body and Six Pack in Six Minutes from Amazon.

That oughta do it.

Pleased with his achievements, he wanders over to the Games Console. If ever there was a day to get to the next level of Samurai Showdown this was it. He can already feel the delicious sensation of success.

Job done!

Scenario Two

Enter the Dragon stage right…

Julia wakes up and declares “things will be different this year.” She reaches for her notebook and starts THE DEFINITIVE LIST. From now on she’s going to think like a Ninja.

She writes quickly.

"Get out of bed – early!!!"

(No matter how rubbish the weather or how bad the hangover.) And while we’re at it…

"Quite drinking."

This is more realistic. (D’you think Bruce Lee could do those high kicks if he’d sank a bottle of Rioja the night before?)

"Write faster."

Julia pauses to think about her latest Blog post. It had taken two weeks to write and she still wasn’t happy with it. She had to get quicker. Bruce Lee’s reactions were so fast, his films had to be slowed down (otherwise viewers couldn't actually SEE the moves he was making.)

Hmmm.

She opens the laptop to Google the number of hours a day Bruce spent practicing his craft.

Oh my good God!

"Write more."

"Write while waiting for the bus; while waiting for the client to arrive; while waiting for the supermarket queue to shorten." Then she adds…

"Notice stuff."

Bruce Lee’s peripheral vision was so cutting edge you could sharpen a samurai sword on it.

"Creators need content. And content is all around if we have the eyes to see it. Right now there are poignant interludes, angry exchanges and passionate glances. Everywhere there are heart stoppingly beautiful moments that we miss with our linear vision. Look out!"

Julia examines her list. It’s missing one more thing. But she doesn’t have the right word for it. She thought about “Discipline” but this just brought up memories of school. The memorising of times tables. Detention for late homework. Freezing to death on the hockey pitch.Instead she wrote…

"The Intel is inside."

That was better. Everything she needed was right here, right now. She just had to develop the practice of getting it out of her head and onto the page.

“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.” Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee was not born a genetically superior human being, in fact he was a frail child. He was just very, very determined.

Pleased with her achievements, Julia puts the list down, picks up the laptop…

And starts to write.

Which path will you choose – the personality of the Ninja or the soul of the Ninja?

Beatrix Kiddo achieved her goals with the aid of computer graphics, a blue screen and a yellow jumpsuit.

If we're travelling the creative road, technology is a great tool for the backpack. It isn't a substitute for the real thing. (Please tell Martin.)

And while we're at it, can we also have a reality check on the following New Age mantras…

The Law of Attraction. Positive Thinking. Clarity of Intention. Future Vision. Creative Dreaming.

Tools, all tools. Tools that need a skilled operator.

Quentin Tarantino is a skilled operator. He knows how to use the tools of his craft. But he knows that tools maketh not the movie.

Bruce Lee on the other hand, preceded both computer graphics and folksy new age wisdom. He still managed to kill the competition. But he did it with Mastery not Final Cut Pro.

Bruce will have a place in the history books as someone who transcended the limitations of what it is to be human while turning combat into an art form.

Beatrix Kiddo will have a place in the cartoon books as someone who looked unspeakably cool in someone else's creative dream. (Go Quentin!)

In the above scenario, Julia made the wiser choice. She may not have to chop wood and carry water. But she will have to obey the rules of the dojo…

1. Get up. Both literally (get up as early as necessary every day) and metaphysically (get up when you've been knocked down with disappointment.)

2. Fight addictions. Both literal (tequila, donuts, caramel macchiatos) and metaphysical (fantasy, complaining, internet surfing.)

3. Get quicker. Everyone has too much to do on their To Do List. Spend less time list making, speed up the grunt work and you'll have way more time to spend on creative pursuits.

4. Practise. We live in a passive world of more and more information yet the key to any creative endeavour is practise. Commit to less input and more output.

5. Increase bandwidth. Creativity requires the synthesis and juxtaposition of random patterns, images and ideas. It makes sense that the more we can let in, the more we have to play with. Stretch your senses by seeing, hearing and sensing more.

6. The intel is inside. Enough with the over consumption of workshops, seminars and courses. Quentin Tarantino never went to Film School, instead he watched movies. Before making Kill Bill he watched all Bruce Lee's films. It's important to learn the techniques of painting/writing/directing but it's equally important to be inspired by masters of the craft.

