Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity

Ignore Everybody is two things in one. First, it's a series of tips designed to turn creatives into artists. Second, it's a collection of Hugh's best cartoons. While some of the cartoons do support the text, I'm going to review the cartoons and the text separately because they really do stand on their own. ===THE BOOK=== What separates a writer from an author? A rower from an oarsman? A comedian from a humorist? Greatness in any field comes from taking a novel idea and pushing it to its logical conclusion, redefining the medium in the process. Hugh doesn't teach you how to come up with your big idea, nor is the book a collection of theories on what makes something innovative. Rather, Hugh's rules teach a mindset conducive to pushing great ideas to their logical conclusions. This book won't teach you how to paint, but if you're lucky you'll come away with the mental frame you need to avoid having the outside world crush your creativity. And if you really take its lessons to heart then hopefully, in the words of Steve Jobs, you'll ship. Over the years I've sent the blog post that inspired this book to countless friends, and now that I've read the book itself I can't recommend it enough. I'd consider it a must-read for any creative who aspires to be an artist, not just some guy who lives in a loft and calls himself a writer. But even if you don't aspire to become an artist, the book still has much to offer. In Hugh's own words, "This book is about becoming more 'creative' in one's work, whoever you may be. Or just useful advice for any one who aspires to undertake some creative or artistic journey." ===THE CARTOONS=== While reading Ignore Everybody, one gets the sense that Hugh MacLeod would be far happier if only he were a little less intelligent. The existentially depressed cynic to Woody Allen's bumbling neurotic, the Hugh MacLeod character is sort of a cross between Dostoevsky and George Carlin.[1] That is, the cartoons are really a collection of observations about people, their motivations, and the shallowness and meaninglessness of the human condition. So, is Hugh truly an artist, someone who has pushed the medium forward? Yes. Two reasons: 1) Hugh is the only cartoonist that's figured out a way to draw his characters in a way that really lets you see into their souls. Hugh manages to nail the platonic ideals of the ditzy blonde, the pretending-to-be-an-artist-to-pick-up-girls guy, the too-full-of-himself corporate a**hole, etc. Considering that his cartoons are really only simple line drawings, it's amazing how well he's able to convey the characters' posture, dress, facial expression, body language, etc. You can tell exactly what the character is like as an entire person just by looking at them, even if you cover up the text. Open up the Sunday comics and it quickly becomes clear that no other cartoonist can do this. 2) Hugh's second trademark is being able to write the one sentence that sums up the character's entire existence. Man: "I can't decide what I want to be: A millionaire or an artist." Woman: "Can't you just compromise? Become a millionaire artist or something..." Viewed through the lens of the art, the human existence is nothing more than posturing and superficiality. Does Hugh actually believe this? He says, "I don't necessarily find the human condition shallow and meaningless per se. Just our egos and pride sometimes force us to act like it is. I think we're all strive to find meaning in life, we just don't always elect to take the high road when doing so; we're often far too willing to look for shortcuts." All in all, this is a book that will change the way you think. In a good way. A very good way.

WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THE BOOK MacLeod starts off with a bang. In the first chapter, he says "The more original your idea, the less good advice other people will be able to give you" (p. 1) and "a big idea will change you" (p. 2). I was hooked from that moment. I've been breaking new ground in educational leadership academe for years now and have consistently found that the vast majority of my peers don't have much to offer me in terms of insight or direction. I don't know where all of this "social media and tribe building as an alternative to traditional measures of success for research faculty" stuff is going to go. But it sure is an interesting ride. And MacLeod is correct - it has changed my thinking substantially. Each chapter is short. Just enough to give you some context and get you thinking about your life and your job. And think you will... MacLeod is a popular cartoonist. He punctuates his writing with some of his art. Awesome. KEY QUOTES Here are a few key quotes: "Good ideas alter the power balance in relationships. That is why good ideas are always initially resisted." (p. 2) Boy, I've lived this one several hundred times over the past few years. Either I'm ahead of my time (in my field) or I'm completely insane. Time will tell! AND "Your wee [creative] voice came back because your soul somehow depends on it. There's something you haven't said, something you haven't done, some light that needs to be switched on, and it needs to be taken care of. Now. So you have to listen to the wee voice or it will die ... taking a big chunk of you along with it." (p. 28) The peer-review publication paradigm - where your writing goes in places that educators never visit - never made a lot of sense to me. Blogging and other social media have given me different outlets and a different voice. And I'm much, much happier for it. My wee voice was crying out for something different. I just didn't know it. AND "Don't make excuses. Just shut the [heck] up and get on with it." (p. 82) AND "The ease with which a blog (or whatever social medium you prefer) can circumvent the gatekeepers is staggering." (p. 140) QUESTIONS I HAVE AFTER READING THIS BOOK 1. Am I brave enough to never publish a peer-reviewed article again? 2. Is there enough space in my day job as a professor to accommodate my non-peer-review writing and social media passions? 3. What should I be working on next? Where do I want to go and what do I want to be doing in 5 years? 4. How do I reach school leaders when most are not yet active in social media? 5. How many graduating high school seniors can I give this book to before a parent complains about the language (some of which is a bit crude)? RATING I give this book 5 stars to reflect a) the amount of yellow ink in my copy, and b) the affirmation of much of what I believe (or would like to believe) about myself and my work. Extra credit for the author's last name! ** See my other reviews and recommended reading suggestions at my blog, Dangerously Irrelevant.

