Imagination First

Acknowledgments. Lincoln Center Institute. The Authors. Part One: The Premise. Introduction. What, Why, and How. Part Two: The Practices. Practice 1: Make Mist. Ready, get still, go. Practice 2: Leave the Campfire. Know your enemy: it is you, scared. Practice 3: Flip What's Foolish. Make it wise to be foolish, and every fool will generate wisdom. Practice 4: Make Way for Awe. Nurture humility and the wonder that comes with it. Practice 5: Reinvent the Wheel. Be willing to give back the givens. Practice 6: Think Inside the Box. Make greedy, grateful use of limits. Practice 7: Hoard Bits. Collect obsessively; sift; trust that the right bits will emerge. Practice 8: Mix Your Metaphors. Change the metaphors that frame your reality. Practice 9: Renew Your Narrative. Ask whether your story still serves you. Practice 10: Untie Your Tongue. Talk about your work with someone who doesn't understand it. Practice 11: Swap Bodies. Lose yourself in a role. Practice 12: Make a Gap. Obscure part of the picture. Practice 12.5: Finish the Story. Make the ending open-ended. Practice 13: Chunk It. Show how small it all starts Practice 14: Don't Blink. Snap in slow motion; see how you get primed for decision. Practice 15: Cloud Appreciation. Search out ambiguity and sit with it. Practice 16: Spotlight Off, Lantern On. Trade sharp focus for full-field awareness. Practice 17: Play Telephone. Engage in meaning-laundering. Practice 18: Help Out a Boobonian. Make every task a quest. Practice 19: Teach Nonzero Math. Expand the pie before dividing it. Practice 20: Microexperiment. Test your hunches playfully. Practice 21: Rewrite History. Turn "what would've been" into "what could be" Practice 22: Design for the Hallway. Let informal spaces thrive. Practice 23: Routinize Randomness. Regularly rinse out expectations. Practice 24: Ride the z-axis. Find elemental forms, then play with scale. Practice 25: Challenge Your Challenges. Find better problems. Practice 26: Break the Hand. Unschool yourself periodically. Practice 27: Yes and ... Never say no to an idea. Practice 28: Fail Well. Treat failure like a skill. Practice X: Make Up Your Own. Part Three: The Purposes. Conclusion. For Further Exploration. Index.