A pair of older heads.

At the age of 50, I sold my share in my architectural practice, Fairweather Proberts, and started the work that I now do. Unfortunately, for various reasons, it didn't fly, and I stumbled back into architecture, first in partnership and then just me with a small team.

Fast-forward 10 years to 2019. I once again put away my architectural shingle and relaunched my second career as a speaker, trainer, and mentor/coach. At the time, a good friend told me, "You know, Paul, it is okay to be just a good architect?? "He was right, of course, but an itch inside me had to be scratched. I wanted to be in front of people to reignite the creativity that they have buried, forgotten, or inadvertently misplaced with stories and ideas.

In my one-to-one work, I am mentoring people through some transition, often a change of career, with a scratch of their own to itch, a desire to make their mark, so something more meaningful and/or give back. My lens for this work is creativity to help people create the life work they want.?

To startup something new for the second act is not always easy. Actually I like to think of it more as a finish-up, rather than a startup.

While the startup domain is seen as a young person's game, some interesting studies have been conducted over the years about creative thinking as we age.

In the 50s, British psychologist Ramond Catell wrote a paper suggesting two distinct age-based thinking styles. In our twenties and thirties, we tend to think in what he termed fluid thinking,? the ability to solve new problems and come up with ideas seemingly out of thin air. On the other hand, crystallised thinking, more prominent in our late fifties and beyond, is the ability to solve problems using our learned knowledge and experience.

This theory has been supported by a more recent study of the Nobel Prize in economics led by Bruce Weinberg, where they found winners in two age groups with two different thinking styles. Winners in their early careers tended to use conceptual thinking, coming up with ideas outside the box. On the other hand, older winners tended to use experimental innovation, utilising all their knowledge and experience in their box of life and putting it back together in different ways to come up with new solutions.?

My work tends to involve sharing my experience and learnings from both my first failed attempt and second successful shot, helping people examine their careers and misplaced dreams and find work that connects them with a deeper meaning the second time around.

There are so many lessons I have learned, but when I look back, the most valuable thing I have done is pairing up with my podcast co-host, Chris Meredith . In many ways, The Common Creative Podcast is an excellent vehicle for us to open doors to spend time and learn from highly creative people from all walks of life.

However, the real value I get is from the conversations Chris and I have when we are not podcasting. We use each other as sounding boards and mentors, float new ideas, share knowledge, give feedback on content, and compare notes about clients, marketing, fees, technology, and how to balance creative energy.?

We are similar but very different.?Our different thinking and experiences mimic fluid or experimental thinking but use two heads instead of one.

If you are contemplating leaving the corporate world to do something yourself, look for a similar-minded but different soul you can pair up with.?

It can make what can be a lonely journey much more rewarding.?

And I would be happy to chat about my experience if it helps. Drop me a line.

#Thecommoncreative #crystallisedthinking #fluidthinking #conceptualthinking #experimental #reinvention #careerchange #secondmountain