3 Things Ultimate Frisbee Taught Me About Creativity
Posted: June 2nd, 2010 | Author: Christian | Filed under: On Ideation | Tags: christian parsons, creativity, idea drunk, Inspiration, ultimate frisbee | 10 Comments »
Chris Loat in his “action pose.”
For most people, the arrival of summer means relaxing in the sun, enjoying beers on a patio and maybe even weekends away at the cottage with their friends. For me it means running around outside chasing a plastic disc. That’s right. Ultimate season is back. Which means my body is going through a glorious combination of muscle pain, exhaustion and (of course) a wonderful t-shirt tan.
I’ve written before about how my team’s experience at Ontario Regionals a couple of years ago was able to highlight life lessons. And Chris Loat claims to still read that post when he needs a pick-me-up. Here’s a couple of things that I’ve learned since then:
1. Planning Only Provides The Framework
I moved from a system of ultimate that was more free flowing to one with a lot more structure and set plays. But it’s easy to get lost in the complexity of play-calling, positions, and roles and forget what you’re out there to do – score. The set plays only provide a loose framework to get things started. After that, it all turns into flow. You just go with what the defense is giving you and where the open opportunities are. You can’t predict everything on the field, so why try? The same thing applies for brainstorms. You can provide a starting structure to a idea session, but that’s it. Don’t try to control it after that. Just let things ride. Because you never know where an idea is going to go. All you can do is point everyone in one direction and see where it leads.
2. The Best Team Doesn’t Always Win
You can have a team of superstars with a lot of experience and skill. But that means nothing. A team who wants it more and is willing to bust their butts to put it all on the line can overwhelm and upset a top seed. Because with a top seeding come arrogance and complacency. They are already the best and expect people to be intimidated. I was playing on a men’s pickup team at nationals last year. We were seeded last and had literally never practiced with each other before. Our second game was against the first seed in the tournament. We came out with a ton of energy and started the game by going up 3-1 on them. They nearly shit their pants.
The exact same thing can happen with creative. Hard work and putting in the hours will give you better thoughts, ideas and creative. Even if you’re competing against the smartest people in your industry, if they’ve become complacent, you have a shot. You may not have the skill or experience, but if you can exploit their arrogance with hard work, then you’re golden.
3. You Need An Asshole At Practice.
You need someone to push you to run through a hellish fitness program. To yell at you when you drop a disc. To make you throw 100 perfect throws in a row. Because that’s what makes you a better player. Developing your creative skills requires the same motivating asshole. You need someone to criticise your work. To poke holes in your ideas. To trash your creative. Because that’s what pushes you to be better. It’s what forces you to grow your thinking and deliver better ideas.
That’s it. Thoughts?
- Christian
I disagree with number 3….you don’t always need to be an anal sphincter.
Par example: When I was rowing a coach always yelled at me, and only me, and commented on my “5-lb baby” that I needed to lose in front of the entire team.
The result? I ended up crying after almost every practice en route home.
The end end result?? I switched to MT so that I can deliver a swift knee to the nads when somebody pulls that shit on me again.
LB, I think the point Christian is making is that you need someone to challenge you, to point out mistakes and weaknesses….but the key is they have to push you to work harder, to get better and offer ways to improve.
Sometimes they way this sort of criticism or motivation is delivered is just as important its content. Having that one asshole can be very helpful. People often use that sort of energy as motivation, sort of like “Oh yeah? you think I suck? I’ll show you!”. I think I used to be that asshole on the field.
That person doesn’t actually have to be an asshole, just behave like one. What’s more is that they should be an asshole to everyone. You’re old rowing coach sounds like he was actually an asshole rather than just behaving like one.
So Christian, does this mean you made Tundra?
@ LB
Maybe you shouldn’t be a baby. Joking. Anyways, I think to Tien’s point you always need someone to push you. And I’ve found through my experience that tough love provides better results than babying someone.
@ Tien
Yup, I made Tundra.
Who is this “Chris” person you are referring to?
@ Beard Eyes
I knew that Just For Men couldn’t keep you away for long. Bring back the Beard Eyes!
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by B, Sludge. Sludge said: RT @vegasbab LOVE this post: 3 Things Ultimate Frisbee Taught Me About Creativity http://ow.ly/1UTd4 #ultimatefrisbee [...]
[...] few weeks ago ideaDRUNK illustrated a point that was discovered while playing Ultimate Frisbee. Point 3 in [...]
LB, I think the point Christian is making is that you need someone to challenge you, to point out mistakes and weaknesses….but the key is they have to push you to work harder, to get better and offer ways to improve.
Sometimes they way this sort of criticism or motivation is delivered is just as important its content. Having that one asshole can be very helpful. People often use that sort of energy as motivation, sort of like “Oh yeah? you think I suck? I’ll show you!”. I think I used to be that asshole on the field.
That person doesn’t actually have to be an asshole, just behave like one. What’s more is that they should be an asshole to everyone. You’re old rowing coach sounds like he was actually an asshole rather than just behaving like one.
So Christian, does this mean you made Tundra?
[...] and preventing long term health problems. Whether you stay active by going to the gym or playing Ultimate Frisbee, these recreational activities will keep you [...]
[...] play a lot of ultimate frisbee. I’ve written about it before here and here. Recently, I was selected for a high level men’s team that represents Montreal. [...]