Deconstructing Creativity: A casual banter between Adam Grant, Brene Brown and Simon Sinek

Many books, blogs, and podcasts exist on understanding the why, how, and what of creativity (and innovation). It is mysterious how creative people develop those instincts and the tools, techniques, and tricks they use. It is a treat to listen to a candid, honest, and open dialog between Adam, Simon, and Brene.?

I share some insights in the form of a distilled summary of their conversation, not a transcript. All three demonstrate humility in recognizing they were not naturally born creative geniuses. They evolved to be who they have become.?

"It takes a long time to become an overnight success" - attributed to many people from Steve Jobs to Lionel Messi. Simon echos it as well. ?

Adam Grant: "I grew up thinking I was not creative and was good at figuring out what would be on the test and then getting an "A." In college, the definition of "A" work began to change. It was less about regurgitating knowledge and more about coming up with a novel observation or making an interesting argument. I discovered that what I had learned to excel was no longer rewarded. I had to notice things about human behavior that would make me a decent psychologist. I had to explain patterns of human behavior, and suddenly there was a premium on seeing things differently from others rather than conforming to what standard was.?

I wanted only to teach and not do research because I had nothing new to add. It took me about six years to unlearn that, to be creative."?

Brene Brown: "I never thought of myself as creative. My powers of observation connecting how we feel and behave were a survival mechanism. We moved from a very authentic New Orleans lifestyle with 'handmade everything' to a suburban house where you got clothes from the mall. Drapes were not handmade, but JC-Penny's drapes were better – it was all about conformity that made me see the death of creativity.??

I have been a pattern hunter and pattern finder since I was young. My purpose is to connect seemingly unconnectable. Use language, images, metaphors, and stories to make those connections accessible to people."??

Simon Sinek: "I learn by talking to people. I am not a reader. I have carried shame about that for a long time. I like the idea of books, but my ADD makes it challenging for me to read. I could not skip class in college, as I had to take notes. That was the way I learned. I have written more books than I have read. You don't have to read a thousand books to find patterns, but be exposed to new ideas, not your own, to find patterns."

Creativity, Idea Generation, and Development:?

1. Idea development is like putting together a quilt – you start with a square and find other squares to fit it.??
2. Creativity is not a thing but a behavior. No children are ever "not creative" – draw me a cow will produce fifteen versions of a cow.?
3. Creativity is a filtering challenge. If you keep the filter too low, there is a lot of unnecessary chatter to come in. If the filter is too high – no new ideas would come in.?
4. Where we obtain information influences how we learn, and the size of the reference set (books read, travel, life experiences, etc.) provides a diverse input to the creative process. The more we travel and meet people unlike us, with different world views and who grew up differently, the better the learning gets.??
5. There must be a problem to solve. Our conscious brains have access to information equivalent to about two feet around us. Our unconscious brains have access to information equivalent to about eleven acres around us. When we access our expertise, we only access a small portion of our intelligence. Our subconscious brain is constantly ruminating over the problem, or the opportunity posed. We don't have solutions for random things, but we get ideas to solve problems we are actively trying to solve.?
6. Problem reframing provides newer perspectives on solving problems creatively - instead of taking a problem through the lens handed to you, revisit the issue through a different lens. An example of problem reframing is solving the elevator wait problem. Solving for the speed of elevators is much more complex than unraveling the underlying perception of time. Time spent in an elevator feels long, slow, and tedious. Hence other solutions like elevator music, mirrors, etc.?
7. Allow the limbic brain to do its thing. The problem is that since it is not conscious, it is hard to tell when and how it does its thing. One thing that gets in the way of people being creative and not allowing the limbic brain to wander – you are on the phone in the bathroom – running – all the time – you don't give the brain time to wander. It would help if you allowed the brain to wander. Allow the brain to popcorn new ideas. You cannot predict or force creative ideas, but you can facilitate them.
8. To unlock creativity, when thinking about a new solution, begin with a novel idea before exploring traditional ones. When people start with their default approach, it limits their thinking. If you begin with novelty, it flips the tradition. The idea of a "primal mark" in painting starts with a stroke on the canvas and builds around it. Start with a novel primal mark.??

Courage: Sometimes, having the courage to express something you want but are afraid to speak about makes all the difference. Everyone knows the first pancake sucks. But we know that the third pancake is good. People trying to be creative are trying to serve up the third pancake first. What creative people learn to do is have the courage for the first pancake, knowing full well that it sucks.?

Celebrate the first pancake knowing that it is the starting point for success. Courage comes from our relationships. If you have at least one person who can say, "I got your back," – that is all you need. Celebrate the Shitty first draft (SFT).?

Keep it Simple: Learning to speak in terms that others can understand. If you sound like a scientist, scientists understand you. If you sound like a truck driver, everyone understands you. The dirty secret is if you sound like a scientist, sometimes, even scientists don't understand you, but they nod their heads.

?Interesting references to other work in the podcast:?

Boyer would say, "I am much more interested in the scholarship of integration than discovery ."Boyer's model includes the following type of scholarship – Discovery, Integration, Application, and Teaching.?Boyer's model of scholarship - Wikipedia?

Lin-Manual Miranda gets his ideas when he is daydreaming.?Taken for Granted: Lin-Manuel Miranda Daydreams, and His Dad Gets Things Done (Transcript) | Podcasts | TED?

We need more maker days and cut-out manager days. Paul Graham essay:?Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule (paulgraham.com)?