April 2023 - Peripheral Thinkers™ Newsletter
April 15, 2023
Aloha Peripheral Thinkers™,
Welcome to the fourth edition of the Peripheral Thinkers™ Newsletter. PTN #004. If this is your first edition or you’ve been here from the start, remember…
This newsletter is for you. To serve you. To inform, challenge, and occasionally entertain you.
If you like it, share it. If you disagree with something, please tell me. If something’s confusing, ask me.
Glad you are here!
🤙🏽 Paul
A Peripheral Perspective: Abstract Art and Business Innovation
I had lunch with my father this weekend. At 84, he is producing some of his best work. Since retiring, he’s been painting more and more. It’s his passion. His calling. And, in my not-so-humble opinion, he is one of the best abstract painters I’ve seen.
Two things contribute to his paintings—established DESIGN ELEMENTS and LIFE.
DESIGN ELEMENTS
There are six elements of art and design:
1. Line
2. Shape/Form (two- & three-dimensional)
3. Value (lightness or darkness)
4. Space (a sense of depth)
5. Color
6. Texture
Stay with me.
I promise this is not an art lesson.
Just setting the stage…
Abstract art requires two basic themes: Harmony and Variety.
Harmony is created with the repetition of an element, like the repetition of a shape. The dominant element in this painting is the square □.
(Apologies to my father for my poor-quality photo. In-person, the images jump off the canvas.)
Variety is also created using the same design elements.
In this painting, variety comes in color, LINE, and texture.
The variety in color is apparent, as are the vertical and horizontal LINES. But notice that not all LINES are the same width and length. Some lines undulate and mirror lines on the opposite side of the painting.
Texture is how things feel or look like they might feel if touched. For example, look in the lower left section of the painting. Find the short squiggly black lines on a tan vertical rectangle. That is one example of texture. It also happens to reside in the area called the Golden Mean. A place where the eyes naturally land before exploring more of the painting.
Proven design elements are used to create harmony and variety.
Still with me?
Cool!
LIFE
Life provides inspiration from emotions and feelings to memories and lessons. My dad takes in all of life to inform what he paints. He is a Peripheral Thinker™.
He was the youngest child of a very poor family. Nevertheless, he found his way to college, married my mom (they’ll celebrate their 65th anniversary this year), started a family, and worked in many professions before landing in Interior Design.
He has seen and experienced a lot in his 84 years, and he draws on those experiences (no pun intended) to feed his art. He is also an avid learner, explorer, and “figure-it-outer.” Dad is a lifelong learner who observes, engages, questions and learns something nearly every day.
His hundreds of paintings—each unique—are an expression of his life’s experiences and lessons, using the elements of good design.
ABSTRACT ART AND BUSINESS INNOVATION
Your business, profession, or craft has specific requirements to be healthy. Finance. Sales. Product development. Client satisfaction.
These are the elements that, when used properly, deliver the desired results day in and day out. Budgets. Onboarding. Reporting. Sales and management systems.
Like design elements, when used in harmony with variety, they produce an expected result…
Until they don’t.
WAIT! WHAT?!?!?!
If these business rules are like those of art and design that haven’t changed, why would they stop producing expected results?
LIFE.
The rules of good design don’t change, but the output continues to evolve—iteration.
And occasionally, the output takes a giant leap forward—innovation.
The rules of good business don’t change…
1. Find a need and fill a need.
2. Care for your employees
3. Focus on customers
4. Set and track goals
5. Communicate
6. Profit
7. Etc.
And occasionally, the speed of business growth changes from iteration (90% of businesses) to innovation (<10% of businesses).
That’s why “LIFE” is so important.
If you ignore what’s going on outside your business and industry… If you don’t actively try new colors, lines, and textures…
You miss the opportunity to innovate.
Your business needs external ideas, perspectives, and approaches from LIFE.
LIFE is your business muse.
Consider every non-business-related experience as a new Line, Shape, Value, Space, Color, or Texture you can apply to your business.
From extraordinary adventures to everyday activities, inspiration is ready, willing, and able.
Right now.
Today.
Everyday!
You’ll recognize this phrase if you’ve followed my posts for even a few weeks.
“Right now, you can access everything you need to achieve anything you can imagine.”
Replace “you” with “I” and write this down.
“Right now, I can access everything I need to achieve anything I can imagine because every day, I experience life.”
Repeat it out loud.
Believe it.
Act on it.
You have much more available to you than you know.
Until next time, I’ll be looking for you in the periphery.
🤙🏽 Mahalo,
Paul
Projects in the Periphery
🤙🏽 Creating a calendar on my website listing speaking gigs and interviews (still in progress)
🤙🏽 Creating an online home for the newsletters (maybe LinkedIn…)
🤙🏽 Applications for the first Peripheral Thinkers™ cohort of business leaders. (in progress)
One More Thing
If you like the newsletter, please invite your friends and colleagues to subscribe. Send them to https://www.pauldanielsjr.com/contact and tell them to enter “PTN” in the comments.
Peripheral Thinking™ Background
What is Peripheral Thinking™?
A little over 10% of the population is born with secret super-skills. While they represent a small percentage of the population, they also represent a disproportionate percentage of notable innovators. From corporate pioneers to scientists to world-class athletes—these leaders raised the bar for their professions and, in some cases, created new industries.
Einstein, Henry Ford, Ann Bancroft (explorer), da Vinci, Edison, Agatha Christie, JFK, Richard Branson, Erin Brockovich, Kobe Bryant, and more.
All innovators.
All Dyslexic.
We’ve cracked the code to these innovative, super-solver, swiss army knife dyslexic brains.
So, I translated the super-skills to support the neurotypical 90%.
In general terms, Peripheral Thinking™ is an unconventional approach to finding seemingly unrelated ideas, principles, and proven solutions and combining them in new ways. It’s a new way of pulling meaning from everyday experiences to expose patterns and hidden paths that move you beyond obstacles. It informs the way you communicate, connect, and empathize with people. It exponentially increases the resources you can tap into at will.
I’ve used/shared it with clients and companies in 31 industries and 27 countries, resulting in, among other things, $2.5 billion in new annual revenue.