| Have you ever experienced an “ah ha” | | | | scraps, junk and odds and ends.” Whatever the |
| moment? It’s what you feel when insight strikes, | | | | artistic impact an assemblage piece has, be it moving, |
| when a solution to a tough problem suddenly occurs | | | | insightful, beautiful, disturbing – whatever – |
| to you, or when a great idea hits you seemingly | | | | that impact results from the juxtaposition of |
| “out of the blue.” Behavioral scientists have | | | | different elements, selected and arranged to create |
| been studying this phenomenon for over a century. | | | | something new by their association. Take for |
| Recent research indicates that this creative insight is | | | | example the work of Joseph Cornell. It’s the |
| more positively influenced by “unexpected | | | | way Cornell associates his materials that make the |
| connections” than through deep knowledge of a | | | | work fresh, give it meaning, and give the viewer that |
| particular field. | | | | “ah ha” feeling. |
| Past studies suggested that knowledge and | | | | |
| experience within a particular domain are the most | | | | “Filling the box,” means collecting those odds |
| necessary ingredients for insight. Those researchers | | | | and ends that attracts you, for any reason at all. |
| theorized that the more knowledge an individual | | | | Collage artists do this all the time. They create a |
| possesses within a certain subject, the more likely | | | | “morgue” of interesting papers, images, |
| they are to recognize the relationships between | | | | scraps of fabric, broken tools, etc. Their |
| different ideas, resulting in a stronger and stronger | | | | “morgue” is a storehouse of materials for |
| ability to create reliable patterns, and hence, | | | | use in future projects. Sometimes, just the act of |
| significant insight into the subject at hand. However, | | | | throwing an artifact into the box sparks an idea – |
| this knowledge, by itself, does not produce insight. In | | | | the old bell from a cat toy rolls into the metal label |
| fact, more recent studies show that the level of | | | | from a high-school soft-ball trophy and – “ah |
| experience an individual brings to a field can actually | | | | ha” – I’m creating a piece about the |
| inhibit creative problem solving. This is due to what | | | | meaning of toys and games. You can “fill the |
| creativity experts call “functional fixedness.” | | | | box” in your own life. Don’t edit. Whatever |
| You’ve seen functional fixedness before: it’s | | | | affects you, save it: like a racy post card a buddy |
| when an expert can only see an object used for its | | | | sends from his trip to Big Sur that made you roll your |
| intended purpose. Individuals who’ve solved | | | | eyes, or a short story you read in a Seventeen |
| problems in a particular way numerous times before | | | | magazine while waiting for your kid at the |
| form problem-solving mechanisms that inhibit them | | | | dentist’s office that made you cringe, or an old |
| from developing creative solutions. Experts tend to | | | | photo of your uncle standing with someone |
| understand answers to problems by searching | | | | you’ve never met that made you curious, or the |
| through well-defined solutions. This type of problem | | | | over-worn Oshkosh overalls your son lived in one |
| solving is more likely to lead to small, incremental | | | | summer that are about to go to Goodwill that made |
| solutions than to the “ah ha” response of | | | | you tear up. Whatever has meaning, holds mystery, |
| insight. | | | | grabs your attention, sparks a memory, delights, |
| Unexpected Connections = “ah ha” | | | | disgusts, angers or amazes. Collect it. You never |
| Several behavioral scientists, working in the 1990s, | | | | know when the juxtaposition of one thing to another |
| argued that insight occurs when a person’s mind | | | | will bring an insight. |
| is able to unconsciously peruse random combinations | | | | Collaborate |
| of ideas that finally synthesize. This theory explains | | | | Is this not the most overused term of our decade, |
| why many of the most notable scientific | | | | next to “entrepreneur?” Well, I say put it to |
| breakthroughs occurred through a process of free | | | | use for your own connecting. Collaboration implies |
| association. Free association is when a person | | | | connecting with other people; that part is pretty |
| generates as many unusual combinations between | | | | obvious. It should also mean connecting with other |
| the many different bits of knowledge they have, | | | | domains of knowledge. If you want to spark an |
| then screens the results, only retaining the best | | | | insight within your own domain, bring in folks from |
| combos. William James wrote about this process a | | | | outside it. The way others interpret things |
| century ago, in Principles of Psychology (1890): | | | | you’ve already categorized and become an |
| Instead of thoughts of concrete things patiently | | | | expert in will shake you out of patterns and |
| following one another in a beaten track of habitual | | | | assumptions. Find the people you least expect can |
| suggestion, we have the abrupt cross-cuts and | | | | inspire you, and put them on an innovation team. I |
| transitions from one idea to another, the most | | | | can’t stress this en ough. Example: Father: Son, |
| rarefied abstractions and discriminations, the most | | | | put down that stick! Son: It’s not a stick, it’s |
| unheard of combination of elements, the subtlest | | | | a sword. That’s what I mean. I once directed an |
