Public meeting / Effort and creativity - elements of the creative process and effort at the individual level (feat. Edwin Locke)
Reference
- Reference meeting: "a06-280 — talks - the creative engine - 67cb4238-904f-42a4-a614-c107a3ec368a Tuesday, January 14⋅5:00 – 6:00pm"
- This meeting: "a06-300 — minisites — mgalli - series creativity and effort - c9567714-daf1-499a-97d0-b4452168fe00 Tuesday, January 14⋅10:30 – 11:00pm"
- Parent project: Course on Creativity and Innovation
- Participants: Marcio S Galli
- Text language: en-us
- Tags: Creativity, Innovation, Edwin Locke, Effort, Willpower, Killing Ideas, Self-efficacy
- Document status: Copyright, draft.
Learning about the creative process and effort at the individual level - collecting elements from Edwin Locke's presentation
Best ideas are simple — but on the way into simplicity we need to learn to be killing ideas. This statement shows an alignment with ideas from Steve Jobs about creativity and innovation, that the killing ideas process as part of the creative process is actually an element showing a complex process https://youtu.be/HqAh3-_9HOo?t=1365
It takes a lot of effort to hold ideas in our conscious mind — there is a cost of holding ideas, in the conscious mind, at the same time. According to Edwin, a person can't can't hold more than 7 things at the same time https://youtu.be/HqAh3-_9HOo?t=1435
"Theory building is a process, not something you build rationalistically" — https://youtu.be/HqAh3-_9HOo?t=1581
"You have to try stuff, expect the unexpected, don't try to predict everything - you have to see what works' — https://youtu.be/HqAh3-_9HOo?t=1723
Edwin talked about a creative process that he witnessed when hew was writing his book. That going back to the beginning of the book allowed him to always get new insights, or a new perspective — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqAh3-_9HOo&t=1217s. He said that it was happening again and again, insights related to the activity of going back to chapter one, allowed him to have fresh perspectives.
Personal pulsing — Edwin Locke's term when referring to the change of modes between the active conscious engagement with ideas and the "let it go" mode which may have to do with allowing the subconscious to take control. https://youtu.be/HqAh3-_9HOo?t=1755. Creative minds deliberately take time away from the engaged conscious creative activity — https://youtu.be/HqAh3-_9HOo?t=1775 / The notion of pulsing. Edwin calls "pulsing" the act of alternating between a conscious active creation process and the act of letting go. So it's like when one is working in ideas, developing, then it follows a moment of rest. Therefore, it seems that the ideas are consolidated in the subconscious mind, then it can be done again, entering into the active. This alternating process is pulsing.
On the resting — that can engage a subconscious creative process, that may come after an active thinking process. It seems to be "some form of consolidation" https://youtu.be/HqAh3-_9HOo?t=1817
Social pulsing — the same active and resting cycles needs to apply when you are performing activities in the social. https://youtu.be/HqAh3-_9HOo?t=1892
The role of failure — expecting to fail is important, to the creative journey — https://youtu.be/HqAh3-_9HOo?t=1963 — Edison had 1000 patents, mostly useless. As priorly indicated by Edwin Locke, Steve Jobs indicated that the key to the innovation process has to do with the killing ideas engine. If you expect to fail, if you account that as part of your creative process; and if you are able to integrate failure, you will have the benefit of not looking at it as frustration, plus the benefits of learning. According to Edwin Locke, "failures simply are signal to keep moving."
Persistence — the creative mind may see obstacles differently. Geniuses may simply face more failures due to their active minds — they try more things, they generate more ideas — https://youtu.be/HqAh3-_9HOo?t=2013
Self-efficacy happens in a domain — and plays a role in creative process of an individual — https://youtu.be/HqAh3-_9HOo?t=2519 — related to the ability to master something, will certainly help in future activities. Edwin also used the time to consider that the idea of "10000 hours" is wrong. Perhaps Edwin inclination have more alignment with a saying like it's "10000 hours" x "self-efficacy" that may yield amazing things; and of course it implies that 10000 hours won't be needed.