thinkinghow.com

Great like article about letting go of a problem in order to solve it

but sometimes, and strangely, it was when they went to lunch that some of the best progress was made.

The creative world is familiar with this paradox. For some reason, it is when we are free to stop thinking about the problem that we sometimes manage our best work on the problem.

And it is especially when we are free to think about something unrelated to our problem that our problem stops being a problem.

via Harnessing the Innovation Paradox :: CultureBy – Grant McCracken.

It’s strange how the brain works isn’t it. It makes it worth finding ways to improved it’s power. Try taking a quick look at this brain optimindation program and see what you think…

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Interested in generating more ideas?  Here’s a great article from Bradley Hebdon from UXbyDesign

Good ideas are the foundation for all effective products, experiences and story-telling. And yet coming up with these gems can be one of the toughest parts of the creative process. These ten books will help put you in the right mindset to start generating original ideas.

There’s a list of 10 books, some focused on the tools and techniques of generating ideas, some look at how the brain deals with ideas, and others help you make the most of your ideas.

I have read a couple of these books. As for the rest – I’m off to Amazon.com right now….

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May Edward Harrison - Daydreaming

I’ve done it – more than once. I’m sure you’ve done it too. In fact I wish I could do it more often. That’s right, it’s staring out the window on a summers day and daydreaming. In fact daydreaming any time.

Well now, thanks to a Wall Street Journal article by Robert Lee Hotz this activity has been legitimised (in my mind anyway).

The Article entitled “A Wandering Mind Heads Straight Toward Insight” uses examples from Achimedes, Newton and others; and looks for explanation in modern brain research.

…we owe the concept of alternating electrical current, the discovery of penicillin, and on a less lofty note, the invention of Post-its, ice-cream cones, and Velcro. The burst of mental clarity can be so powerful that, as legend would have it, Archimedes jumped out of his tub and ran naked through the streets…

So if you’re in the habit of letting you mind drift be reassured that your brain could actually be working better without you trying to control the outcome.

By most measures, we spend about a third of our time daydreaming, yet our brain is unusually active during these seemingly idle moments. Left to its own devices, our brain activates several areas associated with complex problem solving, which researchers had previously assumed were dormant during daydreams. Moreover, it appears to be the only time these areas work in unison.

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