CREATIVITY with Natalie Nixon: Wonder + rigor, strategic woo, and leadership lessons from ballroom dance
Julie and Casey sit down with speaker, author, and creativity expert Natalie Nixon, founder of Figure 8 Thinking, to discuss how everyone can find more creativity, how the workplace should be redefining productivity, and lessons from a life lived all over the world. Along the way, we learn about intuition, the gifts of being “in the margins”, and why leaders should consider learning the tango.
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TOP TAKEAWAYS:
Noticing what she heard over and over again from the leaders and business folks she was talking to (“it’s like jazz” and “something told me to…” being two examples) and following her own curiosity led Natalie down her primary research paths: chaordic systems, intuitive leadership, and creativity.
Natalie explains creativity as “wonder + rigor”. Wonder is the necessary time/energy for reflection, play, experimentation, rest, etc., and rigor is the necessary time/energy for grit, practice, discipline, and gaining expertise.
What if we had new metrics for productivity? Natalie coined the term “invisible work” to put a label on the ideation, ruminating, reframing of problems, reflection, etc that goes into the VISIBLE results in the business world. This stuff is absolutely necessary but difficult to quantify — the old metrics of “widgets created/time on task” don’t work in our new era of work.
Mini Lesson: The challenges—and gifts—of being a “clumsy student”
Natalie Nixon, PhD is a creativity strategist, global keynote speaker and author. As president of Figure 8 Thinking, LLC she advises leaders on transformation—by applying wonder and rigor to amplify growth and business value.
Natalie is one of Real Leaders' "Top 50 Keynote Speakers in the World for 2022" She is the author of the award-winning The Creativity Leap: Unleash Curiosity, Improvisation and Intuition at Work—an honoree in the creativity category of Fast Company's 2021 World Changing Ideas Awards. Her firm Figure 8 Thinking, was named among the top 20 women-led innovation firms by Core 77 in 2021.
Natalie received her BA (honors) from Vassar College, and her PhD from the University of Westminster in London.
Follow Natalie on social media: https://www.instagram.com/natwnixon/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalienixonphd/ https://twitter.com/natwnixon https://www.facebook.com/natwnixon
Find out more about Figure 8 Thinking - https://www.figure8thinking.com/