I’m still listening to Imagine: How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer. I hit a chapter that distressed me a bit: the advantages of city living in regards to creativity. Why? Because I live in a small town. Not only that, I am relatively hermit-like in my social habits.
Apparently there’s a mathematical correlation between population density and innovation. It turns out it’s not so much about people per square mile, but about the amount of interaction with other humans. Not just your inner circle, but outer circles. Random encounters. Conversations held with someone in a very different field, of different origins, or time of life. The flashes of insight I spoke of a couple of newsletters ago often happen after an exchange that seems inconsequential. Connections are formed in the brain between seemingly unrelated items, and voila, shazam, a new idea is born.
An example related had to do with a well-known and highly successful advertising firm. They were creating an ad series for Nike. They had disparate images of athletes, and needed a slogan that would “zing” them together. The head guy was drawing a blank. He was awake, worrying over it to no avail. Just when he’d given up, and let himself go toward sleep, his mind wandered to a clip he’d seen of a particular murderer being led to his execution. This fellow’s last words before facing the firing squad were: “Let’s do it!” The ad man had no idea why his brain took him there, but from this, Nike’s “Just do it!” slogan was born.
I know—it sounds bizarre and a little gruesome. But such are the jumps the brain makes. The thought connection was tracked back to an earlier exchange having to do with Henry Miller. It didn’t come up specifically in the conversation, but it seems our ad man knew Henry Miller had written about this particular murderer. So his brain jumped from the problem at hand—how to make a positive statement about various athletes—to an example of words expressing courageous attitude.
Pixar exemplifies a company that has used the factors of proximity and constant mixing of different departments and different positions to create genius. They all work in one big building, with the rest rooms at the center so everyone has to cross paths with a lot of other people. Apparently it’s inconvenient, but it sparks lots of random encounters and conversation that result in creative break-throughs.
Here’s the thing for me: I’ve chosen where I live for the peace it provides my spirit. That’s essential for me. It has a huge impact on my quality of life. But I would like a higher level of creativity in my life. Since I don’t live in the city, what can I do to increase the amount of human interaction – especially with people from diverse backgrounds? By the way, these breakthroughs happen mostly through in-person interaction – not so much through on-line/distance interaction.
Coach’s Challenge: Think about these truths about creativity and city living and how they do or do not work to your advantage. Are you one of those people who nurtures not just friendships, but acquaintances as well? If not, what could you do to inject more of this particular source of creative juice? Leave a comment—I’d love to hear what you do that works, especially if you’re an introvert like me!
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