“Imagine: How Creativity Works” by Jonah Lehrer is on my “must read” list for the near future.
It was mentioned tonight by a friend. Right after that, I logged onto Twitter and saw a tweet from “The Economist” about it. Obviously, it is a book I need to read.
My friend heard him speak at a conference and shared some of the ideas with us.
One is that brainstorming is incredibly ineffective as a way to generate creative thought. What does work is challenging the idea during brainstorming so people have to clarify it.
Another thing that helps is being exposed to people outside your area of expertise. That’s why Steve Jobs put the bathrooms in a central location so people from different departments had to interact.
As is always the case, persistence and hardwork often lead to the breakthrough moments.
Some of the ideas include:
- People’s creative problem solving is improved by:
- Being in a blue room
- Being sleepy
- Watching a comedy video before trying
- Being told the puzzle they’re working on is from somewhere else
- By having lived in another culture
I’ll have more to say once I’ve actually read the book, I’m sure!
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