Creative Reaction

“When forced to work within a strict framework the imagination is taxed to its utmost - and will produce its richest ideas. Given total freedom the work is likely to sprawl.”
- T.S. Eliot

As tired as I am about “boxes” and “thinking” both in and outside of them, Think Inside a Self-Constructed Box an article on effective brainstorming by the folks at Behance is based on research and deserves mention. They offer the following “tips”, though I think they’re being modest; these are success ingredients:

1. Keep the brainstorming groups small (ideally four people or less).
2. Gather people from different backgrounds, experiences, and interests.
3. Ask questions to build context, a brief, and core values, all to ”frame” the discussion.
4. Have a singular goal. For multiple decisions, hold multiple specific sessions.
5. Leave the meeting with “Next Action” steps.

With the time pressures faced by creative businesses on a daily basis, we would all benefit from more effective brainstorming.

There’s an excellent, self-explanatory post over at Signal vs. Noise - Forbes misses the point of the 4-day work week. Largely due to 37Signals’ influence, I’ve blogged about the same issue here at CR, with the same conclusions; i.e. work is not about presenteeism - it’s about results. (Preventing Workweek Creep is a closely related issue.)

Reducing work hours with the same expectation of results forces us to use the time we have wisely and always think, “what is the most important thing I should be doing right now?” And with the added benefit of having an extra day off, it’s a huge quality of life issue as well. This should not be confused with urgency for the sake of urgency; this is creating within constraints for a higher purpose. (See another 37Signals post here.)

This boston.com article largely covers ground we’ve covered here at CR before, even quoting a few experts we’ve already mentioned; yet we need to remind ourselves and our employees that constant interruptions by e-mail, IM, meetings, conference calls and text messages get in the way of getting actual work done.

According to the article, “workers get an average 156 e-mails a day… they switch tasks every three minutes on average… spending more than a quarter of the workday… dealing with interruptions and their needed recovery time”

Furthermore, “there’s a strong connection between trying to do lots of different things at the same time, and feeling overwhelmed,” says Ellen Galinsky, of the Families and Work Institute. There’s no need to explain that constant interruptions are stressful, and therefore unhealthy.

Are we fostering creativity in our workplaces? We need to allow ourselves and others to disconnect for blocks of time to do what we are paid to do, especially if that means being creative.

A follow up on Stephen Shapiro, an author and keynote speaker who while in Asia had his BlackBerry stolen and whom I wrote about on Tuesday. In a post today, he describes his newfound freedom. He checks his e-mail once or twice a day, and leaves the cheap cell phone he bought behind when he goes out. “I’m getting more work done in less time, because I can stay focused on the task at hand, rather than reading and responding to emails every 5 seconds.” Freedom indeed.

Author and keynote speaker Stephen Shapiro had his BlackBerry stolen in Malaysia at the beginning of a three week trip and has been detailing his “withdrawal”. In Stay Connected by Disconnecting he explains the difficulties involved and in CrackBerry Addiction he has had 24 hours to contemplate his dilemma, and decided that periods of “disconnection” are healthy, as they “should improve your productivity, increase your ability to stay focused, enhance your relationships, and reduce your stress”.

A recent NYT Shifting Careers blog post (Subscription required) is guest-written by Maggie Jackson, the author of a new book ominously titled, Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age.

The reason for the implied and impending doom can be found in the publisher’s description of the book; “our near-religious allegiance to a constant state of motion and addiction to multitasking are eroding our capacity for deep, sustained, perceptive attention—the building block of intimacy, wisdom and cultural progress and stunting society’s ability to comprehend what’s relevant and permanent” and clearly, we are surround by examples of this. (CR readers have read about this issue here and here and here.)

Moving away from the gloom and doom, how do we combat distraction in our own lives and encourage our staffs to do likewise?

The issue is largely a cultural one. Jackson says, “What’s needed is a renaissance of attention — a revaluing and cultivating of the art of attention, to help us achieve depth of thought and relations in this complex, high-tech time”. According to the research she’s read, attention is “a trio of skills: focus, awareness and so-called executive attention”, which she explains this way: “You can be aware that you’re in a beautiful garden and then you can focus on an individual flower… executive attention is the ability to plan and make decisions.” For this last state to occur, we must consciously disconnect from the distractions; phone & cell phone ringers off, IM off, E-Mail Off, and if necessary, some sort of “do not disturb” sign.

Jackson continues, “to combat overload, we also need to look to our environments. That’s why a few pioneering companies are creating places or times for uninterrupted, focused creative thought. IBM employees practice “Think Fridays” worldwide, avoiding or cutting back on e-mail, meetings and interruptions. Other firms are setting aside unwired, quiet rooms.”

She ends with a quote that is bound to become another favorite of mine, “‘Wisdom is the art of knowing what to overlook,’ wrote William James, the father of American psychology research. Long ago, he identified the foremost challenge of our time: how to allocate our attention. And now, we’re beginning to discover what he foretold: that living distracted just isn’t smart.”

There’s plenty to contemplate here. Do we have work environments that enable focus and creativity? If not, what can we do differently?