And finally

7. Cross genres with impunity! This is a controversial one. In an over crowded marketplace we are advised to specialise. Niche Marketing! Own your subject! Describe your work, your style, your novel in one sentence, one word, one icon!! Ever since the meteoric success of Apple, we think we need to squish ourselves into a very small, beautifully designed box. With Kill Bill, Quentin Tarantino crossed Kung Fu with Spaghetti Western. (WTF right?)

In other words, once you have the discipline to follow rules, you can turn right round…

And break them all.

Personality of the Ninja or Soul of the Ninja? Looking good or Being real? The final word goes to Bruce.

"To me, martial arts means honestly expressing yourself. It is very difficult to do. It has always been very easy for me to put on a show and be cocky and feel pretty cool. I can show some really fancy movement. But to experience oneself honestly, not lying to oneself, and to express myself honestly, now that is very hard to do."

And if it's hard for Bruce, you must be in pretty good company.

Me = Ecstasy (Squared)

Me = XTC²

Einstein was a bit of a geezer. After all, he did manage to get two opposing forces to agree with him.

Until recently, these two forces were clearly defined as Religion and Science. Life was either a random grouping of molecules, or it was God's divine plan for humanity.

Both forces had their prophets. Scientists foretold technological advances. Holy men channeled God's wishes for the world. Black or white.

Einstein was a scientist who believed in God. He was going for colour. His prophecies skipped both Church and Laboratory and ended up in the hallowed halls of Business.

"You can't solve a problem on the same level you created it".

Management consultants love this one! But what does it mean?

Problems are multi layered and complex. For instance we hate the fat cat Bankers and think the distribution of wealth should be fairer. We all have an inner Robin Hood and the Sherriff of Nottingham is SUCH an unpleasant character. But the corporation tax from banks and big evil corporations pays for our free National Health Service. And this system can in turn be abused by people who accept no responsibility for their own welfare.

Things were so much easier in the old days when the commoners were lovely agricultural people portrayed by Constable. Men were noble and hard working. Women suckled their children and made soup. The ruling classes were cold hearted, cowardly and cruel. How much easier it was to pick a side!

Now we're not so sure. The commoners sometimes look like an urban nightmare with tattoos, attitude and feral children. They demand job creation and a 'living' wage. But life has moved on. Jobs can't be created, they emerge from a need. 'Living' is subjective, now that cappuccinos, pre-cooked meals and i-Phones are considered necessities.

What would Robin Hood and Maid Marion do now? (If, according to Einstein, they're on the wrong level.)

They could visit a Management Consultant, who would no doubt do a lot of research to establish the facts. Percentages of poor versus rich 90%-10% 99%-1%. Whatevs. There's a gap. Tax the rich more than 50% and there's a good chance they'll emigrate – or lie about their income. Duh!

The fact is data doesn't tell us what we really want to know - i.e. The state of the Nation's heart.

Who are the deserving poor and who are the lazy thieving ones? Who are the benevolent rich and who are the bone idle avaricious ones. That would be some useful information and that's not going to come out of any consultancy any time soon. Time to get to the next level – but we need a very different energy to take us there.

If we could take an X-Ray of our current energy system, it would reveal that most of our energy is coming from below the waist – our lower chakras. This type of energy is best suited to prehistoric times when individual survival was paramount – kill or be killed. Be the best. Immortality via excessive procreation. It's rapacious, competitive alpha male energy.

But now individual survival is an oxymoron. We're all connected. Floods, hurricanes and earthquakes are no respecters of an individual's environmental credentials. The collapse of Lehman Brothers affected the finances of the entire world. The SARS virus went global in two days. Yet we're still trying to survive by use of the "C" word. Command. Control. Competition.

How do we change our destructive behaviour?

The TV series Mad Men epitomised the golden age of persuasion techniques. We know legislation and exorbitant prices won't stop kids smoking, when the 'promise' of cigarettes is both a ticket to adulthood and an act of rebellion. They'll steal the money and/or bribe an older sibling to buy them on their behalf. Barriers and restrictions merely serve to make them more creative. This is as true for children as it is for the crony capitalists.

