After reading  a range of books on creativity three key themes keep coming up: imagination, play and dialogue. However on further reflection they seem to refer to the same issue of exploration. Imagination seems to be inward exploration, play outward exploration (either alone or with others), and dialogue (in the form described in creativity books, e.g. Bohmian dialogue) as exploration through conversation with others. One definition of exploration is “to travel for the purpose of discovery”. Therefore exploration often leads to the discovery of new ideas. I think that exploration can also lead to inspiration and insight (but that’s another discussion). Exploration is also related to the question “what if”. By allowing time to explore the “what if” through imagination, play and dialogue you give yourself the chance to break new ground. Some people also refer to imagination as the play of the mind. The product innovation process commonly used in industry is called Human-Centred Design and it talks about play through the prototyping of new ideas and concepts. The other key aspect of the process is gaining insight into the explicit and implicit needs and desires of people through observation, participation (play) and interaction (dialogue). So these aspects are also critical in the design of new products and services.

There have been many writers who have talked about a particular set of conditions where creativity seems to flourish. Some are related to the creative environment but almost all focus on the state of mind an individual is in. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls it “flow”; Betty Edwards desribes it in the context of observation in her book “Drawing from the Right Side of the Brain”; Timothy Gallwey highlights that creative state in sport in his book “The Inner Game of Tennis”; Chad LeJeune describes the concept of Mindfulness to help deal with worry and anxiety; and David Bohm talks about attention, perception and sensitivity.

But I believe that all are talking about the same thing really – to be aware of the present moment, whether that be listening, observing, smelling, tasting, touching. If you are giving attention to the present moment you are not thinking or analysing. If you are thinking or analysing you are inenvitably reflecting on past content stored in your brain.

In my main area of work, which is product innovation, the role of ethnography for gaining insight into new product ideas is seen as very important. But again, the art of ethnography is observation, listening, perception, attention – i.e. being aware of the present moment.

This state of mind is also what is talked about in meditation. There are many forms of meditation, whether through focusing on the breath, doing yoga etc., but a common theme in all the methods is stilling the mind – in other words stopping the thinking. So meditation, in my opinion, is just another label given to the same phenomenon.

What is really interesting though is the power of such a state of mind, this creative, inspirational state described by all the different authors. If this state is the most creative state for new ideas and inspiration, why do we not talk about its power more. Why does our education system focus so much on analytical thinking all the time, often at the expense of spending time on harnessing creativity. In fact we often talk about “creative thinking”, but isn’t that an oxymoron.

Michael Wesch’s work on digital ethnography at Kansas State University is worth looking at, if you haven’t already. One of his well known videos is called “A Vision of Students Today“. I like it because it highlights how students learn and spend their time, including the power of collaboration, the immediate access to vast amounts of information and multi-tasking. In my view, it also indirectly supports David Levy’s point on “No Time to Think” (see post below).

I am interested in what ways today’s digital environment supports creativity and in what ways it harms it? In the physical world we are only conscious of a very small amount of the stimuli around us (e.g. sights and sounds) even though our unconscious mind might store vast amounts of information. Our intention and focus filters the information in our conscious mind. I am not sure we have found such a balance yet when interacting in the digital world – and this I think has an impact on our creativity.