Imagination First

ERIC LIU is at the New America Foundation and writes for Slate magazine. He is the author of Guiding Lights and The Accidental Asian, a New York Times notable book featured in the PBS documentary Matters of Race. Eric served as a speechwriter for President Clinton in the first term and as White House deputy domestic policy advisor in the second. After the White House, he was an executive at the digital media company RealNetworks. A frequent commentator on CNN, CNBC, and MSNBC, Eric is one of GQ magazine's "Pundits We Like" and was cited by A. Magazine a one of the national's 25 most influential Asian Americans. In 2002, he was named by the World Economic Forum one of the 100 "Global Leaders of Tomorrow." He lives with his family in Seattle, where he hosts a local NPR interview show called, "The Power of Voice" and teaches at the University of Washington's Evans School of Public Affairs. Eric speaks regularly at conferences and campuses around the country. SCOTT NOPPE-BRANDON is executive director of Lincoln Center Institute (LCI), an arts and education organization where students learn about and through the arts by focusing on works of art, including performing and visual arts, and architecture. LCI's principles support learning across the curriculum. The Institute works in partnership with pre-K through grade twelve educators and degree-granting teacher education programs, and provides numerous professional development opportunities. Founded in 1975, the Institute is the educational cornerstone of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc, and a global leader in education and the arts. Since its inception, it has reached over 3 million students and some 50,000 educators.

• Acknowledgments xi Lincoln Center Institute xvThe Authors xixPart One • The Premise 1Introduction 2What, Why, and How 18Part Two • The Practices 41Practice 1 • Make Mist 42Ready, get still, goPractice 2 • Leave the Campfire 46Know your enemy: it is you, scaredPractice 3 • Flip What’s Foolish 52Practice 4 • Make Way for Awe 58Nurture humility and the wonder that comes with itPractice 5 • Reinvent the Wheel 64Be willing to give back the givensPractice 6 • Think Inside the Box 68Make greedy, grateful use of limitsPractice 7 • Hoard Bits 74Collect obsessively; sift; trust that the right bits will emergePractice 8 • Mix Your Metaphors 80Change the metaphors that frame your realityPractice 9 • Renew Your Narrative 84Ask whether your story still serves youPractice 10 • Untie Your Tongue 90Talk about your work with someone who doesn't understand itPractice 11 • Swap Bodies 94Lose yourself in a rolePractice 12 • Make a Gap 100Obscure part of the picturePractice 12.5 • Finish the Story 106Make the ending open-endedPractice 13 • Chunk It 108Show how small it all startsPractice 14 • Don't Blink 114Snap in slow motion; see how you get primed for decisionPractice 15 • Cloud Appreciation 118Search out ambiguity and sit with itPractice 16 • Spotlight Off, Lantern On 124Trade sharp focus for full-field awarenessPractice 17 • Play Telephone 128Engage in meaning-launderingPractice 18 • Help Out a Boobonian 132Make every task a questPractice 19 • Teach Nonzero Math 138Expand the pie before dividing itPractice 20 • Microexperiment 142Test your hunches playfullyPractice 21 • Rewrite History 146Turn "what would've been" into "what could be"Practice 22 • Design for the Hallway 152Let informal spaces thrivePractice 23 • Routinize Randomness 158Regularly rinse out expectationsPractice 24 • Ride the z-axis 164Find elemental forms, then play with scalePractice 25 • Challenge Your Challenges 170Find better problemsPractice 26 • Break the Hand 176Unschool yourself periodicallyPractice 27 • Yes and ... 180Never say no to an ideaPractice 28 • Fail Well 186Treat failure like a skillPractice X • Make Up Your Own 192Part Three • The Purposes 197Conclusion 199For Further Exploration 213Index 237