The Role of Counterintuitiveness in Innovation: From Non-Newtonian Fluids to Orbits and Quicksand

Originally published on Provocative.one . Access: it’s free.

There exists a barely recognized force that shapes, silences, and, in some cases, blocks our ability to innovate and create. This force is intuition itself, or perhaps the more limited version of it?—?conventional thinking, the one that tells us what is “obvious” and “acceptable.” Intuition guides us toward safe, predictable choices, leaving innovation in a kind of suspended ground, resisting the new out of fear of losing the structures that stabilize us. When creative blocks appear as internal monsters, counterintuitiveness?—?the act of questioning what is taken for granted?—?emerges as a key. In this reflection, I examine how Creative Block and anxiety behave like quicksand and non-Newtonian fluid; how counterintuitiveness lies at the core of genuine innovation; and how the idea of “orbit” itself can offer an intriguing model for transformation without rupture.

The Phenomenon of Creative Block as a Non-Newtonian Fluid

A Creative Block?—?that sensation of paralysis, of mental rigidity that prevents the emergence of new ideas?—?can be compared to a non-Newtonian fluid. Unlike substances that flow uniformly, a non-Newtonian fluid hardens under rapid pressure but relaxes when that pressure is released. With creative block, the situation is similar: under stress or intense self-criticism, our creativity “hardens,” frozen by the fear of making mistakes or failing to meet imposed expectations (whether external or internal). Ideas become trapped, and the more force we apply to “push” them out, the more rigid the process becomes.

Thus, Creative Block is not something that resolves with more force, but rather with a lighter, less self-imposing approach. Working gently, allowing pauses, and an organic pace can be more effective in breaking the block than trying to force the mind into a rigid, immediate performance. This insight invites us to revisit the way we deal with our expectations: perhaps less effort should be invested in trying to “break” the block and more in dissolving it, allowing ideas to flow when the pressure is reduced.

One of the main factors, if not the main one, behind the pressure that generates Creative Block is creative anxiety. Anxiety acts as an initial trigger that, as it grows and accumulates, solidifies ideas into a state of paralysis. It creates a constant internal tension, an urgency for immediate success, and a concern for external judgment that ultimately hardens the creative process, like a non-Newtonian fluid that becomes rigid under pressure. In other words, creative anxiety is the fuel that feeds the block, turning each attempt to move forward into a frustrating step. Breaking this cycle, therefore, means dealing with both elements?—?not trying to combat anxiety with more force, but rather dissolving it and disarming the block with a lighter and more compassionate approach.

Creative Anxiety and the Quicksand Metaphor

Creative anxiety behaves like quicksand. In quicksand, the more force and desperation a person applies to escape, the deeper they sink. It’s a cruel paradox: the very act of struggling intensifies the trap. With creative anxiety, every hasty effort to produce, every nervous attempt to avoid failure, creates even more tension. This anxiety functions as a vicious cycle: the fear of not creating stifles the creative process, and this growing pressure transforms the experience into something exhausting and unproductive.

To escape quicksand, the answer is to move slowly, distributing weight calmly, almost counterintuitively. In creativity, the method is similar: the less we insist on perfection and immediate success, the more chances we have of finding the flow that allows us to create genuinely. This analogy subverts the belief that “we must struggle to overcome anxiety” and reminds us that sometimes the solution is to ease up on the effort and allow creation to move with greater lightness.

The FLIP Manifesto and the Power of Counterintuitiveness

This understanding of counterintuitiveness as a liberating force is an idea widely explored by Daniel Pink in his FLIP Manifesto , where he discusses how many successful practices of innovation and management challenge the “intuitive” norms and values of organizations. Pink argues that, often, practices need to be turned upside down, subverting established order to find an authentic and innovative path. A classic example he explores is companies that allow time for “uncommissioned work”?—?that is, time for experimentation without pressure for specific results. When the focus shifts from controlled production to the realm of free experimentation, as in Google and Atlassian, unexpected discoveries emerge. This freedom, this permission to explore beyond the predictable, is a way of challenging the security of structures and embracing what is counterintuitive for creation.

