Creative Slump

Sitting at the allergists last week, I picked up an old copy of Newsweek, from July 19, 2010. I read an article called "The Creativity Crisis" by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman. This is perfect for a blog posting, I thought, since last month when I was asked to write something, I froze like a deer in the headlights and missed my planned deadline. It seems that occasionally feeling creatively challenged is nothing unique, as this article outlined.

Back in 1958 a psychologist named E. Paul Torrance started testing Minneapolis kids for creativity. The study followed these children over the years and found that those who had more creative responses on his tests later became inventors, authors, doctors, diplomats and needless to say - hardly ever missed a blog deadline. Creative kids tend to be three times more likely to creative adults. But after fifty years of test score results it seems that although IQs have risen, creativity has declined.

Although exactly why this is happening is not yet clear, there are a few ideas explored in the article. Television and video game time may have contributed as well as standardized education, which emphasizes rote memorization.

It seems the solution may be more about the way we teach instead of what we teach. Art programs are not necessarily the answer. We need to approach problems with both side of our brains engaged. The left side of the brain starts out by sorting through familiar solutions and the right side kicks in looking further, sorting through less relevant memories and knowledge that might add meaning. If an idea comes forward from the right side of the brain, the left side takes over again to check it for validity and make it work - or dismiss it. This process happens all the time for all of us. Creative people are just better at it.

How can we jump start this process? The most helpful suggestions included some obvious and not so obvious actions. What follows is the three I liked.

Exercise is helpful because it improves cognition. I break down what they said to just doing what is comfortable for you but that gets your heart pumping. If you are a couch potato - go for a walk, not a run. Getting over tired doesn't help. But if you are a runner - go for it!

Taking a break seems like a stall tactic when I am stuck on a problem but setting things aside for a while can really help. The article suggests you work on something else for a while and come back later.

The suggestion I found really interesting was exploring another culture. Apparently "cross-cultural experiences force people to adapt and be more flexible."  Before we all go try to convince our bosses we need a road trip to  Asia, read the rest. Experiments would indicate that if you can't travel, you can still improve creativity by just studying another culture. In lab experiments people were more creative after viewing a short slide show about China.

I wonder if eating ethnic food will help. I'm willing to find out.

What jump-starts your creativity?