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Is this why all your brilliant ideas always suck? — Parallax Forums

Is this why all your brilliant ideas always suck?

ElectricAyeElectricAye Posts: 4,561
edited 2012-11-13 05:57 in General Discussion
From the CNN article:
"...According to psychologist and Wharton management professor Jennifer Mueller, research shows that even as people explicitly aspire to creativity and strongly endorse it as a fundamental driving force of positive change, they routinely reject creative ideas and show an implicit bias against them under conditions of uncertainty. Subjects in Mueller's study also exhibited a failure to see or acknowledge creativity, even when directly presented with it..."

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/28/health/enayati-uncertainty/index.html

The original science article:
http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1457&context=articles

Comments

  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2012-11-12 08:29
    I thought I suffered from this because I'm a Brit, after recently reading this quote by Charles Babbage:
    Propose to an Englishman any principle, or any instrument, however admirable, and you will observe that the whole effort of the English mind is directed to find a difficulty, a defect, or an impossibility in it. If you speak to him of a machine for peeling a potato, he will pronounce it impossible: if you peel a potato with it before his eyes, he will declare it useless, because it will not slice a pineapple. Impart the same principle or show the same machine to an American or to one of our Colonists, and you will observe that the whole effort of his mind is to find some new application of the principle, some new use for the instrument.
    It now it seems to be more general.
  • prof_brainoprof_braino Posts: 4,313
    edited 2012-11-12 08:42
    i had a class, "creative interchange", where they un-learned us from being @$$holes.

    for example, we were go around the circle, and present the lamest, stupidest suggestion we could think of, bit the next person would respond starting with "thatns a great idea! I'd add....."

    amzingly, all the suggestions tended to turn really cool after a few rounds, no matter how hard we tried to be lame.

    while cool, it didn't take with most folk, and they reveted to their usual selves after the class.
  • mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
    edited 2012-11-12 08:46
    So to foster a creative environment, you need people that are unafraid of change and possibly thrive on chaos versus people that are mired in structure and discipline and process. The latter group will get the job done as it exists with 100% efficiency but lack innovation or any creative sparks. The former group will get he job as it exists at some level of efficiency less than 100% but will modify the process to produce acceptable results while freeing time/resources for more creative and innovative pursuits. Explains much in work environments.

    It also explains Capt. Kirk and the Kobayashi Maru victory.
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2012-11-12 08:57
    Karma, I suppose. I am just a child of the universe. The way is infinite, the way is unknown. It is the dharma I seek, not the glory.

    heh, heh.....
    Badzt Maru is my master.
  • mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
    edited 2012-11-12 09:17
    Loopy Byteloose wrote: »
    It is the dharma I seek, not the glory.

    Loopy, it doesn't appear you can find dharma without Greg these days.....

    l_dharma-and-greg-complete-free-shipping-fcd6.jpg


    but you can get the complete series on DVD!
    l_dharma-and-greg-complete-free-shipping-fcd6.jpg
    250 x 250 - 19K
  • jazzedjazzed Posts: 11,803
    edited 2012-11-12 11:10
    Many times my own answer has been "but that's crazy!". Then I try to find something useful in it, but get derailed by the next crazy idea ... like a rolling stone ....

    Such recursive insanity puts me off, so I "try" to stick with reasonably achievable goals.
  • mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
    edited 2012-11-12 11:14
    Recursive Attention Deficit Disorder....that must be what I have, thanks for putting a name to it, Steve!
  • jazzedjazzed Posts: 11,803
    edited 2012-11-12 11:25
    RADD :)

    How about another acronym?
    Randomly Actuated Decisions In Crazed Algorithmic Logic
  • mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
    edited 2012-11-12 12:27
    jazzed wrote: »
    RADD :)

    How about another acronym?
    Randomly Actuated Decisions In Crazed Algorithmic Logic

    Haha! Don't see how you get "MY CODE" out of that but it fits!! :0)
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2012-11-12 17:26
    In truth, I've worked with several good ideas - no all my own, but good. But the business environment can be brutal to even the best of ideas.

    Promoting rock and roll music on a T-shirt was one of the best, but the industry people walked away with the idea and put us out of business. Thank you Warner Brothers.

    If big money is involved, expect a big fight.

    Another was mylar foil balloons in the shape of just about anything. In spite of actually having patents, competition from outfits with lots more money and heavyweight lawyers emerged - including funding from a labor union pension fund.

    Putting on an outdoor concert for 20,000 people seemed pretty good too. Up until the major ticket distributor in the state pulled out of selling tickets a week before the concert. It seems that since he didn't control the whole show, he just had to ruin it.

    A good idea will just get you started, but having a blood thirsty knock down drag out finish off the bums attitude might be better for getting to payoff. It's the American way.

    Badzt Maru knows............................
  • prof_brainoprof_braino Posts: 4,313
    edited 2012-11-13 05:57
    Loopy Byteloose wrote: »
    .. environment can be brutal to even the best of ideas.
    ... industry people ... put us out of business.
    ... competition from ... money and ... lawyers
    ...major ticket distributor .. pulled out ... a week before the concert. ... he just had to ruin it.

    So the IDEAS are fine, its the people that you dealt with that suck....

    If somebody wants to cheat you, they are going to cheat you. I like to find out as early as possible who the @$$holes are, and put them out of my misery.

    If greedy people think they smell easy money, they will be on you like white on rice. If you offer high risk, and lots of hard work, they disappear like ghosts. The folks that remain are either interested, or crazy, or both :)

    But back to the ideas, someplace I heard only one "idea" in 100 is a "viable" project; of those only one in 100 is likely to make any money. (adjust the number of zeros according to your mood). But we can't tell WHICH of the idea in that large number is likely to produce a result. So the best thing to do is to try as many as possible, until a getting stuck at a stopping point, or otherwise deciding not to proceed. The biggest drawback is storing all the half baked, half finished projects. But it makes for a cool looking workshop.
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