Pink proposes that questioning should be central to innovation. Instead of always affirming our abilities, he suggests we ask: “Is this right? Is it the best we can do?” This kind of questioning, rather than undermining confidence, opens new perspectives and prevents us from “falling in love” with our ideas to the point of being blind to their flaws. Pink’s manifesto leads us to reflect on the need to see innovation as a process that occurs not in the comfort zone, but within curiosity and doubt. Where the new becomes possible precisely because it challenges what is established.

Intuitiveness and the Orbit: The Mechanism of Social Preservation and the Search for?Balance

If we adopt the idea that intuitiveness serves as a mechanism to stabilize social structures, we can see it as a force that keeps us on the surface of the “acceptable.” The problem with this surface is that it tends to become rigid, creating an environment where creativity is stifled. However, a complete rupture?—?an “escape” from intuition?—?would take us entirely out of the social field, removing us from the context in which innovation seeks to impact.

Imagine an object trying to escape Earth. If it doesn’t have enough force, it will remain stuck on the ground, influenced by gravity. This state represents total conformity with norms and traditions?—?a safe ground but where something new can hardly flourish, as the innovative force is constantly pulled back by the gravity of “things-as-they-are”.

On the other hand, if we apply too much force to this object, it will completely escape Earth’s gravitational field, quickly moving away and losing any connection to the surface. In this case, we have an analogy for total disruption: an idea or innovation that breaks with everything known and accepted. While this break may bring radical innovation, it also risks distancing itself so much from the realities and needs of the system that it becomes isolated and difficult to apply practically.

Now, orbit offers an alternative and powerful path. Imagine that the object receives a precisely calculated force: it moves away from the surface, but in a way that doesn’t fully escape Earth’s gravity. Instead of being pulled back to the ground or flying into the unknown, it finds a balance, continuously rotating around the planet, in a state of constant fall. In other words, it continues to “fall” toward Earth, but its horizontal velocity keeps it constantly unreachable. This state is orbit?—?a unique position where the object defies gravity without detaching from it.

When we bring this idea into the field of Innovation, Orbit becomes a perfect metaphor for describing a balance point between tradition and disruption. In this state, new ideas “circulate” around norms, allowing them to provide context and an anchor of applicability. This allows innovations to challenge “things-as-they-are” without distancing themselves to the point of becoming unfeasible or disconnected from reality. Orbit, then, is the space where the most sustainable and transformative innovation happens: close enough to respect the structures that sustain the system but free enough to bring new elements that question and expand these very structures.

The Invitation: Authenticity and the Abandonment of Existential Theater

If all this teaches us anything, it’s that authentic innovation requires a brave willingness to abandon the safety of linear thinking and dive into counterintuitiveness, moving out of the quicksand of fear and the rigidity of creative block. This transformation requires honesty that can only be achieved when we shed “existential theater”?—?a phrase I like to use to describe the performance many of us maintain to meet external expectations and go along with the flow of conventions.

Abandoning this theater is a call to adopt authenticity as a foundation. It’s an act of boldness that creates space to experience freedom and fluidity, recognizing that not every innovation needs radical rupture but rather a balanced relationship with norms. By adopting this authenticity, we create a new stance toward work, creation, and life itself, where innovation becomes a natural expression of who we are, not just an attempt to fulfill an imposed ideal.

So, I invite you to ask yourself: how deeply are you stuck in the ground of conventions? And more importantly: what keeps you in that place? Break away from the tendency to sink into the quicksand of anxiety or harden under a Creative Block; find your Orbit, where the new exists in dialogue with the established. This is the path to genuine innovation, where the creator, the context, and the idea find a dynamic balance, in constant fall but always in the direction of something greater and more authentic.

After all, to be authentic, exploratory, and counterintuitive is not just an act of innovation?—?it’s a necessity in a world that seems to prefer the security of the surface to the inspiring vastness of Orbit.

Referências

• Pink, D. H. (2013). FLIP Manifesto. Available at: https://www.danpink.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/FLIP-Manifesto.pdf
• Arrudas, R. (2024). The Fable of Foam. Provocative.one . Available at: https://www.provocative.one/fable-of-foam?pvs=4
• Arrudas, R. (2024). Life as an Existential Theater: Reflections on Authenticity, Impact, Improvisation, and Impostor Syndrome. Medium. Available at: https://rdarrudas.medium.com/a-vida-como-um-teatro-existencial-717011eb8cdd

P.S.: I would be pleased and honored if you’d like to buy me a coffee .