Since so many people say that they do their best thinking in the shower, it only makes sense that shampoo holds one of the keys to creativity.

But David, I can hear you say, shampoo is just liquid soap for your hair.  What could a bottle of Pantene have to do with increasing my creativity?

Well, it’s not the actual shampoo but some marketing on the bottle.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

That simple instruction contains a lot of metaphorical wisdom. (In realistic terms, unless you shampoo only once a week, you probably don’t need to repeat. It’s something they made up to sell more shampoo.)

People look at creativity as a beginning, middle and an end, but it’s not. It’s an endless loop of new projects and ideas. Too many people get stuck on having an idea (lathering) or overwhelmed with the process (rinsing) and never get to starting a new project (repeating).

Lather people have an idea that they’ve held onto for years. It’s their pet idea and they aren’t willing to let go of it and move on to the next one. A lot of  latherers want to talk endlessly about that idea, but never do anything about it. You’ll know someone is in lather territory when she brings her pet idea up and all her friends groan.

Rinsers get caught up in the process. They can’t start writing their novel until they have the right laptop to use in the corner of a quiet coffee shop while they’re wearing their lucky sweater. His 50th take of that song is going to be way better than his 49th, maybe he should book another week in the studio. For rinsers, there’s always one more thing they need before they can complete what they’re doing.

Repeaters are the winners when it comes to creativity. Their skills improve. They have tons of completed projects that they can use as springboards to greater things. It’s hard work being a repeater, because you know that any pleasure you take in an accomplishment is only a short break before the next project starts.

Most repeaters I know have multiple projects going on at the same time so that if one gets stalled out or delayed they can switch over to another one. But, they are also always finishing something.

Being a repeater means letting go of perfectionism. It means opening yourself up for criticism because you have to tell something is finished. It means having a stack of failures way bigger than people who never finish. It also brings huge rewards and will change your life forever.

The next time you find yourself stuck while thinking in the shower, just read the instructions on the back of a shampoo bottle and get inspired.

Just think how clean your hair will be!

Creative people sometimes start out isolated and different. No matter how positive and full of energy we are, we still stand out from everyone around us because we want to change their environment. We are full of ideas and questions things. The vast majority of people expend their energy making sure that nothing changes, so when someone creative appears, they are diminished and ignored. The urge to fit in and be like other people is strong and for a lot people, that leads to their creative side being completely submerged. They would rather be someone they aren’t than be lonely.

However, sometimes you get a signal that no matter how weird or different you are, there is someone out there just like you. That signal is an important indicator of the path you are about to go down. For some people it’s a book or a movie, sometimes it’s a person you meet or a specific location. Whatever it is, it’s an indication that it’s ok to be yourself.

For me it was the summer of 1979 and and I was 10 years old. I was riding to Graceland shopping center on my blue BMX bike with a banana seat. I made my way through all my usual stops — the hobby shop, the toy store — when I noticed a new store. It was a music store and I didn’t know anything about music. I hadn’t had much exposure to music beyond TV and music class at school. My parents played the occasional Simon and Garfunkel record and some Peter, Paul and Mary, but most of the music in our house came from a tinny radio in the garage as my father worked on Volkswagens.

I walked into the shop without any thought of actually buying something. It was more of an exploration to see what it would be like inside. I knew I enjoyed the Beatles, but not much beyond that. I wandered the aisles without direction, soaking in the hyperreal fluorescent ambiance and avoiding the vaguely punk cashiers, when a cassette tape caught my eye. It was a peculiar figure wearing a hat with the letters D-E-V-O next to him, and for some reason, I felt an instant connection to it. I was drawn to it. I knew, in that moment, that whoever had decided to put that image on that case was talking to directly to me. He was whispering a message directly in my ear.

“You are not alone.”

That’s what it said. Those words formed in my head. No exaggeration or hyperbole involved. If I made a movie of it I would animate the lips of the man on the tape saying them to me. Seeing this album cover was love at first sight – not me loving it, but it loving me.

I bought it, took it home and listened to it over and over again on my dad’s handheld, monophonic tape recorder. I memorized it. I was so unsophisticated that I didn’t even look for other albums by the group or try to look up any information about them at all. I didn’t even know that “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” was a cover of a Rolling Stones song.

For at least six months, all that existed of those mythical creatures “Devo” was that one gray cassette tape in a cracked, clear plastic case. Even the album name spoke to that question of connection. Are we not men? We are DEVO! I included myself in that “we” as I sang along.

—–

When he was asked about that album cover, Mark Mothersbaugh, one of the founding forces of Devo, told this story:

 Do you experience lulls in your creativity? Do you run hot and cold with ideas? Want to be ready when you need your creativity the most? Here’s one way you can be sure that you are always at the top of your game.

In David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross, Alec Baldwin shows up to deliver a motivational speech to a room full of salesman. Really it’s more threatening than motivational, but one of the bits of simple “wisdom” he shares with them is the ABC’s of sales. The letters stand for “always be closing.” To a room full of people struggling to make a single sale, this advice seems more like a cruel taunt than a guiding philosophy.

What if we changed the C from “closing” to “creating?” Always Be Creating. Is it a taunt to use this as a philosophy of creativity? Let’s take away the idea of failure. We aren’t using the phrase to imply quality, just quantity. So, there really isn’t a way to fail except by not doing anything. It’s not a taunt, it’s a cheer!

Instead of working on something, finishing it and then waiting for the next project, what if you always had multiple projects going on? They shouldn’t all be equally important. In fact, having a few low priority creative projects to work on for fun is completely freeing. What about writing Bacon Haikus? Or doing a drawing a day? Or even wearing a different outfit every day? It doesn’t have to be something you’re good at, in fact, being bad at it might be better in the long run.

These seeming distractions are actually keeping you at your top creative level! Your creativity isn’t a faucet that you can turn on and off, it’s an exploding geyser in the middle of your brain. The problem is that if you don’t go there all the time, you might forget where it is.

Multiple projects. Plans. A giant novel about a war between the ant-people and the walrus-people.  The perfect cupcake recipe. An elf outfit for your bulldog. A list of believable lies about Abraham Lincoln. A list of heavy metal band names that haven’t been used yet. (That last one is harder than you think.) Designing underwear for chickens. Anything you want!

ABC, Always Be Creating! Don’t take a vacation from doing what you love. Keep your projects secret or put them on the web. It doesn’t matter! The whole purpose is to maintain your highest levels of creativity at all times.

It’s as simple as… well.. you know…