When I studied martial arts as a teen, I was taught about Qi (Chi). This is believed to be the internal life force of every human being. The energy can be strengthened or weakened based on the training and mindset that a person may have. I tend to relate this to our creative energies within us. We do things or have mindsets that can strength our work and the flow of ideas or weaken them. Sometimes as a creative you get an idea and you get stuck on that idea and aren’t open to other ideas, that stops your design flow. Some people weaken the team’s creative energy flow because they can’t let go of their egos. Leaders can also hurt the flow of ideas when they instantly shoot down ideas from team members in a brainstorm session. 

Three years years ago, I started to write my “design aspirations” that define the 9 guiding design and leadership principles I wanted my group and myself to always aspire to. Over time I’ve also found it to be important because if you ever want to do anything new or innovative you are going to have to bring those ideas to life against a lot of opposition.

They are simple statements but the simplicity is deceiving as each purposely challenging and aspirational.

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