Change Creation | Copyright 2011 Tessa Zeng

( Send it anywhere + everywhere, but this is one creation you cannot change! )
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for the ambitious ones

Either way works.

Whether you're interested in creating change, or changing the
way we create, this manifesto is for you.

In fact, the way you frst read the title probably says a lot about
what you're after.

Aren't I a tricky one? Heh heh.

Though now that you mention it

I believe the greatest potential of a creative work lies in
its ability to screw with someone's mind.

Scandalous, I know!

But truly, if that sentence is shocking, we might have a problem.
Change Creation, huh?

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Supreme Practicality > Idealism
& Why I, idealist extraordinaire, had
to grit my teeth and write that.

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In the very beginning, Sean Carasso, founder of
advocacy group Falling Whistles, took a life-changing
trip to the Congo, where he met ten-year-old child
soldiers trapped in the worlds largest war.
Upon arriving home. he starts ranting to all his friends (at his own homecoming
parties, no less):
Guys, kids are dying! Right now! We have to do something!
...You dont get invited to very many parties after a while, he laughs ruefully,
recalling this story.
How many of us have faced similar obstructions?
You know, if facts and beliefs alone could change anything, wed have grabbed
megaphones long ago to shout: EVERYONE WORK FOR WORLD PEACE!
Oh wait, thats what they did in U.S. in the 60s.
And we still dont have it.
Hm.
Something tells me that we need a new approach. That weve overlooked some
basic, outdated work paradigms along the path to world domination.
After all, you may be already asking:
What really matters? And how can we get there?

The heart of the answers, I believe, lie in why + how we make things.
Ive written this book fully intending to change
your mind about the way we create. And to start
a revolution in the context of your work.
Many of you may not know me, so lets begin with mine!

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My name is Tessa Zeng. Not too long ago, I was a junior at one of the nations
top art instituions, en route to a promising career.
Id just rebranded a global nonproft with my biz partner, caught the attention
of ELLE Magazine, and gotten hand-picked by my school president to develop a
high-profle workshop called STEM-to-STEAM for creative industry leaders.
On the surface, the future looked bright.
But underneath it all, something felt amiss.
It began when of all my instructors, the only one with genuinely useful
design feedback was my philosophy professor.
When my classmates laughed about their premed friends studying for real
careers.
When the same students thought a picture of a beach adequately portrayed
the thought process behind their work.
When leading industry designers clearly concurred with their own runways
collections.
When after exhilarating discussions at the STEAM workshop, in which
we talked the future of education and collaboration, the congressional
rep stood to announce that we were all working in service of economic
competitiveness. And no one- in a room flled with thought leaders- said a
word.
I was drowning in questions that no one seemed to have answers for...

Whats the real point of so much creating?

When did design get so passive?
Why- and indeed, how- did we intend to solve problems when people
didnt even care what it took to solve them, just that we did?
Art students started to look a bit like martyrs. Waiting to join the ranks of the
more seasoned, long-sufering creatives.
Most astonishingly, we were consenting- by our very thoughts and actions- to
play along.
Not this one.

As I investigated, it became apparent that this wasnt just about
validating art, but re-examining the foundation of our creative lives.
Somewhere, lost in the dark swirling depths of creation, lay the
potential to revolutionize the world as we knew it.
I left school in February 2011 to start my own movement on the web, the frst
major product of which you're reading right now.

The fact that these words are passing through your eyes means more to me
than you could know. Thank you.
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1) The Economy

Thought Id make that clear, once and for all.

Aside from the congressional brush I mentioned earlier, Ive seen countless
books frame the creativity issue under economy 2.0. Its an interesting tactic,
efective for one important reason:
Our hearts are tied up with our pocketbooks.
Experts are well aware when it comes to the economy, were worried sick.
With jobs on the line and China on the rise, the most progressive minds of
the century are putting heads together to weigh the pros and cons of the
creative edge.
I know, because I was in a room full of them at the STEAM conference. That
day, I found the guts to speak up. This is what I said:
To rally creative empowerment under such banners is wrong and
unsustainable. The economic system must serve us, not the other
way around.
But for those of you nodding your heads, we might have a further
misunderstanding on our hands.

2) "Helping People"

When we think about changing the world, what often comes to mind is
volunteer work, donating large sums or money, or raising awareness for
important causes.

Yet I believe there are more sustainable ways to help people, ourselves
included. And no, I dont mean going green.
In his nonconformity manifesto, Chris Guillebeau brings up the two most
important questions in the world. 1) What do you want to get out of life? 2)
What can you ofer the world that no one else can?

