"Go ahead and punch an oak tree or a palm tree and chances are you will break your hands," stated one of my martial art instructors. "Both are equally hard on the outside, yet one has a soft-core while the other does not." He went on to explain that it was only a question of degree of the storm before an oak tree could be snapped in half since it's core was hard. Yet the soft core of a palm tree allows it to bend when a storm hits it, and when the storm is over, it pops back up. Even when hit with the fury of a monsoon, the palm will survive.

Years later as I migrated out of hard-style Korean fighting forms into softer Chinese Kung Fu styles, I was taught the importance of stepping out of the way, redirecting energy and striking from angles.

"Which would you rather be, a rock or water?" asked this master. "One look at the Grand Canyon and you can see how rocks are subject to erosion by water. Yet if you place water in your fist and squeeze, the harder you squeeze the faster it alludes you. One must relax and cup it if one is going to have water work for you. By doing so, you can drink water from cupped hands, or redirect it, but only if you allow yourself to remain as fluid as it is, otherwise it will not work for you."

This same master laughed at me the first night I appeared in his dojo with my years of hard fighting techniques of direct, swift and aggressive linear defensive/offensive maneuvers. "Chuck, if a freight train is heading down tracks, why would you want to stand in the middle of the tracks and try to attack its energy head-on by attempting to overpower it? Wouldn't it be easier to step to the side, use its own momentum against itself by directing the same energy you were going to use, and hitting the train from the side as it goes by you..."

Global military leaders recognize the genius of Sun Tzu's Art of War. In this book, he offers great wisdom on the importance of fluidity by advocating that the superior warrior never uses force to overtake his opponents. His explanation is that by using force one expends energy, which is therefore lower than before the expenditures. Better to outsmart the opponent and surround their camp so that in the morning, when they awake, you can greet them with open arms and say, "Morning. Would you like to reach for your drawers and we can call it a day, or do you want to reach for your weapons and perish?"

Okay, by now you might be wondering, "What does fighting have to do with creativity?"

Usually we fight because we want something. We are like fighters, or, to use Dan Millman's term, "peaceful warriors," when searching for creative options to make something work better. We wrestle to discover answers yet unseen. Accordingly, the importance of stepping to the side, relaxing, and approaching from angles. In this way, we maintain maximum effectiveness and energy reserves.

How many stories have we heard about great artists and scientists discovering huge breakthroughs when showering, in bathtubs and/or other relaxing states.

In my own case, rarely do my best creative options happen when trying to force them as I sit working at my computer. And yet, when under deadline pressure to deliver client satisfaction, it is always a struggle for me to allow myself permission to stop my creative struggles and take the time to go rollerblading. Almost without fail, it is during these rollerblading episodes that the creativity starts to unfold. Then when I return to the computer, I have the building blocks I need so that I can start to massage and shape projects at hand for client satisfaction.

Thus, if we find ourselves fighting to find new options, perhaps it is best to drop back and approach from another angle.

Before I left business school, I queried a strategy professor on the best way to stay on top of my industry. "Look at different industries, and while they may seem irrelevant on the surface, it is likely that you will discover underlying principles that have meaning for your own business and industry," he replied.

FYI, the colors in the logo of this book reflect the earlier belts from martial art styles. In many martial forms, we find white as representing beginners and black representing experts. In-between are a host of colors, depending on the style studied. Yet, once upon a time there were only white and black. Everybody started with white and the way one achieved black was merely how much dirt one ate from being tossed to the ground from superior opponents. The more one worked it, the more soiled the white belt became. Rumor has it that it was the Chinese who introduced the spectrum of colored belts in between white and black. Typically, yellow is the next step above white and means "The student is starting to rise like the sun;" green is usually after yellow and indicates that "the student is growing;" blue indicates "reaching towards the sky," and so on. Hence the logo for Absolute Unlimited Creativity shows the peaceful creative warrior is always growing and always reaching for the expanding skies. Kind of like a game of tag with God.   top