Jim Henson — Genius at work



What makes a genius a genius? Today, superlative attributes such as genius, artist, or master, are so generously used that it seems almost impossible to recognize true ingenuity. We know about creativity, about Flow (Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi), and the Element (Ken Robinson). But, what does really happen when a masterpiece emerges, when something meaningful appears? In this 1969 Iowa Public Television broadcast we get a glimpse of that magical moment when Jim Henson explains about his puppets. It happens in plain sight: They come to life. Continue reading...

Derek Sivers — Zen master of motivation



What if somebody approached you with the task to hold a meaningful presentation about a topic of your choice in order to motivate a crowd of complete strangers? And if that wasn’t enough to scare the living daylight out of you, the timeframe given lies somewhere between two and five minutes. How would you approach this task? What topic would you choose? What stories would you tell and how would you tell them? Here is your chance to learn from a master. Enjoy these presentations by musician and entrepreneur Derek Sivers. Continue reading...

Van Jones’ “one brilliant slide”


A presentation can be built around one central slide. Van Jones gives us a perfect example — not only of how such a slide looks like, but of how to present it with impact as well. The central question of the presentation is: “Is there some way we could connect the work that most needs doing with the people that most need work?” Continue reading...

Ken Robinson, creativity, and the Element



Back in February 2006, Sir Ken Robinson mesmerized the audience at the TED conference with his speech, Do schools kill creativity? The video has been viewed over 20 million times on Youtube so far. It was a defining moment for TED, making Ken Robinson somewhat of a figurehead for TED Talks. In his latest book, The Element — How finding your passion changes everything, he gives another inspiring insight into the field of human creativity and its limitless opportunities. He urges us to search for our very own Element, the point where natural talent meets personal passion. Continue reading...

Barry Schwartz about wisdom



Apart from his enlightening topics there is a lot we can learn from Barry Schwatz’s presentations — although (or, maybe just because) he is not our picture-book presenter. After the video three thoughts, in order of appearance. Continue reading...

Dan Siegel’s Mindsight



In this Google TechTalk, psychologist Dan Siegel introduces his findings about the mind: 1. The mind is a process that regulates the flow of energy and information, it uses the brain to create itself. 2. The flow of energy and information incorporates three basic elements: brain (mechanism), mind (regulating), relationships (sharing). 3. A healthy mind emerges from integrated systems defined by nine functions: body regulation, atunement, balancing emotions, capacity to extinguish fear, ability to pause before acting, insight, empathy, morality, and intuition. Continue reading...

Devdutt Pattanaik and Alexander the Great



The ever increasing speed of change and its totality that we are facing today leaves us in need of explanations — more than ever before. In order to keep pace we have to make sense of it all. We have to understand the own position in relation to the processes of globalization, climate change, and conflicts. It might well be a matter of survival — not only on an individual level and not only for people outside the western industrialized nations. Devdutt Pattanaik explains the basic differences between East and West by telling wonderful stories about mythical figures from both worlds. Continue reading...