Lindon Leader – I strive for two things in design: simplicity and clarity.  Great design is born of those two things.  Understatement is much more effective, much more elegant.

We tend to perceive ambiguous, uncertain, incomplete and complete things in their simplest and most complete form.

Empathizing is the initial step in a good design process.  It is a valuable skill for everyone to develop regardless of profession.

Silence in music and film, pause in dance and blank spaces in paintings take on a special significance.  It is the essence of creative energy.  Those viewing the art supply the missing symmetry and thus participate in the act of creation.

Wisdom is fundamentally a subtractive virtue.  Wise men filter insights when others get lot in piles and piles of knowledge.  When you are confident, you begin to subtract.  You focus on the key things.  Keep it short and simple.

Limiting information engages the imagination.  Squint at the world.  You will see more, by seeing less.  The true art is invisible.

By removing, you strengthen because the other elements are allowed to become clearer.  Subtraction is not a taking away so much as a refining.  Knowing what to take out is a crucial as knowing what to include.

Studies have shown creativity does not require unrestrained freedom; rather, it relies on limits and obstacles.  Creativity thrives under intelligent constraints.

When a well worn pattern is broken, creativity emerges.  It is the broken pattern that makes us take notice.

MRI have shown during mental dormancy the brain is in fact at its most creative.  Gamma waves increase right before the aha moment.  Before that moment is the slower alpha waves.  The gamma burst was preceded by the change in the alpha waves that control vision.  The brain was doing its own version of what we do when we want to concentrate:  We close our eyes.  To help produce the necessary alpha waves; meditation.

Executives at GE, 3M, Google, also Phil Jackson, Tiger Woods and Thomas Edison all meditate.

UCLA has shown that meditation increases gray matter and shows stronger connection between brain regions.

Categories: Book Summary

ron winnegrad

Ron Winnegrad has been a Perfumer and teacher for 46 years. As a perfumer, Ron has been able to express the world he sees through a rainbow of olfactive and emotive visions. As a teacher, Ron has helped others to see fragrance through his own multi sensorial lens.