Episode 17: Mike Osborne

THE SYNCREATE PODCAST: EMPOWERING CREATIVITY
HOSTED BY MELINDA ROTHOUSE, PHD

WELCOME TO SYNCREATE, WHERE WE EXPLORE THE INTERSECTIONS BETWEEN CREATIVITY, PSYCHOLOGY, AND SPIRITUALITY. OUR GOAL IS TO DEMYSTIFY THE CREATIVE PROCESS, AND EXPAND THE BOUNDARIES OF WHAT IT MEANS TO BE CREATIVE.

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EPISODE 17: CREATIVE COLLABORATION: THE JOY AND THE PAIN
WITH SYNCREATE PODCAST PRODUCER Mike Osborne

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In this final episode of 2023, Melinda and Mike reflect on our collaboration in developing and producing The Syncreate Podcast over the last year, from its ideation phase to the present. We talk about Melinda’s inspiration for the show, some of the myths and stereotypes she’s looking to dispel about creativity, and (now that we can laugh about it) our creative friction in bringing the show to life. We’ve landed in a good place, so it’s all good. But collaboration isn’t always easy, and this episode offers a view behind the curtain into our own creative process, both the joy and the pain.

Mike is the co-creator of the Famous & Gravy podcast, and the Founder of 14th Street Studios in Austin, which he launched to help bring more people into podcasting. He’s a podcast veteran, with over twelve years of experience as a creator. Michael started his first show while working on his PhD in climate science at Stanford. He has three original productions and is involved in a number of ongoing productions.

For our Creativity Pro Tip today, we talked a lot about both discipline and collaboration. So Number One, what is your daily discipline? You know, whenever I work with clients, I encourage them to develop a regular practice. Maybe daily is not realistic, but sitting down and doing your work on a consistent basis allows the muse a place to land. And the second piece is to really think about how you collaborate in your creative work, whatever that looks like. It could be in your family, it could be in your professional life, it could be sports. But what is the quality of collaboration?

Credits: The Syncreate podcast is created and hosted by Melinda Rothouse, and produced at Record ATX studios with in collaboration Michael Osborne and 14th Street Studios in Austin, Texas. Syncreate logo design by Dreux Carpenter. Additional graphic design and video production assistance from Daniel Whiteside.

If you enjoy this episode and want to learn more about the psychology of creativity, you might also like our conversations in Episode 1 on Audio Storytelling with Podcaster and Environmentalist Michael Osborne, PhD, Episode 7: The Syncreate Story with Syncreate Co-Founder Charlotte Gullick, and Episode 10: Imagination and Creativity with Psychologist and Creativity Coach Dr. Diana Rivera.

The Syncreate Podcast is now on Patreon. We’d love your support in continuing to grow the podcast and our Syncreate community. For a small monthly contribution, you’ll receive exclusive content and access, including previews of upcoming episodes, monthly calls with me and more.

EPISODE VIDEO CLIP

EPISODE-SPECIFIC HYPERLINKS

Michael Osborne Website
14th Street Studios
Famous & Gravy Podcast
The Syncreate Book
Syncreate Co-Founder Charlotte Gullick

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Melinda: Welcome to Syncreate a show where we explore the intersections between creativity, psychology, and spirituality. Our goal is to demystify the creative process and expand the boundaries of what it means to be creative. I'm Melinda Rothouse and I help individuals and organizations bring their creative dreams and visions to life.

So today on the show, we're doing something a little different. We're doing is season one recap. We started the show in May and it's now December, and I have Mike Osborne with me today, who's been my audio producer throughout this journey. And quite a journey it's been.

We featured you on the first episode of the show, so feels like we're coming full circle here as we conclude the year and just want to look back on lessons learned, where we started, where we've come to. And I'm going to let you take it from here and turn the tables a little.

Mike: Awesome. I'm excited to do that.

Melinda: Me too.

Mike: I have so many questions for you.

