Work In Colour - Work. Think. Live. In Colour
Thursday 19th March 2009 | No comments
A while ago, Scientific American Mind magazine had a cover story on the latest research and insights into unleashing creativity. One of the research results shows that creative people are less likely to filter out peripheral information or irrelevant data from their minds than the rest of us are. (As you are reading this, you are probably not aware of the contents of the room you are in, the feeling of your bottom on the chair, the temperature... until I draw your attention to them, of course!)
We all rely on our brain's ability to screen the volumes of data that reaches us every second through our eyes, ears, taste, touch and so on. If not, we would be paralysed into inaction by overwhelm or, in extreme cases, descend into psychosis. However, those who are highly efficient at this screening may also, it seems, be missing the anomalies and curiosities that can lead to creative breakthroughs.
Related to this is the sometime drawback of being an expert, of internalising a body of knowledge and ways of thinking and dealing with the world, so you lose the opportunity to see things differently - you become stuck in your paradigm. This can limit your ability to find creative and innovative approaches to old problems... one of the reasons for the trend towards cross-discipline teams these days.
So, what to do about this?
Bring your awareness to your surroundings at least every now and then.
Focus on the information from one of your senses for say 5 minutes... notice colours, or smells, or sounds.
Cultivate what Zen practitioners call beginner's mind - imagine how you might solve the problem if you knew nothing of the subject matter (or ask someone who does know nothing, such as a friend from another discipline or even a child).
Ask 'What would the Dalai Lama do here? Or Einstein? Or Paris Hilton? Or Luke Skywalker? Or Harry Potter? Or...?
Tags: ideas, thinking, creativity, tips
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