New Yorker magazine has a great piece about how insight works in the brain. Jonah Lerher, author of Proust Was a Neuroscientist, explores what happens in the brain when revelations, insights and new ideas are triggered. The key finding is that insight comes easiest when we’re relaxed and not focused on the details.
From the New Yorker article:
Kounios tells a story about an expert Zen meditator who took part in one of the C.R.A. insight experiments. At first, the meditator couldn’t solve any of the insight problems. “This Zen guy went through thirty or so of the verbal puzzles and just drew a blank,” Kounios said. “He was used to being very focussed, but you can’t solve these problems if you’re too focussed.” Then, just as he was about to give up, he started solving one puzzle after another, until, by the end of the experiment, he was getting them all right. It was an unprecedented streak. “Normally, people don’t get better as the task goes along,” Kounios said. “If anything, they get a little bored.” Kounios believes that the dramatic improvement of the Zen meditator came from his paradoxical ability to focus on not being focussed, so that he could pay attention to those remote associations in the right hemisphere. “He had the cognitive control to let go,” Kounios said. “He became an insight machine.”
[via Kottke]
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The closer you get to a state of childlike play the easier the insights and ideas come. It’s that simple really.
If you look at the environment children play best in, it tends to be places of safety and freedom.
The opposite of most offices I’d say.
I must have sat in 1000s of brainstorming and “ideation” sessions in ad agencies and clients over the past 10 years. All but a scant handful are exactly the same. You know the drill: dreary boardroom table, big group of people, a white board and a moderator.
No safety – most people are worried about saying something “stupid” or not shining in front of the boss.
No freedom – the trappings of the room scream oppression. There is a time limit and normally a 50 slide brief of bullet points to tick.
The results are…well, look at the state of advertising: wallpaper at best, irritating shite at worst.
Funnily enough, I’ve taken the same people out from these sessions and had a few beers, spoken off subject and been amazed at the ideas and insights people come out with when happy and relaxed, empowered and having fun.
I certainly agree with not focusing directly on the problem. I liken it to watching stars come out at night. You can see them just at the edges of your vision but when you look straight at them they dissolve.
It’s the same with ideas. The trick is to mentally balance between doing and not doing (or Not Seeing). Odd sensation but pleasing when it all “clicks” together.
Anyway, I made a short video about inspiration/creativity for an inhouse project here:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Iuw1Vi4jGGE
July 29th, 2008 at 11:34 am
Sorry to go on – if this topic interests you, then this piece from the BBC today is a must read:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7530594.stm
Prompted by an overheard conversation between Mr Obama and Mr Cameron (UK shadow PM).
July 29th, 2008 at 11:58 am
Floyd, you speak the truth! In addition, another relevant article:
http://lifehacker.com/399358/microsoft-chief-gets-creative-during-white-space
“While Bill Gates used to schedule a twice-yearly “Think Week” at a retreat so he could chew on technical papers from Microsoft employees, chief software architect Ray Ozzie prefers to get away with no reading material to come up with ideas on his own. CNET News reports:
Once or twice a year, Ozzie tries to find time for what he calls “white space.” Rather than be surrounded by the ideas of others, Ozzie prefers to lock himself away with the proverbial blank sheet of paper. His most recent such exercise was during a brief trip to Hawaii in April following a work trip to Asia. It’s a practice that dates back to Ozzie’s time at Groove Networks and even before that. Inevitably, Ozzie returns to the office with a ton of new ideas, sending a variety of “go do” tasks for his team.”
white space aka vacation / downtime / not “working”, something which our modern culture is completely loosing touch with.
July 29th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Interesting, thanks D.
Randomizing helps too. I call it “Giant Rodent Technique.”
We were on a big deadline (as per usual) and BossMan caught me completely absorbed in an article about a giant rodent discovery in South America.
His comment was along the lines of “Are you f*&%ing serious? We have a deadline, you need to be thinking about shampoo products not looking at this nonsense!”
He missed the point. I had to switch my brain around and let the right side get on with some “background” processing. To do this, I had to check out some randomness (or go for a walk, eat candy, pet a dog, play Mario or anything NOT the problem at hand).
Naturally, I developed some awesome ideas, won the pitch, made millions and saved the day.
All down to this:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3120950.stm
July 29th, 2008 at 2:45 pm