Melinda: Oh boy. Okay. Am I ready for this?

Mike: I think so. No, I actually think this will be fun. I mean, as you said, it's been a real journey. And I don't know, we both, I think, have learned a lot over the last several months about developing a show and thinking about audience, thinking about the experience, thinking about what we can do that's original and unique and cool and fun and all that. And it's a meta that way. I mean, yeah, so like, true to what Syncreate is all about.

Melinda: Totally. What is our creative process? Yeah.

Mike: Yeah, exactly. And I'm hoping we can get into that a little bit. Yes. So here's where I thought we might start. You said a moment ago, as you say on every show, we explore the intersections between creativity, psychology and spirituality. We view creativity broadly, and one of our primary goals is to demystify the creative process while expanding the boundaries of what it means to be creative. There's a lot going on in those sentences, and I think I'd like to hear you elaborate on some of those ideas. And I think by asking that question, I'm hoping to try and get at, you know, the why of the show a little bit because, you know, there there's a lot packed in there. So tell me about those sentences and talk to me a little bit about the why of the show.

Melinda: Yeah. So when I first began to envision this show, it was during the pandemic when we were all sort of in quarantine and on Zoom. And, you know, I sort of had this initial spark of inspiration to really explore creativity and psychology (and spirituality) on a deeper level. But I really see that as kind of my happy triangle personally. The things that I'm most interested in and passionate about, you know, creativity is kind of my lifeblood. It's what I do personally and professionally. And it's a way that I've found to weave all the different strands of my life together. And of course, you know, I did my doctorate in psychology with a focus on creativity and, you know, I also am very much on a spiritual path myself personally around mindfulness, particularly.

But, you know, I have a background in religious studies. I've studied many of the world's religious traditions, and I have a deep respect for, you know, questions of spirituality and how that informs people's lives. So those are that's why those three things. And then, you know, one of the things around creativity is that, you know, to demystify and expand the boundaries, because I think there's this misconception that only certain people are creative.

Mike: Yeah.

Melinda: That it's only artists or only, you know, well-known people. And I'm a big believer in everyday creativity, which we talk about in creativity studies, which is, you know, I personally believe we're all creative. We all have that innate capacity as human beings. We are problem solvers. We're constantly coming up with new ways of doing things and solving everyday problems in the context of our lives.

We just talked about that in the episode that came out today with Robert Cleve [Episode 16]. It's like, you know, when we were in quarantine, how we were figuring out how to just navigate our lives in that new context. That's creative.

Mike: Yeah, I mean, I think what I hear in that answer is that actually these two sentences are linked, like they should be back to back, right?

Melinda: Yes, yes. Yeah.

Mike: That psychology is the study of the mind. You know, however that's approached, and what's going on inside between our ears, or wherever the mind resides. Spirituality, I think, is some sort of, you know, pursuit. But I do personally understand that to be, I mean, it is internal, but it is also, I don't know, sort of community / externally oriented and making sense of the world, making sense of other people, making sense of the mysteries of the universe and the powers of the universe.

And at some intersection of those is creativity. But I think that there is this, you know, question that your show is interested in, that you are interested in, of where does that creativity emerge? Right? And so I think that's part of it. I think that's part of why I wanted to ask that question is because I really like that that is the motivation and spirit and why of your show, you know, is a kind of like where does creativity come from?

And the second part is how do we define it? And I think that demystified piece has a little bit of the you know, there are misunderstandings about it. There's a misunderstanding about what it means to be creative, who has creativity, how we define it. So I, you know, I think I'm satisfied with that. But I mean, I guess I also, you know, let's talk about the demystification piece a little bit more. I mean, is it your experience that that there are fundamental misunderstandings around creativity?

Melinda: Absolutely. There's the myth of the solitary artist, that were working somehow in isolation, when the truth is, while we might be working solo in certain contexts as writers or whatever, but we're all interconnected in all these profound ways. Our ideas don't come from nowhere. We take inspiration from other people from the world, often in our creative work, we're collaborating.

