The Innate Genius Of Creativity with Michael Ray

Program Description

Each of us has the potential of being creative “to-the-max” in our own individual setting, no matter what it is. Ray points out key tools to help us stay in that creative space most all the time. He says we’re all geniuses, and that often it is our own internal voice of judgment, which gets in the way to our highest goal. Ray tells us, “The kind of creativity [that encompasses] your highest goal is what we’re going for. It is like a catalyst in chemistry. A catalyst is a substance that causes a reaction, but doesn’t get used up in the reaction; it is endlessly generative.” We may have many extraordinary mentors, but at some point we must mentor ourselves to act out our highest goal. Listen and learn about how we can live in our passion.

Michael Ray is the first John G. McCoy-Banc One Corporation Professor of Creativity and Innovation and of Marketing (Emeritus) at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. He is the author of numerous books including Creativity In Business (with Rochelle Myers) (Main Street Books 1989), The Path of the Everyday Hero (with Lorna Catford) (Jeremy Tarcher 1994), and The Highest Goal: The Secret That Sustains You In Every Moment (Berrett-Koehler Publishers 2004).

Topics Explored in this Dialogue:

• How working with your highest goal is endlessly generative
• What are the four tools of creativity
• How to do the most meaningful thing exercise
• How the “voice of judgment” obscures our innate genius
• How to “psyche out the voice of judgment”
• What are the advantages of staying with the highest goal

Host: Michael Toms           Interview Date: 10/11/2005           Program Number: 3114