Thought You Should See This

February 14, 2012

"Researchers are forced to become increasingly specialized, because there’s only so much information one mind can handle. And they have to collaborate, because the most interesting mysteries lie at the intersections of disciplines."

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By now, everyone has surely read and dissected Jonah Lehrer’s New Yorker piece on brainstorming and ways to promote creative thinking, Groupthink. So I won’t add much but to say it’s a must-read for anyone charged with working on big thorny problems or how to manage collaborative creativity. The above quote, highlighting the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration, one of my favorite topics, is great but there are gems throughout. Another:

Even when alternative views are clearly wrong, being exposed to them still expands our creative potential.

The piece also includes a fascinating analysis of the most effective genetic make-up of a creatively driven team, and the need for proximity in collaboration. Finally, the lovely story of “the magical incubator,” the story of Building 20 at MIT reminded me of talking with George Kembel, co-founder of the D.school at Stanford, who once told me how nervous he’d been to move into a swanky new building after having endured years of making do wherever they could find. Place matters and, as Lehrer concludes: “The most creative spaces are those which hurl us together. It is the human friction that makes the sparks.”

[Story via everyone, and Nick Gaubinger.]

6:25pm | URL: https://tmblr.co/ZLv7dxGQfI0H
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(Notes: 12)