There's also this myth of sort of, you know, mental illness and creativity, right? You know, and that creativity, you know, inspiration strikes or it doesn't, right? Either you are feeling the creative flow or you're not. And it's like, well, actually discipline is a huge part of it. Sitting down on a regular basis to do your work. You know, the muse is more likely to come if you set up the conditions for it to arrive, right?

Mike: Yeah. Do you find that that you fall prey to those mythologies too? Like, well, as you're talking about it, I was thinking, and just to throw the question back on myself, like, I know what you mean, that there is this myth of tortured mind, tortured soul, and a, kind-of like, struggling artist kind of, I don't know, mind's eye image of what that means. And in my own creative work, I know that to be bullshit. Right?

Melinda: Right.

Mike: But it's funny. But it still can have hidden power, so. I don't know. I mean, do you find that you yourself can fall prey to those myths at times, or are you (I don't know), are you really vigilant about how those mythologies and tropes or framings can show up for people?

Melinda: Yeah, well, I think, and when I coach people and creativity and writing, you know, there's no one way to do things. And we all think differently. Some of us are more visual, some of us are more auditory. So I don't tell people like, here's how you have to do it. I tell people, find the way that works for you and do that, right?

So for me personally, I think I am sort of blessed in a way to have a pretty good balance of left brain right brain functioning, meaning: I can get into a creative flow state and an ideation state, but I can also follow through, and make a list, and knock things out and get things done. You know, sometimes people ask me like, how do you do everything you do?

And I'm kind of like, I'm not really sure, but somehow it happens. You know, I'm not super disciplined. Yeah, I don't sit down at the same time every day. And like, right now I'm working on three different musical projects with different collaborators. I'm writing an academic article, I'm writing a book, I'm doing this podcast, and I find the time. I take breaks. You know, I ran out to the drugstore the other day and I ran into someone I knew and they were like, “Aren't you working today?”

And I'm like, “Well, I'm always working, but I take breaks.” You know, and that's just my, I'm not super structured or disciplined in terms of like having a really rigid time schedule, but I'm disciplined in that I get it done one way or another.

Mike: Well, and my impression is that your disciplined about your mindfulness and about your spiritual practice. I don't know exactly what that looks like, if you meditate at a certain time every day?

Melinda: Every morning.

Mike: I mean, well, so to me, the discipline, that's where the discipline originates. You know, it is inside.

Melinda: It's a good foundation to start the day off.

Mike: Totally. Because then, you know, am I in a flow state? Am I not being productive? What I need to do for me? Like, I think that, you know, start within and build from there.

Melinda: Yeah.

Mike: All right. I want to talk about the journey of this show a little bit.

Melinda: Yes, let's get into it.

Mike: So in my experience, anybody who's ever come to me and said, I'm interested in a podcast or I'm interested in a show, there's always something of a creative chasm. There's what you have in your mind; there's the idea, the vision of: this is how I think it's going to go, and then there's what actually happens. I think you've closed that chasm over the course of the year and as long as we've been working together, but I don't know. Has that been your experience, Was that chasm there? And like talk to me a little bit about how you thought it was going to be and what actually happened?

Melinda: Yeah, that's a great question. And I think you're right. You know, any time we create anything, we first have to envision it. We talked about this in the episode on imagination [Episode with 10] with Diana Rivera. You first have to be able to visualize or imagine, and then you have to bring it into being.

Mike: Yeah,

Melinda: Right? And that's almost in some way like a magical, mystical process. And it’s not; it's very concrete and tangible. But, you know, I had this idea I've been talking to you about possibly doing a podcast for years, and I had different ideas for what it could look like or focus on. And then, you know, we started working together and I think you're right, you know, I almost see it as like we kind of started out in this place; we diverged; and now we’ve converged again.