What if... the two questions could have the same answer?
What if you could pursue what you love 150% in order to change the
world, & vice versa?
Your passion has far more potential than you know.
Which brings me to...

3) A specifc medium, industry, or discipline.
Many of the examples in here discuss art and design, but the ideas can be
applied in any feld.
As long as youre creating something, you can revolutionize it, while inspiring
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those around you to kickstart their own creative trajectories.
In turn, youll be improving the economy and helping people anyway.
Sound like a plan?
Lets get started.

If its not about the economy or helping people, then what IS it about?
I think weve focused too much, actually, on creating solutions. But remember-
the problems didnt come out of nowhere. We created those, too.
How did we create our deepest problems, then?

And what can we do about it?
Heres where traditional wisdom starts fying out the window...
The above quote usually precedes a call to better thinking, but why stop there?
Heres what I propose:

Lets use better creative strategy as a means to

catalyze the kind of thinking the world needs.

Difcult? Quite. Ambitious? Oh yes. Idealistic?

Not at all. (Hence the teeth-gritting subtitle of this section.)
Let me ask you this: When did you last feel like your life was in
danger?
Compared to our ancestors, were living a pretty charmed life. No tigers to
fend of, no gunfre out the window, no arrests in the middle of the night...for
most of us, anyway.
But underneath it all, can you deny that were uneasy?
The gap between the 1st and 3rd world grows, and we wring our hands as
security levels rise, and someone elses kids get hustled of to the front lines of
war. Meanwhile, a Google search on lifestyle design and mindfulness turns
up enough results to enlighten an entire army (19,600,000 and 4,620,000 hits,
respectively.)
Many of us are becoming aware that the ignorance we now face is not
the same as that of the Dark Ages. That in this age of unprecedented
opportunity, its no longer about just attaining freedom-
its about fguring out how to use it.

I believe this is the zeitgeist of the century, and it carries an
unprecendented tenderness for the human condition.
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Unfortunately, such intangibles dont translate well on the world stage. See
'The Economy.'

Its only when youre standing in front of the TV, watching the evening news,
that the thought dashes across your mind before you can stop it- good god,
what is this world coming to?
Or- whats my work, in the face of this?
Actually, the antidote to our biggest problems.
Yes, really.

But ONLY if we frst understand that the problems
themselves start with creativity fail.

It's not a complicated concept. But boy, has it been overlooked!
First, take the creative act. Anything from painting a picture to building a
house to composing a Tweet, for heavens sake.
Happens all the time, right?
Now what about a creative act... for its own sake?
Not for an assignment. Not because you need to pay the bills. Creation for the
sheer pleasure of creating.
At this moment, Im plucking words from thin air and typing them into being.
Its slow going and no ones paying me to do it, but what keeps me going is the

joy of wordplay, of wrestling clashing ideas into harmony, and then stepping
back to say, wow, I made this
Tell me thats not an amazing feeling.
But how many people truly know what that feels like?

Just ask the guy whose art was never encouraged,
who doesnt read books, whose education was about
regurgitating facts rather than explorationor you
know, who got handed a gun instead of a pencil.
This is no sob story, but a matter of ultimate practicality.
Children are born with the inclination and curiosity to create. But unless
theyre empowered to create, will they grow up to know the extent of their own
abilities?
Indeed, will they know yours?
This, my friend, is where we run into a teeny problem.
Ideally: The disempowered will just lead non-creative lives and deal, while we
lucky ones do our thing.
Really: The more someones lack of creativity is reenforced, the less hell
believe in his own potential.
Ideally: We can create however we want, with no real consequences.
Really: To the creatively disempowered, everything we make is a taunt: Hey,
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look how Im rocking what you cant even conceive of doing!
Ideally: Humans are inherently good, so everyone will eventually self-actualize.
Really: Even the most wonderful people will turn on us if we keep insulting their
fundamental constructs of self and reality.
Just look at historys holy wars.
...
Im about as optimistic and idealistic as it gets. But its time to be as realistic
as hell.
All destructive acts begin with a profound disbelief in
the creative act.
As long as were surrounded by disempowered individuals, it will disempower
our own future. Thanks, evolution.
Now can we take a more proactive approach?
To change, create, or both- we can no longer play it safe. In fact, to do so
would be extremely risky.
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Its a decision youll have to make for yourself, though!