Hugh MacLeod doesn't attract READERS with his short book on creativity entitled Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity. He attracts USERS. Reading Ignore Everybody is akin to having a few beers with an interesting, worldwise stranger. Time passes quickly. Streams of consciousness weave into philosophy. Secrets of the universe are scribbled on the back of napkins -- or, in this case, business cards. One of the central themes of MacLeod's book, and lifestyle, is to explore the possibility of balance -- feeding the need to be uncompromisingly creative, while at the same time feeding your family. In Hugh's world -- the real world -- it's possible for anyone (everyone?) to be uniquely creative. It's less possible, in his words, for people to dedicate their life solely to their creativity -- without making the kinds of compromises that lubricate a slipperly downward slope. That's the jist. [...]

This book contains some valuable universal truths presented in an interesting way. I would classify it at as a "Leadership Lite" book worthy of downloading to your Kindle or stashed in your briefcase to be read on an airplane. I love "fun to read" leadership books versus the "utilitarian", "old fogy" "Harvard Business Review" style and this book is fun to read. I still read the utilitarian books...I just suffer through them. What makes this book good is the stories to illustrate points are the author's own. Here are my top eight takeaways from Ignore Everybody. 1. The more original your idea is, the less good advice people will be able to give you. 2. Good ideas alter the power balance in relationships that is why good ideas are always initially resisted. 3. Your idea doesn't have to be big. It just has to be alone. The more the idea is yours alone, the more freedom you have to do something really amazing. 4. The price of being a sheep is boredom. The price of being a wolf is loneliness. Choose one or the other with great care. 5. Being good at anything is like figure skating - the definition of being good at it is being able to make it look easy. But it never is easy. Ever. That is what the stupidly wrong people conveniently forget. 6. Your job is probably worth 50 percent of what it was in real terms ten years ago. And who knows? It may very well not exist in five to ten years...Stop worrying about technology. Start worrying about people who trust you. 7. Part of being a master is learning to sing in nobody else's voice but your own...Put your whole self into it, and you will find your true voice. Hold back and you won't. Its that simple. 8. The biggest mistake young people make is underestimating how competitive the world is out there. I recommend this book with one reservation. The captions in the cartoons are racy to say the least and not suited for the corporate environment or youthful readers. If the racy cartoons were toned down or removed I would have immediately sent a copy of this book to all of my clients. If they were toned down or removed it wouldn't be Hugh MacLeod's style either. So my clients will have to buy this book themselves. Dr. James T. Brown PMP PE CSP Author, The Handbook of Program Management

I appreciated this book for what it was: A book to continue to push you to do something unique in the new economy. Hugh did a good job of making his points and with a healthy dose of humor and sarcasm - a good blend. One side note Hugh did seem to have a lot of comics about being rejected by women, perhaps a theme for him? I would recommend this book to anyone in the business world, or anyone who deals with marketing Good quick read.

