[TIM KASTELLE] We know that creativity and innovation have

a very strong social element.

Nevertheless, at the core of any creative work is an individual person that has a
new
idea.
So how can we have better ideas?
“At Linus Pauling’s sixtieth birthday celebration, a student asked him, “Dr.
Pauling,
how does one go about having good ideas?”
He replied, “You have a lot of ideas and throw away the bad ones.”
Ok, but how do we have a lot of ideas?
Is it something we’re born with?
For most of the twentieth century, researchers tried to answer the questions around
creativity
by looking for the personality traits that set creative people apart.
This is an area that has had a lot of myths.
In 1949, Donald MacKinnon founded the Institute for Personality Assessment and
Research at
the University of California, Berkeley.
He said that the creative stereotype was:
“a genius with an I.Q. far above average; an eccentric not only in thinking but
appearance,
dress, and behavior; a Bohemian, an egghead, a longhair, a true neurotic, withdrawn
from
society, inept in his relations with others.”
MacKinnon wanted to see if this was true.
While that language is very dated, despite decades of research, today’s stereotypes
are similar.
Why is that?
It’s partly due to the fact that MacKinnon’s institute, along with many other
researchers,
was able to show that the Bohemian eccentric stereotypes were wrong.
It’s a bit of a weird research field though.
There are some traits that correlate with higher levels of creativity – but they
explain
a relatively small amount of the differences between people.
On average, people that are more creative also:
Are of above average intelligence – though you don’t have to have a genius level
I.Q.;
They have higher levels of openness to new experiences;
They show a preference for complexity and a high tolerance for ambiguity;
They have balanced personalities, and;
They have the ability to resolve and accommodate apparently opposite or conflicting
traits
within oneself.
The biggest difference shown by more creative people is an ability to identify good
questions
and interesting problems to work on.
According to Keith Sawyer in Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human
Innovation:
“Many of these studies found that the most important characteristic of creative
people
is an almost aesthetic ability to recognize a good problem in their domain; they
know
how to ask the right questions.
That’s why highly creative people tend to be creative in one specific domain: it
takes
a lot of experience, knowledge, and training to be able to identify good problems.”
One thing that makes a good problem is its novelty.
In his book Creativity: The Psychology of Discovery and Invention, Mihalyi
Csikszentmihalyi
says:
“Problems are not all alike in the way they come to a person’s attention.
Most problems are already formulated; everybody knows what is to be done and only
the solution
is missing.
The person is expected by employers, patrons, or some other external pressure to
apply his
or her mind to the solution of the puzzle.
These are “presented” problems.
But there are also situations in which nobody has asked the question yet, nobody
even knows
that there is a problem.
In this case the creative person identifies both the problem and the solution.
Here we have a “discovered” problem.
Einstein, among others, believed that the really important breakthroughs in science
come as a result of reformulating old problems or discovering new ones, rather than
by just
solving existing problems.”
This is similar to two of the different types of innovation that we know about.
Incremental innovations are those that make existing things better.
These are usually going to be the outcome of solving “presented” problems.
Radical innovations are those that create new products and services, or entirely
new
categories of them.
These are likely to be the outcome of solving “discovered” problems.
In his book, A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough
Ideas,
Warren Berger summarises what research has shown about asking better questions and
finding
better problems:
Pay close attention to the world around you – watch and try to notice details
others
miss, and listen closely to what others are saying.
Don’t assume or accept – instead, ask “why are things that way?”
Ask the most basic questions – even if some people might think those questions
obvious
or naïve – asking the fundamental questions can help you challenge assumptions.
Dig deep – use follow-up questions whenever you talk with people.
Use your imagination – pose “what if?”
questions that open up new possibilities.
Share your questions with others – to get help and ideas from others interested in
similar
questions.
All of this is mostly good news for those of us who want to be more creative and
innovative.
It means that we can improve our creative abilities.
The first step is to adopt what Carol Dweck calls a growth mindset – the belief
that
your “most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work.”
Next, you need to find a creative domain that you find challenging and interesting.
This will enable you to learn that domain well – this deep knowledge will become
the
foundation that you can build your creative ideas upon.
Then remember that we can have better ideas by asking better questions.