We don't like being told what to do. It triggers our 'below the waist' energy system.

The Occupy London movement has split the religious community at St Paul's. They wring their hands and say 'What would Jesus do?' Perhaps it would be more appropriate to say 'What would Don Draper do?'

He'd probably make stepping up to the next level cool. Instead of condemning greed, he'd make it absurd. Rather than being judgemental about luxury brands, he'd make them an object of derision, before pouring a glass of bourbon.

It's time for the creatives to rebrand the values of the heart. For too long these values have been hi-jacked by evil corporations and turned into monochrome representations of love.

Sentimentality and Sexuality. Black and white. Fuelled by below the waist energy. The Outcome – Specialness. Soppiness. Jealousy. Need. The Upshot - Hallmark cards. Valentine's Day. Soap Operas. Daily acts of vengeance. Random acts of blandness.

The re-brand has a lot more colour and much more unity. It's a movement, not an attitude. It has passion and action. It favours wild maternal love over sentimentality. It laughs at adversity. It has humour and compassion. It has beauty and grace – let's make Commoning less shabby and more aesthetically pleasing.

It is possible to make integrity cool, to make the global village hip, to make ideas sexy again.

After all, God is a good idea. And as Einstein said, "I only want to know God's thoughts, all the rest is just details."

Small Talk

Escape the city. Hit the open road. Get back to nature. How simple are the dreams of city folk?

It's the Christmas holidays – the perfect time to travel with my beloved to the Highlands of Scotland for seclusion, romance and breathtaking scenery. A mish mash of images from Performance Car and Wuthering Heights morph in my head.

The problem with real life is it doesn't quite match up to our expectations. Our dreams have been digitally enhanced by media companies who have access to state of the art editing facilities.

Photoshop doesn't just eliminate cellulite from model's thighs. It can remove tractors from open roads and increase the depth of color on Highland moors.

The real thing doesn't seem as real as the picture in our imagination. But more shockingly, it doesn't allow for our contradictory demands!

We want a remote cottage, but one that contains all the conveniences of city life – under floor heating, hot water and a Starbucks next door. Perhaps a Michelin star restaurant down the road. Oh and Wi-Fi.

Of course that's not going to happen. Luxury to rural folk is a phone system that works in a gale force wind – so they can tell someone the power lines are down and the back up generator's been blown into the next bay. Cottages are damp and bleak. Unlike Don Draper, Heathcliff's reticent demeanor wasn't done for effect – he was just cold and probably bored.

What to do?

Without an editing suite, this is an either/or situation.

We decide to steer clear of the remote cottage and book the luxury country house hotel instead. Fluffy towels, deep claw footed bath tubs and coffee that at least looks familiar (with foam on top).

We park the 4 wheel drive in the car park and enter a medieval romance – wood panelled walls, covered with a tapestry depicting the Knights Templar. A jovial host takes our luggage and ushers us towards the sitting room for a welcoming glass of wine.

It was all going so well. Until we remembered…

There would be other people!

What is it about small talk that fills us with dread? We meet our fellow guests and immediately launch into a game of charades, played to some unwritten rules we've absorbed over the years. Where are you from? How was your journey? What brought you here? We've exhausted all the preliminaries and our wine hasn't arrived yet! There is an awkward pause as we struggle to the next level – What do you do for a living? This is slightly more personal, but desperate to avoid the silence, I ask the question anyway. There's bound to be some common ground.

"Insurance Broker".

Dear God.

I've never felt a need for insurance. I'm superstitious about a system that requires bad things to happen before you can capitalise on your investment.

Fortunately the host arrives with a tray of drinks, allowing a whole new conversation stream to open up. Wine! "I know this fabulous little vineyard we discovered in France last year… Of course supermarkets are killing the smaller importers… Some of the Chilean Sauvignons are giving the Marlboroughs a run for their money…"

We make our excuses and head for the room.

Half an hour later, up to our neck in hot water and bubbles, we ponder why this social custom has become so torturous.

Conversation needs a revamp for the Energy Age.

Our journey to higher consciousness requires that we move from a primitive fear based operating system to one built on true connection and creativity. The energetic arc of this journey follows the chakra system – Chakras 1-2-3 store all the data relating to our survival. Where are you from? What do you do? Are you friend or foe?

