James Taylor (00:08)

After a few months away, we’re back, and I couldn’t be more excited to kick things off with a fresh start and some exciting updates. So first of all, why the break? Two main reasons. Firstly, last year was non-stop. 24 countries, keynote after keynote, and it’s been an incredible journey, but it really left a little time for deep reflection, deep work. Secondly,

We took the time to listen to you, our loyal listeners and viewers, and your feedback on what you love, what could be improved, and either also what we should stop has really kind of shaped this new direction that we’re going in now. Now here’s what you can expect from the revamped Super Creativity podcast. We’re dividing the content into three types of episodes. On Fridays, we’re gonna have what we call the solo episodes. These are just bite-sized, actionable insights on creativity, innovation,

and leveraging technologies like AI. Then on Mondays, we’ll have our expert interviews. These are conversations with authors and thought leaders sharing strategies to help you innovate and create better, along the lines of some of the things that we’ve been doing in the past, some of the interviews we’ve had in the past. And then the third is our industry insights, and those will be on Wednesdays. Those will be talks with CEOs, CXOs, chief innovation officers from the world’s most innovative companies. And this will give you a peek.

into their successes and how you can apply similar ideas in your work. We’re aiming for three episodes a week to keep you inspired and informed. I first of wanna say though, thank you for your input. It’s really helped us to shape the show and that is hopefully gonna give you a better and more impactful episodes. Today though, I wanna dive into a concept that’s been on my mind as I embark on my next big creative project. And it’s this idea of creating.

virtual advisory boards and how it can fuel your creative growth. For years, I’ve been asked to write a book. I’ve hesitated for two reasons, focus and fear. My focus has been on speaking and traveling, leaving little room to do the kind of deep work that writing demands. Fear, well, it’s the same creative fear that many of us face, the gap between the vision of what we want to create and the reality of our skills. Writing and speaking might seem similar, but they’re entirely different crafts.

That said, I’ve decided to go for it this year. Over the next few months, I’ll be using these solo episodes to share my journey, successes, challenges, failures, everything in between, as I write, rewrite, and eventually publish this book. Why am I doing this? Well, firstly, to inspire you. If you’ve been hoarding off on your creative project, perhaps my journey will nudge you forward. And secondly, to hold myself accountable. By sharing my process, I’m making a promise to you and to myself to see this thing through.

So what’s this book all about? Since 2018, I’ve been speaking about my concept of super creativity, how individuals can augment and amplify their creativity by collaborating with humans and machines. The book will bring together the stories, the case studies, the strategies, the tools and techniques that I’ve shared on stages in over 30 plus countries. I’ve opted to self-publish for speed and flexibility, and week one of the project has been all about laying the foundations.

Now here’s where the idea of a virtual advisory board comes in, how you can use it. For this book, I’ve created a mix of real and virtual advisors. On the human side, I’ve spoken with Elaine Pofeld, a brilliant ghostwriter and journalist, and David Avrin, a wonderful keynote speaker and author. Their human guidance has been invaluable in refining the book’s concept and process. On the virtual side, however, I’ve leveraged generative AI to imagine advice from thought leaders like Ryan Holiday,

Seth Godin, Jay Papasan, authors I admire and have interviewed on this very podcast. Using AI tools, I can ask for feedback as if it’s coming from these brilliant minds. Now, one standout piece of advice from my AI Ryan Holiday, if you will, was to write a single sentence, a single paragraph, and a single page summarizing the book’s premise, audience, and value. This exercise has really been transformative in tightening the concept of the book up. Now, here’s a practical takeaway for you.

Think about a creative project that you’re working on, or maybe one that you’ve been procrastinating on for a while now. Write down five to six names of people, real, fictional, alive or dead, that you’d want on your virtual advisory board. Then head over to an AI tool like ChatGBT to simulate their feedback, get their feedback on your project. Remember, they’re advisors, they’re not decision makers. Their job is to guide, but it’s your job to decide. Try it out now. Let me know in the comments.

who you’ve chosen for your virtual advisory board members and how perhaps their feedback has helped shape your project.