045. Natalie Nixon: The Dance of Creativity

TODAY'S GUEST   Dr. Natalie Nixon is a creativity strategist, global keynote speaker, and author of the award-winning The Creativity Leap: Unleash Curiosity, Improvisation, and Intuition at Work. As president of Figure 8 Thinking, she advises leaders on transformation by applying wonder and rigor to amplify growth and business value. Natalie's been featured in Forbes, Fast Company, LinkedIn’s "Hello Monday" podcast, and Seth Godin’s "Akimbo" podcast.   She lives in Philadelphia with her husband, John, and is a lifelong student of dance—hip-hop and social ballroom of late.   EPISODE SUMMARY   In this conversation we talk about: Learning patience and flexibility through her COVID experience. Growing up as a sensitive kid in Philly, and moving to a rough public school there and how that affected her.  How her father's love of jazz and her mother's love of opera and classical music brought her closer to a world of art and creativity. Studying anthropology and Africana studies, and how she ending up getting a PhD in design management in London. The difference between being artistic vs being creative. Why strategy is creative, and why creativity is strategic. How we all have a creative capacity. The role of chaos in creativity. Her book, The Creativity Leap. How dance and design thinking are related, and what she learned about design and creativity from ballroom dancing and hip-hop. Embracing difference as a part of the creative process. And how we need people around that will ask different questions than we would.   This is one of a dozen or so weekly conversations we already have lined up for you with thinkers, designers, makers, authors, entrepreneurs, and investors, who are working to change our world for the better. So follow this podcast on your favorite podcast app or head over to remakepod.org to subscribe.   And now let's jump right in with Dr. Natalie Nixon.   TIMESTAMP CHAPTERS   [4:17] Life During COVID [9:09] Early Childhood Driving Forces [16:31] An Academic Background [21:51] Strategy is Creative [27:06] Toggling Between Wonder and Rigor [32:25] Chaordic Systems [36:17] Gifts of Dance [41:49] Becoming the Movement [44:18] Creative Abrasion [47:10] A Short Sermon   EPISODE LINKS Natalie's Links 8️⃣ Figure 8 Thinking 📘 The Creativity Leap: Unleash Curiosity, Improvisation, and Intuition at Work 📘 Strategic Design Thinking: Innovation in Products, Services, Experiences and Beyond 🎤 TED Talk - 7 Rules for Improvising at Work 🎤 TED Talk - The Nudge Imperative 💼 LinkedIn: LinkedIn Profile 📣 Twitter: @natwnixon 📺 YouTube Channel Other Links 📚 Free Library of Philadelphia 🍸 Silk City 🎧 Akimbo - A Podcast from Seth Godin 🏫 Shenkar College of Engineering, Design, and Art 👚 The Limited 👙 Victoria's Secret 🏫 Thomas Jefferson University 🛏️ The Ritz-Carlton 💳 Visa 📕 Dancing Culture Religion (Studies in Body and Religion) by Sam Gill 🚗 Nissan 🚀 NASA 🎤 TED Talk - Alain de Botton   ABOUT US Remake Podcast: Visit us: RemakePod.org 🙏🏻 Rate the show on iTunes 🙏🏻 Support us! Join the Podcast Member community 💌 Share your thoughts: [email protected] 👉 Listen or Subscribe to the show: Apple Podcasts・Google Podcasts・RadioPublic・Overcast・Stitcher・PocketCasts・Castro・SoundCloud・Spotify・YouTube・Deezer Remake Labs:  RemakeLabs.com・Medium・LinkedIn・Community・Twitter・Facebook・Instagram Eran Dror:  EranDror.com・LinkedIn・Twitter・Medium