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If you only take away ONE thing from this book, let it be this:
Nothing creative exists in isolation. Not even that
sentence!
Really. Not you, not your work, not the guy innovating halfway across the
world. No well, my medium doesnt do that. No frst create, then spread. No
I make art, you sell.
Revolutionary creation starts with a holistic model.
In the following sections, I plan to share everything I know about this approach,
disarm its opponents (of which there are many), and help you relate the con-
cepts to your own work.
Only if youre ready, though.
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This book contains no moral obligation, but rather suggestions for conscious
action. I dont intend to (nor could I, if I wanted to) make you do anything.
Inspiration, as well see, is quite diferent from dictation.
However! My ideas can be provocative and oftentimes challenging, which isnt
going to appeal to everyone. Hence for the ambitious ones.
Feel free to close the window and walk away, before you uncover too much of
your own creative power!
*

For everyone else have I got an action plan for us!
It starts with empowering you to understand our creative capabilities as never
before.

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Experience > Art
The real power of creativity.

In 1609, Galileo invented the telescope. Then he man-

aged to sell it to the Doge of Venice as a revolutionary
instrument of war, thus ensuring its survival to later
reveal the secrets of the night sky.

Brilliant, right?

Though I wonder... what would have happened if the wealthy Italian prince had
gotten distracted by a foreign princess, a betrothal had intervened, and the
war in question got cancelled (isn't it fun how politics used to work?)

Byebye, telescope.

How much unknown brilliance has fallen by the wayside of history,
because a princess - or some equally random factor- entered the pic-
ture, and peoples presumptions about inherent creative value were
wrong?

This is exactly whats happening today. We've got creativity all backwards.

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A common response goes something like this:
Look all around you! That building out the window? That fyer on the table?
Not to mention the very clothes that you and I are wearing?!? Gosh, art is just
everywhere, how could it not matter?
There are those who delight that we stammer out such responses.
They also happen to be the antagonists on the evening news.
Internationally-celebrated artist Ai Wei Wei grew up during the Cultural Revolu-
tion. In his upcoming documentary, he talks about watching his dad, a former-
ly-renowned poet, scrub toilets for a living.
Those who run oppressive regimes understand, per-
haps better than any of us, the dangerous potential of
imagination to provoke change.
For centuries, creatives toiled under churches and governments, fueling the




,

revolutions and values of others. In contrast, many of us today have unprec-

edented freedom to work to serve our OWN ideals.
Why are so many artists still playing it safe?

Coming from the land of all-nighters and 8-hr studios, Ive found that many
diligent creators carry a strange resistance that has nothing to do with efort or
dedication.
I call it the I just wanna make things, dammit syndrome.
Common Symptoms:
Im just trying to get this idea down on paper! What do you mean I have to
think about engaging people and changing their minds? Isnt that why I need
an agent/gallery/PR department to represent me? Etc etc.
Did I mention this is closely related to starving-artisti-itis and the world isnt
fair virus and marketers suck disease?
To be honest, our need to communicate can suck. Ironi-
cally, we CANT communicate by just being honest...
Facetiousness aside, lets use this book as an example.
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In order to deliver Change Creation to your virtual doorstep without Oprah, big
bucks, or even a college degree to back me up, I launched a blog months in
advance, wrote provocative posts, snagged a snazzy book design (thanks Sh-
enee!), and invented unconventional launch strategies.
Most importantly, I focused on creating in such a way that would en-
gage you, dear reader, using the same strategies Ill be explaining
later on.
This creation was anything but just made, dammit!
Yet instead of empowering creators from a more holistic standpoint, were en-
couraging the exact opposite. On a massive scale.
Are you playing an unconscious role in any of these following campaigns?

1) How were teaching it.

Traditional education systems have been bashed over and over, and I wont
rehash the arguments here. Instead, Ill argue it from another angle that Ive
rarely seen emphasized.
Our philosophy is all about Doing, and were teaching it
to our detriment.

Dont think too much. Just ship. Start now, revise later.
These productivity tips can be terrifcally misleading, because they assume you
have the vision.
Which is fne.
Except I know I didnt. For most of freshman year, I remember being focused
on making things I thought my peers and professors would like. I remember
feeling lost despite getting rave reviews, because I had no idea what I actually
wanted to say.
Yet Ive heard so often that one can only teach the tools and let students prac-
tice. Basically, the argument is that you cant teach people how to
think.
Bullshit.
Why do you think we have so many creative biz consultants rocking the blog
world these days?
Because we realized that anyone with an instruction manual can fgure out how
to work a sewing machine or Wordpress.
But the ability to use tools to translate the intangible creative desire?
What about fguring out what we want to say in the frst place, brainstorming
the right strategies in the right ways, and harnessing the raw excitement of the
idea?
The answers to improved creative thinking are not in our classrooms, but
on websites like White Hot Truth and Self Activator. I wonder if Danielle and
Sinclair realize theyre picking up the education systems slack, helping adults
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who never had their vision facilitated growing up.
OK art school, Im done poking holes in your box. Just remember...
For the uninitated, creative freedom alone is useless.