Mike: Yeah.

Melinda: You know, in terms of how we've collaborated. But I feel good about it and I do feel like I've closed the gap. I mean, I feel like I'm having the conversations I want to have, and exploring the topics I want to explore.

Mike: I think that's the question, you know, I mean, I've really come around to this idea lately, you know, when anybody becomes a creator, audio, video or whatever, there's this, we want to have audiences, we want to build an audience.

And I've been doing a reframe in my mind lately around, I think it's about community, which, you know, the difference between a community and an audience may be semantic, right? Like, but I think that it's about relational wealth and it's about connecting with people and it's about, you know, I'm curious about you and I want to know more about you and the time we've allotted to talk about this into microphones and cameras.

So I guess, you know, maybe this is leading a little bit much, but have there been benefits of this that you didn't expect of there have been. Is there anything about becoming a creator and a host that, you know, is sort of like--I didn't I mean, we can talk about the challenges first, if you'd rather--but I don't know, I'm kind of wanting to get out a little bit more of what was unexpected or surprising and the experience so far.

Melinda: Yeah, well, you know, I think the podcast for me personally has brought together a lot of ways in which I've studied and trained over the years, and it's kind of brought them together in a really beautiful way. You know, my studies of psychology and creativity, and spirituality, my experiences as a teacher and professor, as a musician and performer, you know, it's all kind of, you know, coalesced in a different way than anything I've done before.

But I don't know, just even when I had this kind of first spark of an idea, it just felt like it had some life to it.

Mike: Yeah. No, that's interesting. I mean, I that makes sense that it's calling forth different parts of your history and different parts of your mind, your brain, your training, your experience, and, it's different for every conversation because it’s kind of like, you know what to use here. What of your history is most relevant in any exploration or conversation or story.

All right, I feel like you're chomping at the bit to want to talk about our tensions along the way. So I don't even know how to ask this question. But you and I, you know, we had some really, I think in retrospect, I call them very healthy disagreements, and I don't even know if disagreements is the right word, but there was some tense moments over the last year, and there are some confounding factors in that. I don't know, how would you tell that story? How would you describe, you know, our dialogue, and how you know, what happened.

Melinda: Yeah, Well, and I want to preface this by saying I think it's important that we're having this conversation. Yeah, because I love collaboration. I think it creates a synergy. It's in our name, Syncreate: synergy and co-creation. All about collaboration. It is not always easy.

Mike: I agree.

Melinda: There are creative tensions and conflicts and I think there's, you know, that can be healthy and productive up to a point. And then, you know, bands break up all the time because of that sort of thing or whatever it is, you know, partnerships end, and things like that.

Mike: And it's sort of hard to know when you've crossed that line. I think sometimes. Like is this generative or is there still enough of a shared vision or humility or whatever those qualities are that allow people to collaborate.

Melinda: Yeah, exactly. So, you know, I think.

Mike: Good preface.

Melinda: Yeah, I had this idea and I knew you to be a person who is very experienced with hosting and creating and producing podcasts. You have a really awesome show right now, Famous and Gravy.

Mike: Thank you. The title may change by the time this comes out.

Melinda: Well, you know, we're all in transition, right? It's all a work in progress. But, you know, I, felt like you were a great person to help me bring this to life. You know, as you've described, you're a bit of an audio purist.

Mike: Yeah.

Melinda: And, you know, the shows that you've developed and created in the past had a little bit more of that, maybe academic, and sort of public radio-ish, which is also kind of a reference point I'm coming from. But I really wanted to do video. Yeah, it was really important to me to do video. And that was a source of tension between us.

Mike: Yes, it still is. I had to shower before this today.

Melinda: What, a shower?

