Failure, Innovation, and Play with Paul Pape

Paul Pape is an artist, designer, and entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in the creative industry. He’s created thousands of personalized products for clients worldwide as well as companies such as Disney, Universal, and Nickelodeon. In recent years, he’s shifted to empowering creatives, companies and corporations, sharing his expertise and insights to help them embrace innovation, reverse the creativity crisis and make life and work FUN again. Paul talks with me about failure as something necessary to innovation—not something you did wrong; what we’ve learned from the pandemic, and what we’ve refused to learn; and the technological pandemic of boredom and doomscrolling, and what we can do to find inspiration outside of screens and devices (spoiler: it involves PLAY).

Read this week's post, "Letting Go and Finding Flow," here. 

Episode breakdown:

00:00 Introduction

01:18 Intro to Paul's creative and educational journey.

06:21 Disillusioned artist seeks better opportunities after MFA.

11:25 Thrive on process and problem-solving, not outcomes.

18:44 Creativity crisis: Innovation decline due to pressure.

23:16 Ownership fosters pride and individuality in work.

26:53 Uninterrupted work and flexible schedule were beneficial.

35:38 Short-term thinking limits long-term business growth.

38:48 Engage audience; leave wanting them to play.

44:03 Focus on interests, continually learn, and yield.

48:00 Prioritizing profits over addressing boredom and technology.

55:31 Encourage creative play with devices over mindlessness.

58:38 Hope: Augmented reality enhances life's immediate engagement.

Check out the full show notes (now including transcripts!!) AND SEE PAUL'S NERD WALL IN HIS PHOTO at fycuriosity.com, and connect with me and fellow creatives on Substack.

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Want more? Here are handy playlists with all my previous interviews with guests in education and theatre.