I can still remember my mother sitting me down one day and in a very serious moment saying, “Sean how come it is, every time I tell you not to do something you go and find a totally different way to do the same thing. What am I going to do with you?”
Now, I am not promoting to go and change your middle name to “trouble.” What I am promoting is that reclaiming your childhood vision is one of the best ways to start breaking out-of-the-box. In so many cases we have forgotten how to play, imagine, and, even worse we have forgotten how to be ourselves. Anthropologist Ashley Montague once called adults “deteriorated children.”
In 1968 a scientist named, George Land shared among 1,600 5-year-olds a creativity test used by NASA to select innovative engineers and scientists. Ninety-eight percent of the children scored “highly creative.” Land retested the children five years later. Only 30% of the 10 year-olds scored in this category. By 15-years-old, just 12% of the adolescents tested “highly creative.” And when Land gave the test over a period of years to 280,000 adults, he found that only 2% fell into the “highly creative” category. “What we have concluded,” wrote Land, “is that noncreative behavior is learned.”
Wow!
Why is it that we tend to lock ourselves into paradigms that only box us in more?
Anyone who spends any quality time with children has at one time or another witnessed their natural ability to see the extraordinary in the ordinary. Their imagination is in all its glory, where anything is possible and play is their great passion. Children see the world differently because they have not been influenced by the outside constraints of our increasingly complex society.
Daily routines, predictability, television, boredom, and mental plaque only support constricting our creative and innovative abilities.
As adults, thinking with childlike vision is hard work and takes courage. In many cases it means you may have to sacrifice long held beliefs, paradigms, to gain new perspective. Check out these classic examples from history. In 1899, the U.S. Patent Office director announced that “everything that can be invented has been invented” and requested that the patent office be shut down. Just twenty-eight years later, Harry Warner, president of Warner Brothers, asked, “Who wants to hear actors talk?”
Children are not afraid to try new things and fail because they believe anything is possible. They learn very quickly from their failures and apply those lessons to their next experiment. Failure can be one the most effective ways to break out-of-the-box. When we are not failing we are not stretching ourselves and only continue the patterns of doing the same drab thing we have been doing all along. When you fail and learn from those failures you grow and so does your creative abilities.
Like a wise sage that cannot be understood or solved through traditional thinking, we have to ask ourselves puzzling questions to break out-of-the-box. How can I think more childlike once again? How can I add play to my life? How can I break free of the constraints of society? How can I learn to embrace failure and change?
Our children have the answers.
When you get back in the sandbox you do too.
Tools for Breaking Out-of-the-Box
What Box? thinking has to be practiced all the time. Here are few ways to exercise your creativity muscles.
Transform your brain into a sponge
Think about this for a second. Like a computer humans only use 8-12% of their brains potential. That leaves a lot of room for improvement. Next time you are in need of a creative solution, bombard your brain with relevant information. Speak to experts, read books, search the Internet, watch videos. Noodle it around and see how your conscious and unconscious work to support What Box? thinking.
Have Sheer Fun, Play
Get yourself into some mischief because it stimulates creativity. One of my favorite places to play is a toy store. Have fun with the toys that make you laugh, think and in general have fun. Buy what makes you feel like a child again, Twister, bubble machines, maybe a water slide. If you were to visit my studio you would find toys all over my space. Keep toys and fun things in your workspace as a way to remind yourself not to take life to seriously.
Daydream The Day Away
Have you ever been caught daydreaming and told how unproductive it is to just sit and do nothing by daydream your day away? Turns out that daydreaming can be one of the more effective ways to solve problems or invent things. Thomas Edison would actually make time each and every day just for daydreaming. Next time you need some creative ideas quickly, find a quite space, close the door to your room or office, get comfortable and let your mind wander. Who knows what great idea you will come up?
Take Regular Breaks
The ability to slow down and pause will allow you to see that which you might miss otherwise. Frustration, dullness, fatigue are one of creativities greatest enemies. They are also giving you the clues to take a break. You can increase your creativity by taking a peaceful walk, focusing on your breathing patterns, or visiting an inspiring nature environment. Take a power nap. Thomas Edison would sit in an armchair his hands extended holding heavy objects in each. When the objects would fall and wake him, Edison would jot down the first thoughts that came to his mind. When you take breaks you allow your subconscious mind to do its creative work. Your subconscious is always working for your greater success, trust it and take breaks regularly.
Ignore the Nay Sayers
Not much is more delicate and sensitive than a fresh idea. Nay Sayers are those people who discourage new ideas before they get the chance to be nurtured and developed. Protect your ideas from the Nay Sayers who tell you “It won’t work” or “That’s not in the budget.” Take some time and share your creative concepts only after you have them more fully developed.
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