There's a lot of wariness and competition at this level, therefore a lot of distance. Distance being the opposite of connection, the conversation is boring.

Chakras 5-6-7 store all the data relating to our ideas. Being abstract they need an organizing principle, which is usually created by work or a shared purpose. Conversations here are much easier as there is no emotion involved – that's why we love work so much (if we like what we do!) and why we need to find a vision (if we don't!)

For many years we've accepted these two sides of the divide - the either/or conversation. But the world is becoming more integrated. We have a sense that there is another conversation to be had. One that involves the link between the two - our heart.

We need to understand the new context.

Context is big these days, particularly in business. Ever since Steve Jobs changed the rules, CEOs have been desperately trying to find ways to stay relevant in a constantly changing world – to find the real need behind the need. Steve knew kids didn't want functionality – they wanted 'cool.'

Forty years ago, Harvard Business School professor Ted Levitt established this premise with the adage "No-one needs a drill – they need a hole." Now, business gurus have developed this to its logical conclusion. "Nobody needs a hole, they need to hang art. Nobody needs to hang art, they need a better looking room. Nobody needs a better looking room, they need to be happier."

So, whether you're selling furniture, lipstick or holidays, delve deeper and you'll find… you're really in the happiness business.

So, what would happen if we applied this process to conversation?

We first used words because they were an effective means to get more of what we needed – food, sex and territory. Then we used them to express ourselves – devotional prayers, legal letters, love songs.

But what next? We're all in the happiness business, but many of us aren't happy. What makes us happy is connection. And words often don't cut it any more. They're too generic, too sentimental, too cliché ridden. We don't have enough of them. We have too many of them. Or perhaps they just don't convey what we mean any more.

We're moving into the Energy Age and words are a blunt instrument when it comes to describing energy.

Energy doesn't do small talk – it's way too dynamic for that. It goes straight for the connection.

We get a taste of this experience through sexual attraction. The energy takes over and we don't need words. Bliss! But what would happen if we could develop our ability to interpret and direct energy above the waist?

Because we have no framework for this process, we cling to the only method of communication that we've validated.

Words.

Whether these are part of a Company mission statement, a Retailer's crib sheet or the unwritten rules of Cocktail hour pleasantries, we feel the lack of meaning. Words fail to address the real need behind the need.

Meanwhile, back at the hotel, it's time for dinner. Brioche croute with goose liver. Veloute of celeriac with truffled mushrooms. If it could talk, this food would demand to be photographed for a lifestyle magazine. Our fellow diners speak in hushed tones, perhaps out of reverence for the cuisine or perhaps to disguise how little they have to say to each other. The atmosphere feels like a cross between a church and an old peoples' home.

Energy has left the building.

The following morning, like a couple of co-conspirators we make our excuses and leave. The cottage is suddenly the preferable option. The car battles through a squall – gale force winds and horizontal rain. Nature is definitely in charge here. The elements are neither civilised or polite, but they're real. And we're grateful for that.

An hour later we reach signs of civilisation! A village with church and shops! Goddam those expectations! The church is boarded up. The food shop sells 120 brands of confectionary, tinned soup and magazines. As for the gift shop, there is only one word – Why? Can there really be any market left for ceramic thimbles, tartan tea towels and teddy bears in sporrans. The proprietor looks up anxiously as we walk past the window of generic awfulness.

We want to connect, but there's no mechanism to do so. We feel guilty for not needing a single thing he has to sell. We'd happily pay $20 for a macchiato.

Later, in the solitude of the cottage, we dine on peanuts, liquorice all-sorts and instant hot chocolate, but there is an endless supply of laughter and conversation.

Our context is changing. As we evolve, our needs change too, so it's important to re-evaluate them constantly. We think we know what makes us happy. But often our dreams of happiness are artificially created by images and influences that we have never really questioned.

Who are you? How do you want to live? What makes you smile?

These are soul questions. We often can't answer them in words and even if we could, we don't need any more data (we really don't need any more data!)

We're all in the happiness business now.

Read the energy. Try to imagine how to language it. For in that language we can create a new shared meaning. And out of that will come…

Big talk.