2) Where were putting it.
Someone, somewhere, once decided that the best way to experience art was
to stand fve inches away, gazing over the velvet rope.
By the same logic I ask, why not stick a math problem on the wall? Why not
conduct a surgical operation in a glass case for spectators? After all, mathema-
ticians and surgeons fnd amazing beauty in their work, and we should cel-
ebrate accordingly, right?
Weve glorifed the mere aesthetics of art to the point
of absurdity.
The most amazing encounters with art rarely happen on a pedestal.
Metaphorically speaking, the same logic applies. Oh, this piece is featured
because its a modern take on ____ or ____ with a twist? You mean we
should worship a piece because it happens to have an obscure relationship
with the romantic past?
For an industry that supposedly champions creativity, the art world is
pretty damn uncreative. Millions of dollars are spent on culture magazines,
galleries, lecture halls, and public initiatives, and end up with...

,
,

Pedestals.
Thanks to the art world, the experience of creative work has become about as
exciting as window-shopping.
Its up to us to change it.

3) Were not talking about it

Creativity matters, creativity is amazing, this study shows that being creative
makes us happier, yay!
The #1 way were letting creativity get away with
mediocrity is that were not really talking about it.
Steven Pressfeld puts it like this in Do The Work: At least twice a week, I
pause in the rush of work and have a meeting with myself. I ask myself again,
of the project: What is this damn thing about?
What is creative pursuit about, at its core?
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We assume people get it, or dont want to step on any toes. Who has the
time to hash out such big abstract ideas, anyway? Then we wonder why big
productions with huge budgets can turn out so poorly. Why months of sweat
and tears churn out a murky vision that no one resonates or buys.
Pressfeld adds: It is pure hell to answer this question.
Thanks, then, for keeping me company in the searing heat!
,
Does art matter because it makes things prettier or more practical?
Looks can be deceiving.
Just examine the prominent faces of art and popular culture. Reality TV shows,
runways, industrial design frms, etc. Not to mention the artists working in the
non-proft sector, or designing buildings pro-bono in poor countries.
These creative careers have established art as pleasing and helpful to the pub-
lic eye. But they havent exposed the true value of creativity, which is all about
messing with peoples minds.
You didnt think Id forget, did ya?
The most impactful kinds of art arent trying to be pretty nor practi-
cal. In fact, theyre thrilled to be unnoticable.

Did you know that artists watch movies diferently?
When Black Swan frst came out, I heard from a friend studying Graphic
Design, who couldnt stop gushing about the PERFECT type of the opening
credits.
Yeah, I dont know about you, but personally, I was way more mesmerized by
Natalie Portmans EXQUISITE dance costumes!
Just kidding. Sort of.
Its pretty amazing how invisible such details are to the non-obsessed. But the
only reason most people would ever notice the type or costume design in a
movie is if it stood out- the exact opposite of what a producer wants. That de-
signer would be fred.
The real point of a movie isnt to show you how beautifully its designed.
Its to immerse you in its experience.
The big creative paradox is that the best physical elements create the most
mental impact. The best flm doesnt feel like a flm, but like emotional reality.
Whats more, emotional reality is what catalyzes change.
Which, by the way, is what messing with peoples minds really means.
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Were actually being messed with all the time.
No, this is not a conspiracy theory. Its life.
Just like suddenly running into your ex-boyfriend on the street, and fnding out
hes gotten married. Or your roommate spilling her glass of water onto your
laptop. In these experiences, we dont think twice about adjusting our emotions
and thoughts to accommodate the situation.

Wait! Read that last sentence again. This is un-freaking-believably important.

Life experiences make us adjust our emotions and
thoughts. A created experience can do the same.
This means that art has the ability, metaphorically-speaking, to transfer ener-
gy. Energy that powers change and makes a diference.
Before we get into the revelatory details, did you know its also why were not
making a diference?

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Charity campaigns. You know the drill:
Photos of orphans with dirt-smudged faces. Video clips of ransacked coun-
trysides. A doe-eyed delegate from the cutest endangered species the email
newsletter writer could fnd.
Two seconds later, I click Delete. Put bluntly, these visuals have lost their pro-
pensity to provoke.
But fortunately for nonprofts, I already know my empathy, because I grew up
reading historical fantasy novels.
A stellar fctive world knocks me straight into the battlefeld of
humanity. Pages full of pain and wonder seize my sympathies, and high-con-
fict scenarios lead me to struggle, at times, with my own ethics and beliefs.
Every time I read, I emerge from the artifcial struggles
with real feelings about the human condition.
Hence, if I ran one of those charity organizations, Id take a literal page out of
Guy Gavriel Kays Tigana, and permanently afx it to the blog header.