I made "Ignore Everybody" my first (and so far, only) purchase for my iPhone Kindle app because I didn't want to wait for the print version to ship to me before I could read it. The author more than repaid my eagerness by producing a work that deserves to take first-rank among the raft of chase your dream/follow your heart/leave the cubicle behind books out there ... precisely because it is so different from all of them. Hugh MacLeod doesn't pull many punches in his writing or his art, but that's because he wants people who feel the pull of creativity within themselves to know what they're getting into. In some ways, creativity sucks. If you feel the urge to write, paint, knit, build furniture, make movies, or whatever other form your inspiration takes, Hugh wants you to know it's going to keep burning within you until you allow it its freedom or, otherwise, turn into a burned-out husk. At the same time, Hugh isn't telling you to quit your day job and dance off toward the horizon. Exactly the opposite, in fact. His splash-of-cold-water message is that you need simultaneously to figure out how to avoid crowds, recognize what you're willing to do and what you're not, and work hard-hard-hard to develop your skills. Lately, Hugh has been writing of his cartoons as "cube grenades" -- "social objects" displayed in office cubicles that can shake up mindsets and start personal interactions in a way "Dilbert" cartoons, say, never quite do. That's certainly been true in my own experience with more than one of his designs, while I have also adopted the cartoon with the saying that begins "Quality is not job one" as a bit of inspirational branding as I think about work and career choices. It certainly beats "There's no 'I' in 'team.'" I've read a number of books about creativity and design lately, and "Ignore Everybody" is by a long stretch the most memorable and, frankly, the most useful. It's also the most unsettling, the most personally challenging, and the most inspirational. I may well end up buying the print version too, just to have it more easily accessible. If you suspect you have even a flickering spark of creative energy somewhere inside you, read this book and give it some serious thought. Deceptively simple drawings on the backs of business cards can pack a surprising punch.

Just read this book on the kindle and i must say-this is one incredibly funny and biting book. Sharp. Intense. Comic realism mixed with a keen savvy & cynical attitude one could only acquire from the hard knocks of two of the worlds toughest trades-advertising and cartoons. Author Hugh Macleod, the mad genius behind the gapingvoid online comic blog lays out some 'gather round the campfire wisdom' for those yearning for a kick in the creative pants. What he delivers is a masterful page turner that had me saying at the end of a cover to cover one sitting read...MORE, MORE! This book is so in touch with the times that it's scary funny. On target. Smart. Cynical. Full of wisdom dispensed with an attitude that feels at times amazing, at times depressing, at times just off the wall funny. Surprising in it's starkness, honesty, originality and attitude. Hilarious. Sprinkled with the authors original cartoons drawn on the back of business cards of all things...they make the words of wisdom come to life in a truly original style. Wild. Terrific on SO many levels. If amazon had a way to go Six Stars I'd go there. Get this book if you are aspiring to build something original. Consider this a primer for how to deal with the ups and downs of hatching a creative concept. I am in both the advertising and cartoon business but I can say with certainty that this book is not just for the artists and dreamers...this book works as a guide to starting a business or pursuing any dream. Fantastic stuff. Shouting from the rooftop tonight...5 Stars! 5 Stars! Great, great stuff. Congrats to both Hugh and the publisher on getting (correctly) the gaping void blog into print form without losing it's edge or reality "bites" comic sensibilty. Just awesome. One more time...5 stars!!! Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity

I can't stand marketing, branding, advertising, "how-to" and "seven principles" type books. Can't get past page 3 of any of them. I found this one quite by accident, and couldn't put it down. Just when I was doubting my ability to cope in my "creative" position at a non-creative corporation, I found this book. It breathed new wind in my sails, and changed my mind about a few things. Isn't that enough? After reading this book, I decided that books like this are all I really need. Books by people who tell stories about their creative pursuits. Not books by people who preach theories and trends, and even insert those awful charts and graphs. Real stories by real people who really did something risky. Thanks for this one, Mr. MacLeod.

Interesting approach to free up your mind and get into the habit of creating content that lasts. I appreciated the advice on how to market your creativity work in a professional way.

Ótima leitura, bom de ler, muito inspirador, recomendo principalmente pra quem tem receio de empreender, infelizmente não achei versão em português e o preço do livro físico é absurdo.

Muy entretenido y motivador a la vez, pero ojo que no se trata de un libro de autoayuda. Muy, muy recomendable.

Definitely a must read, gives a different view on creativity.

Amazing book. Full of inspiring tips.