Mike: Yeah, exactly. I’m used to showing up in a hoodie...No, I mean, you know, from my perspective and I think I'm glad you pushed me into video creation to some extent. I still feel like where I can offer the most value is in an audio experience. And it's not that I'm not a fan of video, it's that I haven't been a student of it, that I and I didn't realize this. I couldn't have put this into these words until you and I really got into it. That I've studied audio, like I have really spent time paying attention to the aesthetics and the nuances and the subtleties. And when does a song fade up and do you leave in a pause here and how is a question asked? And like, what makes it compelling?

And I still largely view myself that way But, and so it's not, you know, it's not that there's no place for a video in my world, but it's that it was something you really wanted to do. And I felt out of my depth. And I think, you know, I could say you encouraged me or pushed me or, you know, but I and I'm glad we did. I'm glad we did. One: It's practical. That's the way the world's going. But it's forced me to think about, I guess historically I've really thought about the differences between audio and video, as it relates to audience, and now I'm in a different place with that. Now I'm actually really thinking about similarities between audio and video, and I think that's a good frame for me to be in.

I have a different sort of perspective on it. I mean, I think, you know, you went to the audio video conversation, right?

Melinda: Yeah.

Mike: That's not the only it's not the only tension point we had. I think another one, and this is actually, I don't think there was as much disagreement as just we didn't exactly know where to go. I think scope has been something that we struggled with. Right. And it makes sense. You're talking to really remarkable, interesting people who have made oftentimes careers as creatives and that, you know, not to fall back on any kind of trope or mythology or anything.

But I think that that, you know, they've had life journeys that brought them to that point. Right. And they've learned lessons and have wisdom. And there's like all this story there that we want to get into. For me, one of the big shifts in your show came somewhere around episode 10 or 11. I forget exactly where we kind of, I don't know, began to think about things differently, but I started encouraging you to focus less on the biographical information of the guests, and more on their creative process, in some sense, whether it's starting with a particular piece of art and, you know, how you experience it, or how something came to be.

Melinda: Yes.

Mike: And I'm going to continue to encourage you in that direction.

Melinda: And that's been a great, you know, once we kind of landed on that.

Mike: I’m curious, was this good?

Melinda: Yeah, super helpful. Super helpful. You know, in the beginning I was learning how to be a host and learning, you know, how to ask the questions. And I was focusing more on the bio and the background and, you know, tell me about your life, and you really pushed me to narrow that focus. And I think that was helpful. And, you know, ironically, in the beginning, I was like preparing so much. And I still prepare, but then like, I kind of throw that away and I just try to come in and be more spontaneous and really have the conversation. Because I want it to not just be like an interview, I want it to be a dialogue.

Mike: Yeah, well, and I mean, I think one of the things I've argued as we've looked at approach, and how you approach conversations, is that you will still get biographical information.

Melinda: Yeah, totally.

Mike: We'll still learn about it as a sort-of inevitable byproduct, I guess. I'm wondering, you said, “Totally.” Is that true, that definitely bearing out? I mean, do you walk away from some of these conversations like, man, I could just sit with that person all day, I mean.

Melinda: Oh, for sure. I mean, we recorded a couple of sessions yesterday and, you know, I have one that'll be coming out in in January with three guests. So the first time I've had more than one guest and, you know, we were all sitting in this room and, you know, that hour went by and it was like, is it over already? We just barely scratched the surface. There's so much more to talk about here. And, you know, we talked about like we need to do this again. We need to have a Part 2; this could be a whole series unto itself.

Mike: Yeah, I think it's always going to remain a hard question. And I think part of it is, one of the things I really admire about you and about your show, is the community you inhabit. I mean, you really are, I don't know, in relationship with a very diverse and interesting set of people. And there is a, sort-of like, desire to show them off to the world, right. And to your audience and show how you built that and how others can belong in that. And I think like, you know, creating that sense of belonging, I don't know. That seems like it seems like also part of this spirituality piece that you talk about at the beginning of any episode.

Melinda: That's super important. And Charlotte [Episode 7], my business partner in Syncreate, we're working on a book, our second book, Creating in Community, and it's all about that idea, right?