,
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Seriously though, nonprofts are simply making the same mistake weve all
made in our own work:
Were expecting people to already care. And if they dont, then weve
lost them.
Wait, you mean, we have to get people to care frst?
Yup.
By creating an entire new... world?
Indeed.
For many of us, were looking at a need for serious innovation and new
strategy. Daunting, I know.
But why wait for someone else to light the world on
fre?

As I write into my twelfth hour, the day closes lazily around me like an eyelid. A
few thousand miles away, Syria is fring on its own people. The world is absurd.
I keep going. What else can I do? What can any of us do?
I cant tell you how often Im tempted to give up on revolutionary cre-
ation. To abandon the potluck of Internet polemics and become a philosophy
scholar, or call my parents and tell them Im done with this blogging thing, Im
joining the Peace Corps.
But what stops me is the feeling of pulling myself out of a novels dream, feel-
ing like Ive had a love afair with someone who didnt even exist, and thinking:
How is it that possible? How did the author do that?
Its as if the fre of being alive is transferred, in some intangible quantity, to an
a fame that would not exist except for the fact that someone lit it.
The price of being an creator in the know is that for as long as you live, you
will be fghting a long, uphill battle to transfer the energy of life...
...and the triumphs will put you ahead of anyone else
trying to change the course of history.
Our ancestors frst made experiences as they shared stories by the fre.
Throughout the centuries, weve created experiences to build trust, to sway
masses, to inspire. Creating experience is the most powerful tool weve ever
had at our disposal.
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Time to turn away from artists for a sec, and zero in on marketers.
Its no economic accident that the most thriving companies on the market are
the ones creating the best user experiences. Theyve simply been messing with
peoples heads...the way weve wanted it all along.
Oh snap. To borrow from Margaret Mead...
Never underestimate the power of leveraging our de-
sire for experience to change the world. Indeed, its the
only thing that ever has.
Dear marketers: Congratulations. Youre brilliant psychologists.
Now can we combine these strategies with our newly uncovered art capabilities
to create some serious impact?

,



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Empowerment > Marketing
Were getting people to CARE
but about what?

Look, if you want to make something happen, just get

an artist and a marketer in the same room.
These days, hybrid felds like User Experience are where its at. Our most cre-
ative graduates arent designing at Martha Stewart or Dior- theyre helping the
hottest new startup create customer-centered oferings.
But we stufed emotional masterpieces into museums, and now were stashing
world-changing strategies behind ad campaigns.
Take Jefs opening quote about clicking ads. Why is this happening? Why do
you need brilliance to direct such a simple action, anyway?
People arent robots. The key to getting anyone to do anything lies in under-
standing and manipulating human motivation.
Which makes these skills incredibly powerful... and incredibly misdi-
rected.
Hiring a UX designer to boost your companys
sales is like hiring a UN peace negotiator to keep
your kids from fghting. Efective, but laughable in
the face of what matters.
Marketing makes the end product, well, the end product.
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But what if we took a diferent approach?
What if innovative communication strategies became more than mere
business tactics?
What if instead of manipulating people, we tapped into the authentic
desire that already exists?
What if in addition to selling products and ideas...
...user experience sold empowerment?

This is where I step out from behind the screen, waving my hands in excite-
ment.
The above ideas are not just impassioned theories.
They have been put into practice time and time again, in all corners of the
globe, by artists and marketers and more. You have been the recipient of their
gifts. Weve all been.
We just havent been talking about it.
The time has come to condense the radical ideas into a

single, tangible entity.

Without further ado, I want to present:
A creative contraption of unfathomable ability...
*Cue curtain.*
A change catalyst built with our bare hands, wound through the ma-
chinery of history, and plugged into the truly renewable energy source
of individual potential...
*Dim lights.*
The miracle in plain sight to which we have borne witness, in both our-
selves and others, but never before spoken of by name...
(Okay look, you guys are totally part of this show.)
*Pulls you all on stage just as the music starts.*
Ladies and gentlemen...The Liberation Experience.
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Thank you, thank you. Its nice to be on stage, no?

Now, what exactly is this liberation experience, what makes it diferent from
all other artistic and marketing strategy that has come before it, and how did I
tease one out of fashion design, of all things?
Most imporantly- how can you perform it your way?
Click here.