Creative Connections

Steven Johnson, in his book Where Good Ideas Come From, tells the story of the daphnia flea, a small crustacean that, under normal conditions, is the most populous creature in a pond because it breeds asexually and short-cuts the reproduction cycle. But when the climate or conditions change, the daphnia flea changes its reproduction process and starts to breed sexually. It plays with genetic diversity in the hope that it might develop a trait better suited to the changing environment.

This is very much in line with the common thinking that any idea is not new; it is just the combination of various, often disparate, existing ideas. In an earlier post this week, I touched on this topic in an earlier post about how, as we age, we tend to use experimental thinking, putting together a lifetime of knowledge and experience in new ways to solve old problems. https://lnkd.in/gtn3RWPQ

I was thinking about this in the context of my post yesterday on an innovation for people sleeping rough. https://lnkd.in/gK-suFGK I asked myself the question, "What are the existing ideas that I resourced?"
Some of them are;
Beddown, people sleeping in carparks.
Framery, high-tech office pods @officescape.
TaxiBox putting storage pallets on the street.
Skip Bins located on the street.
Parking day, the repurposing of street parking.
The tiny house movement.
BCC art installations on traffic light control boxes.

Over the last few years, I have interviewed numerous neuroscientists on The Common Creative podcast, and I have come to realise that creativity might not be rocket science. However, the science of the mind can certainly help us better understand how to be more creative. I'll explore my insights in future posts.
Stay tuned.

I am on a mission* to reignite the creativity that people and teams have lost, buried or inadvertently misplaced with ideas, stories, a gentle nudge or a swift kick up the creativity pants.
*via keynotes, workshops, one-on-one coaching/mentoring and visual storytelling.

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