Fertilize the Mind
How is an idea
born? Paradoxically, the answer remains an enigma even to those who spend their
lives creating ideas.
Designers who talk
about their creativity in the book,
A Smile in the Mind by Beryl McAlhone, all work with
basic elements of the creative process: f
luency,
the process of developing a
multitude of ideas;
flexibility, the ability to see different approaches; o
riginality the result of new
combinations; and
elaboration,
building on these ideas. However, none of these designers can concretely
explain how original connections happen. There is no road map, no template to
follow. Instead, people use various techniques to fertilize the mental ground
where these ideas grow.
Getting Started
Like many
designers, Milton Glaser starts with words and, as in any communication
process, he begins with what the audience knows. He uses familiar clichés as
the medium to establish the context. However, this is only the beginning of the
process. "You must use clichés to set the stage and then twist it in such
a way to disrupt it." Once the audience recognizes the cliché, the
context, then the cliché needs to be "detoxified." Glaser discusses
the importance of shaking up expectation. He says the successful execution of
wit is the "penetration of the immunity of an audience." When the
cliché they understand does not follow through in the expected way, it breaks
through the immunity. This wit is what people remember.
There are a number
of creative "models" (CPS Model, James Higgins Model, de Bono's Six
Thinking Hats, etc.) which attempt to be templates for the creative thought
process. Glaser, however, talks about how creativity is not a rational process.
You cannot generate ideas if you are traveling a linear path. Often ideas are
born not only off the path but also on different levels. Picture an idea as a
living thing meandering on a flat piece of paper on a desk. In this scenario,
there is a limit to where the idea may travel.
Now picture an
idea meandering in and out on the crinkles of a balled up paper, taking flight
on a ribbon of steam from a coffee cup, grabbing the sound wave of a ringing
phone and then hopping back on the ball of paper. Infinite possibilities abound
on this second journey. The important thing is to keep an open mind about how
and where ideas may travel.
Be Ready
Some people use
certain mechanisms for triggering ideas, such as talking with others, starting
something new, sleeping, smelling apples or walking. I find that most of my
ideas come while walking or driving. Usually when I walk, I carry pen and paper
to jot down ideas before they are lost. On several occasions, while driving
I've become so wrapped up in the flow of ideas from so many directions that I
have wound up lost in a stranger's driveway. Glaser suggests that ideas happen
when you allow yourself, in a relaxed state, to go off on tangents. Most of the
designers in this book say their ideas come when they are not thinking about the project. They allow the subconscious to work
and make connections. Bill Moyers reminds us that you must "pay attention
to your preconscious self that slips messages to you, much as a note is slid
under the door."
Glaser says it
helps to place yourself in a state of readiness. In order to discover concealed
relationships, you must be ready to accept them. This cannot be willed.
"Ideas happen when you release your mind from its willful demand for
something to happen." You cannot insist on getting an idea, for instance,
by four o'clock this afternoon. I've always understood this. As an
undergraduate student at Frostburg, I became upset when my creative writing
teacher announced that we would take a creative writing exam at a scheduled
time. Creativity does not happen by arriving at a two o'clock exam and
following a prompt to create on demand. I took a big risk and protested this philosophy.
I showed up at the scheduled test time, ignored the creative writing exam, and
wrote about why I was refusing to take the exam and how I perceived the flow of
the creative process. What I wrote must have made sense to the professor
because I received an A for the course.
Filling in the Spaces
Finally, Glaser
looks at design as narration and suggests that the most important element is
what is left out. It is important for the viewer to complete the communication
by connecting with what is not said, with what is not shown. This pulls the
audience in as collaborators in the creative process. Many teachers complain
about the lack of student imagination and creativity. David Thornburg calls
creativity the "new scarcity" in educational institutions and Jonas
Salk says our future depends on creativity. Perhaps today's students may not be
challenged enough to fill in spaces. Audience participation might also be the
reason why reading a book is almost always better than seeing a movie. The
reader must fill in more spaces when reading, while movies tend to complete
things for the viewer. When the audience participates, there is an intrinsic
sense of satisfaction in making the connection. And often this connection does
not stop with the "aha" moment. The audience not only remembers the
message, but also uses imagination for further elaboration of their own.
It is the process of filling in spaces, putting yourself in a state of readiness and giving yourself permission to meander, that fertilizes the mind for creative growth. You may be unable to describe the birth of an idea but you can certainly put out the welcome mat.
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See more of my blogs on creativity:
Leonard Cohen on creativity:
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/07/15/leonard-cohen-paul-zollo-creativity/
http://tinyurl.com/ktksmd6
