1. Crash Course in
Creativity by derval
Assignment two:
‘the lesson learnt was in the
random moment at the end of the
assignment research’.

2. The theme
Observation Lab:
Shops selected are more than they appear!
And then the random moment-
The last moment, as written on the final 3 slides of this
presentation was the best learning for me from all the
observations and I tell you, it is a true story.

3. Cork City, Ireland. Bank Holiday Weekend, Jazz festival,
midterm for students and last day before Winter and DLS
time starts….28th October 2012
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4. Commonalities
Keep away from the High Street
Hidden gems
Well loved by locals
Not always on the main street
And all that Jazz…

5. Random summary
jazz open
jazz Jazz live closed open
music doors
mellow jazz closed closed
none closed
1 female
2 4 female mixed
staff gender
20+ 4 mixed mixed
5 mixed
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6. Main findings
These shops are community hubs
Meeting points
Where random conversations happen
And quirky does not mean unusual
Not to mention that final conversation!
Never doubt the power of a cup of tea….

7. Shop one
The Cork Flower Studio
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8. Probably the best Coffee in Cork
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9. Observations entrance and environment
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10. Observations products and personnel
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11. Observations on the customer
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12. Shop two
The Book Shelf
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13. Hush! no photos inside please!
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14. Observations entrance and environment
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15. Observations products and personnel
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16. Observations on the customer
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17. Shop three
Photos Mayne Chemist
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18. More images
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19. Observations entrance and environment
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20. Observations products and personnel
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21. Observations on the customer
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22. Shop four
Café Idaho
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23. Small and quaint
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24. Derval

25. Observations entrance and environment
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26. Observations products and personnel
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27. Observations on the customer
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28. Shop five
Peacock and Ruby
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29. Personal touch
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30. Stop and look
 Peacock and Ruby is
on Facebook.
 Blarney Woollen Mills is
also on Facbook.
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31. Observations entrance and environment
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32. Observations products and personnel
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33. Observations on the customer
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34. Shop six
Blarney Woollen Mills
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35. Derval

36. More images
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37. Observations entrance and environment
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38. Observations products and personnel
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39. Observations on the customer
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40. Overall observations and
thoughts
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41. Random moment Learning: over a cup of tea
 The final conversation:
 Despite the joy of people
watching and observing, the
best of this assignment for
me was the random
conversation with a
stranger at the end….
 I tell you no lie: it is the
truth.. Here is what
happened…
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42. Random moment
After visiting my selected stores I went to a coffee shop on my own to have a cup of tea and see
how I was going to pull the whole story for the observation lab together.
 The city is buzzing and places were busy. But I got a table and sat reviewing my notes, when this
very well dressed man asked to share the table.
 An older man in his 70’s, sat with his cup of tea, and got comfortable. This was a random
selection as two tables in the café had one seat free.
 I was about to get ready to leave the table as was almost done reviewing.
 We started chatting and he told me he was visiting for the jazz but taking a break from friends
and the noise in the local hotel.
 He told me he is a mechanical engineer and worked on the design of the engine for the original
Boeing 747.
 So this gets my attention IMMEDIATELY. I teach, amongst other subjects, air passenger services
and Tourism and have an interest in this area.
 So I ask some more questions and he explained he was 2nd eldest in his family, felt the need to
find a living as typical as the older brother inherited the farm. He decided aged 15 to migrate to
England where he worked as a mechanic for a sports car company, or something, he lost me
here a bit, as was still wondering where all this was going. He always had an interest in fixing
things and instead of presents for birthdays and Christmas he got broken things his mother
collected for him. He said he would line them all up and work on them until he got them working,
 He returned to Cork at age of 18 because he wanted something more for himself, to be
something more and he had a plan.
 That notion changed his life.
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43. The story continues
 Later in the conversation when I asked him what he felt contributed to his success he said ‘some
one’ was looking after him and he had a ‘notion’ he had to return to Ireland and he knew he had
to follow this sense.
 He further explained that he spent the money he saved from his time in England on math grinds
in Midleton, a town near his home town and that he had to borrow the car to drive over for the
grinds.
 He did final secondary education examinations, and knew he could not afford University.
 So he applied for a scholarship examination in engineering.
 150 applied and he got one of the three places on offer. Another story was told about the day of
the examination, about his sick father, about having to visit him in hospital between the first and
second part of the examination and a lady he called his angel of the day persuading him to pick
himself up and go into the second half of the examination. To stick with his plan.
 He got the scholarship, had to move to Dublin which he found hard as money low but was so
happy be did the best he could to improve his education.
 All this lead him to work with Boeing and design some mechanical device that he sold to an
engineering company based in Denmark and so on and so on. He told a lot about his career but
was very open when I asked about motivation. This is the lesson: I think you may have heard it
before….. He said the following…..
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44. The lesson learnt
 What was his drive and motivation and so I asked him was it luck or intuition or timing or
life’s purpose?
 He told me he is very determined and driven.
 He gets these notions, or sensations about where to be or how things should be or that he
isn’t on the right path, in other words a good 6th sense.
 He tells me he believes in his work.
 He believes in hard work.
 He believes that mistakes make you better as you have to overcome this challenge.
 His work his passion and he believes he is lucky.
 He has been broken and at his wits end but still believed he had a ‘higher’ purpose.
 Believe in what you do and what you can become.
 I am like ‘wow wow wow’~! This is amazing, and he ends up by telling me his name.
 He is retired but still working from home in Mallow. He is researching and keeps asking
‘why and what if?’
 I excuse myself as had to get to Blarney and came home inspired and delighted that a
random moment could help me so much with my project and see that this is in fact my
project write up and not the other information displayed earlier.
 He did not know anything about me, the course on Creativity or the questions I was
doubting in myself in moving away from what I have been doing the last 15 years
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45. The end

This was a powerful co incidence or co in siding of two random moments of two strangers going for a cup of tea .
 It reinforced in myself that when you are happy with your choices and open to new things and meeting new
people that forces show you and support you in ways that are hard to explain or quantify to let you know , in this
case through people that you are on the right path
 I rarely go to the city centre on a Saturday and had only once before been in this coffee shop
 All this exploration, of new areas for me, are leading on to more self learning and it is good to follow where your
curiosity leads you, even if that is only for a cup of tea…
 His message:
 have a mission, believe it, work hard at it, let it be for a while but never let it go.
 Follow your gut, your intuition, your angels, your instinct ion, your 6 th sense…
 but believe…
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