Mike: Yeah, that makes sense. Let me ask this question about the show. Is there more you want to talk about in terms of our creative tension?

Melinda: Well, I do want to come back for a moment to scope. Okay, because we did have some conversations about that.

Mike: We did.

Melinda: And you know, I am trying to present a range of what creativity can look like and what forms it can take. And you know, you were definitely encouraging me to focus more. And I think we found a pretty good middle ground with that. But, you know, there's always this argument like, well, you got to just find your niche, and you just got to stay there and focus there. And you know, you see that in marketing, you see that in academia.

You know, you just got to hyper specialize in this one tiny little area of one little field. And, you know, I see myself as a creative polymath. We talked about that concept in Episode 3 with Michael Walker, and I think a lot of creative people tend not to focus only in one area. They tend to have interests in a range of areas, and those interests feed each other and inform each other.

Like the classic example, you know, Einstein apparently came up with a theory of relativity while playing piano. You know, and so I kind of push back. But people are telling me all the time, you got to focus, you got to specialize, you got to find your niche. And yet I was talking with someone last night, one of my musical collaborators who's, you know, been a big supporter of the show.

And he was like, I love that about your show, because, you know, there's so many shows where, you know, you tune in, they're great podcasts, they're great shows, whatever. But like every time you tune in, you kind of know what you're going to get. And with your show, there's like something different, something new. And so, you know, I don't know, maybe I'll die on that sword but…

Mike: Well, I'm actually not so sure that that's a disagreement we have. I think that there's a difference between, because for me, like breadth exists in specificity, that by drilling down and (I think this is my background as an Earth scientist). This is this is going to be a super weird analogy, but I'll offer it up. You know, I was a geologist by training, and one of the things about geology is that you're dealing with incredible timescales. And I remember I was interviewing a geologist once, and he was telling a story about how he was looking at this, god, bryozoan or something, from the Paleozoic. I don't know, it was like 250 million years ago and he was looking at it was like a shell.

And he could see this little crustacean of some organism and another one right next to it. And he was like, these two little guys were competing against each other. And that competition probably played out over the course of a few days and a few hours. But that was 250 million years ago. And there was something about honing in on that really, really, really tiny, you know, a few days ago, but 250, where for a minute I was like, my god, there's so much time in the world. There's so much.

And that's kind of what I mean. I think that like by honing in on, you know, when did you hit that perfect note in this song? When did you come up with that right word and this bit of poetry, How did you, you know, find, this angle on a building as an architect that that just made the whole thing somehow breathe. I mean, that idea, that philosophy, is something that I think orbits your show, and that's part of what I want you to get into. But I also think that by going that narrow, you do expose the world and you do expose, you know, the breadth of creativity, the complexity of creativity, the multifaceted streams of creativity.

So I'm not sure we're talking about two different things. Maybe we are, but I don't know. This is this is the nature of it, right? I mean, and I think that all of that, you know, my number one obligation is always to the audience. Are they learning something about themselves? Are they learning something about their aspirations as creatives, how one gets there, and who can they relate to?

And I think, again, you have incredible skills in terms of showing the diversity of not just people, but those experiences, and the creative process. So, I don't know. We'll keep talking about it. I don't know. I don't know if we could try and hash it out now or we could save it for another conversation. I have one more question for you.

Melinda: Okay.

Mike: How do you define success going forward? What is success for you in the show?

Melinda: Yeah, that's a great question. I want to engage people. I hope people will embrace their own creativity, whether they consider themselves to be artists or just people going about their daily lives, that they'll have a deeper, and wider, understanding of what creativity is. It's so funny, I was talking with my friend Daniel the other night, and we were like looking up like, what's trending in creativity on Google? And the number one question is “What is creativity?”