| associations of analogy; in a word, we seem suddenly | | | | original production of Bronte’s Wuthering Heights. |
| introduced into a seething cauldron of ideas, where | | | | Before casting the show and rehearsing it with |
| everything is fizzling and bobbling about in a state of | | | | actors, I assembled a creative team to read the |
| bewildering activity, where partnerships can be joined | | | | book, discuss it, and discover surprising ways to |
| or loosened in an instant, treadmill routine is unknown, | | | | stage it. The team consisted of a clinical social |
| and the unexpected seems only law. (p. 456) | | | | worker, an attorney, a chiropractor, a designer, |
| The role of chance, then, is crucial to insightful | | | | another director, an actor and a real estate agent. |
| discovery. One researcher, Melissa Schilling, writes, | | | | This team met monthly for almost a year. At the |
| “This random recombination appears consistent | | | | end of that time I had an outline for an outrageously |
| with illustrative anecdotes of some of the great | | | | original, movement-based work that catapulted our |
| discoveries of the past.” Creativity expert, Sir | | | | little company into one of the best funded |
| Ken Robinson, puts it another way. In his 2006 TED | | | | experimental theatre companies in our city, got us an |
| talk on how schools are killing creativity, he offers | | | | invitation to take up residence at an established |
| this definition of creativity: “The process of | | | | theatre venue, and increased our board membership. |
| having original ideas that have value.” Creativity, | | | | We also got some pretty great artists to sign on |
| he tells us “comes about through the interaction | | | | with us for our next show, because they wanted a |
| of different disciplinary ways of seeing things.” | | | | piece of what we were doing. I could never, ever, |
| How can we develop “different disciplinary ways | | | | ever, ever, ever have created that show without |
| of seeing things?” It’s one of those | | | | forcing myself to bump up against the ideas and |
| mandates, like “be creative,” or “think | | | | viewpoints of those people who possessed deep |
| outside the box” that sound so easy but tend to | | | | knowledge stores in domains different from my own. |
| leave a person scratching their head, wondering | | | | If you are reading this article, chances are you were |
| where all their innovation is at. I think we need to | | | | educated in a system that put artistic training at the |
| create the means to make connections, and I think | | | | bottom of the hierarchy. If you excelled in that |
| the place to start is in re-connecting our brains to our | | | | system, you’re probably pretty focused on a |
| bodies. | | | | particular area of expertise. If you’re successful |
| Mending the Cartesian Split | | | | at your current job, there’s a real danger |
| Since the 17th century, westerners have operated | | | | you’re not moving your body very much. The |
| under the unconscious assumption that our brains and | | | | popular business press keeps running stories about |
| bodies are separate entities. This severing of our | | | | the need for innovation, for creative solutions to our |
| heads from our bodies -- defining ourselves having a | | | | problems, for new ways of looking at the world. |
| “body” distinct from a “mind” -- has | | | | “Design thinking” is the next big wave in |
| caused myriad problems, from obesity to lack of | | | | MBA pedagogy. In order to meet the demands these |
| mental agility to global warming to violence against | | | | trends make, the demand to, in Sir Richard’s |
| women, to the focus of this paper: decreased | | | | words “have an original idea that has value,” |
| creativity. In Brain Rules, a book about what | | | | we’ve got to begin to value and utilize diversity |
| scientists know about how the brain works, author | | | | of viewpoints, create opportunities to bump up |
| John Medina demonstrates how physical exercise | | | | against random stimuli, and cherish the fact that our |
| enhances every aspect of brain function. The body | | | | brain is a bodily organ that depends on exercise to |
| and mind are so connected, Medina tells us, that | | | | function well. In other words, we need to connect up. |
| “aerobic exercise, just twice a week, halves your | | | | References: James, W. (1890). |
| risk of Alzheimer’s by 60 percent.” So, if you | | | | Principles of psychology (Vol. 1). New York: Henry |
| want your brain to work at peak capacity, first | | | | Holt. Medina, J. (2008). |
| connect it back up with your body. My best ideas | | | | Brain rules. Seattle, WA: Pear Press. Schilling, M. |
| come when I’m in the shower or on a walk. | | | | (2005). A "small-world" network model of cognitive |
| Sitting at your computer, you have far less chance | | | | insight. |
| of hitting on an idea worth exploring than if | | | | Creativity Research Journal. 17, 131-154. Simon, H.A. |
| you’re taking a swim, or looking at that same | | | | (1973). Does scientific discovery have logic? |
| computer while riding a stationary bike. | | | | Philosophy of Science, 40, 471–480. Simonton, D. |
| “Fill the Box” | | | | K. (1995). Foresight in insight? A Darwinian answer. In |
| Start to view your life and work as one big | | | | R.J. Sternberg & J.E.Davidson (Eds.), The nature |
| “assemblage.” Here’s | | | | of insight (pp. 465–494). Cambridge, MA: MIT |
| Merriam-Webster’s on-line definition of | | | | Press. |
| assemblage: “an artistic composition made from | | | | |