Tuesday, 15 September 2009

So whats in a name?

Thought I might kick off my blogging life, besides the obligatory "hi mom - will this thing last" post, with an ever so brief description of the title of my blog and Raison d'ĂȘtre.

Developing - a play on words really, overloaded to mean developing (my software development), developing (my photography/film) and developing (as in early childhood/cognitive development and what I most want to get out of this blog)

the - definite article no explanation really.. (geeky I know)

right - another play on words. right (as in correct) and right (as in right hand or creative side of the brain)

brain - the thing that I am hoping to change by blogging

Earlier this year, I found myself in a vicious cycle of attempting to read, watch and listen to every possible source of developer news available. From blogs, twitter, news, podcasts and video casts, on a wide range of topics. The information was in many cases taking a one way journey in one ear and out the other, so to speak, and worse still the more I consumed the more I realised I was missing out on (hence the viscious circle).

The epiphany came to me after listening to, ironically, a podcast by Tom Kelley from the Stanford University ETL series titled Young at Heart: How to Be an Innovator for Life. Tom gives some excellent tips for increasing your level innovation and creativity, the take away points being;
  • Think like a traveller
  • Treat life as an experiment
  • Cultivate an attitude of wisdom
  • Use your whole brain
  • Do what you love
This really struck a chord with me, so I read his book The 10 faces of innovation The Ten Faces of Innovation: Strategies for Heightening Creativity. The logical conclusion was basically, I consuming too much information, I had no time to think, no time to create. So hence this blog was born.

So the first step... admiting you have a problem...

Hi may name is Christian and it's been 56 days since my last podcast...