People want to know: What is creativity? I'm not sure on the show we've ever actually defined it. Yeah, but, you know, scholars traditionally say that creativity, in order for something to be creative, it needs to be both novel and useful. It needs to be something that hasn't been done before, and something that actually solves a tangible problem. Now, you could argue like a piece of art, like how is it useful? Maybe it's useful in, you know, expanding possibilities. Or whatever.

And I see creativity more broadly than that, you know, that we're all using it all the time, that we use it to make meaning of our experiences, that we use it to kind of enrich our lives.

Mike: You're expanding the boundaries of what it means to be creative.

Melinda: See?

Mike: That's exactly what I wanted to do with this conversation, is bring it full circle. I think that's success. And you know what I didn't hear and that is I want to, you know, have a million followers, you know?

Melinda: I mean, that that wouldn't hurt.

Mike: Sure. But I think the mission and vision is the first thing. And I think you've really embraced the idea of podcast creation as a learning journey, and podcast creation as an act of creative self-love. And I'm really proud of you. I'm really proud of you, and I'm really glad we've gone on this journey so far together. And I'm excited to keep on it.

Melinda: Same here. And I really, I do feel like we've both, our friction, you know, our creative friction, I think it has helped both of us to grow.

Mike: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Goddamn right.

Melinda: Yeah, so I'm pleased that we've gotten to this place, because there were some tears.

Mike: Yeah, there were tears.

Melinda: There were some arguments.

Mike: I cried.

Melinda: You know? I cried.

Mike: I might’ve turned the camera off, but I cried. Yeah. No, but I mean, that's as you said. I mean, I think there's enough been enough shared vision along the way to get through that.

Melinda: Yeah. And I really appreciate you. I think another thing I want to add is that, you know, I sometimes felt like you had this level of expectation or perfectionism, perhaps, that--

Mike: How dare you?

Melinda: Right, I know. There's nothing wrong with wanting it to be great. But, you know, I felt sometimes you were a bit critical or whatever. I wanted to hear more of the positive feedback as well as the constructive feedback or whatever. But I think you really did push me, you know, to--a lot of people start a podcast in their closet--and, you know, I've heard people say, well, you know, the production values don't really matter as long as your content is good. And, you know, I think it needs to be both, at least in my opinion.

Mike: I'm a snob, I guess. And a perfectionist.

Melinda: But yeah, but, you know, I think you have really pushed me to a place that I'm really happy with, so I appreciate that.

Mike: You're welcome. Thanks for inviting me on the journey.

Melinda: Absolutely. Thank you.

So for Creativity Pro Tip today, we've talked a lot about both discipline and collaboration. So this one you get a two for one. So Number One, what is your daily discipline? You know, whenever I work with clients, I encourage them to develop a regular practice. Maybe daily is not realistic, but sitting down and doing your work on a consistent basis, again, it allows the muse a place to land, right? So that's the first piece.

And the second piece is to really think about: How are you collaborating in your creative work, whatever that looks like, you know, could be in your family, it could be in your professional life, it could be sports, whatever it is. But what is the quality of collaboration?

And actually, I was just talking again with someone last night who teaches a course that includes collaboration. And basically he was saying that collaboration is a combination of absolute transparency in communication, asking for what you need, and sharing resources. So I think that's a great one. Thanks to Randy Langford for that one.

At Syncreate, we're here to support your creative endeavors. So if you have an idea for a project or a new venture and you'd like our help, please reach out to us for 1x1 coaching or join our Syncreate Six-Month Coaching Group, starting in April of 2024. We'll be guiding you through the creative process from start to finish, using our Syncreate model of Play, Plan and Produce, as we describe in our book.

And then one final plug. We are now on Patreon, so love your support in continuing to grow and develop the show.

So we're recording today at Record ATX Studios in Austin, Texas. Thanks to the team here for all your support and of course, to Mike Osborne, our guest for today and my audio producer, for all of your help and guidance and vision in bringing the show to life.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​THE SYNCREATE PODCAST: EMPOWERING CREATIVITY