FC NOW: The Fast Company Weblog
April 25, 2005
This is Your Brain on Creativity
I was reading the great blog Noise Between Stations this morning and came across a link to what looks like an interesting article in Scientific American Mind. After reading Alan Deutschman's May cover story, "Change or Die," I'm intrigued more and more by how our brains affect our ability to change--or create. The article features research by neurologist Bruce Miller, who studied how dementia patients who suffered damage to left brain functions often saw a surge of creativity. The left brain's convergent thinking constrains the right brain's divergent thinking. While the article requires a fee to read, Noise Between Stations has provided us with a few tips from the Scientific American story for staying more creative:
- Wonderment: Try to retain a spirit of discovery, a childlike curiousity about the world. And question understandings that others consider obvious
- Motivation: As soon as a spark of interest arises in something, follow it
- Intellectual courage: Strive to think outside accepted principles and habitual perspectives such as "We've always done it that way."
- Relaxation: Take the time to day dream and ponder, because that is often when the best ideas arise. Look for ways to relax and consciously put the ideas into practice.
Posted by Jena McGregor at April 25, 2005 9:43 AM | Category: innovation + creativity |
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These are many of the ideas explored at the annual Creative Problem Solving Institute. This June, CPSI 2005 includes a featured session by Judy Solerno, a deputy director at the National Institute on Aging. She's supported the funding of research that is beginning to look at creativity, aging and the brain. The head of training at Toyota, Mike Morrison, is talking about the importance that creative problem solving plays within Toyota, as well as how it relates to leadership. Richard Florida, "creative class" guru and economist, talks about creative talent in a global economy, and how creative workers play a key role in creative communities. Anthropologist Mary Catherine Bateson links learning and creativity in her opening keynote. Coleen Rowley, retired FBI agent and Time "Person of the Year 2002," links imagination to ethical decision-making. Joe Dowling, the artistic director of the Minneapolis' Guthrie Theater, shares lessons from the theater on creativity and leadership. This conference was founded by Alex Osborn - the "O" in BBDO - more than 50 years ago. Its focus is on helping people learn to apply imagination.