An Excerpt From “How To Be More Creative – A Handbook for Alchemists”

In this post I’m going to share with you an excerpt from my ebook, “How to Be More Creative – A Handbook for Alchemists”, which did not actually make it into the ebook, simply because I wanted to limit the size of the document (it ended up being 130 pages long).

Below you’ll find an excerpt from “How to Be More Creative – A Handbook for Alchemists”:

Small Spark of Insight v. Sudden Blast of Inspiration

R. Keith Sawyer, Washington University psychologist and author of “Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation”, argues that the sudden creative flash is a byproduct of doing the work. In an interview for Time magazine he explains that researchers use cleverly designed experiments to study the “creative flash”.

In one experiment, subjects were asked to look at words that came up one at a time on a computer screen and to think of the one word that was associated with all of them. After each word they had to give their best guess. Here’s an illustration:

• red
• nut
• bowl
• cup
• basket
• jelly
• fresh
• cocktail
• candy
• pie
• baking
• salad
• tree
• fly

Although most of the test subjects indicated that they had no idea what the answer was until about the twelfth word, their guesses got progressively closer to the correct solution: fruit. That is, even when an idea seems sudden, our minds have actually been working on it all along.

Sawyer refers to the first airplane ever flown to illustrate his point that creative breakthroughs are the result of progressive thought, even if the idea that finally solves the problem seems to be the product of a sudden spark. He explains that on the 8th of December of 1903, Samuel Pierpont Langley—who was one of the leading scientists of the time—launched his flying machine with much fanfare, only to watch it promptly plummet into the Potomac River.

Nine days later, Orville and Wilbur Wright—both bicycle mechanics—got the first plane off the ground. Why did they succeed when a famous scientist had failed just days before? Because Langley hired other people to execute his concept, while the Wright brothers did it themselves. Sawyer adds the following:

“Studying the Wright’s diaries, you see that insight and execution are inextricably woven together. Over the years, as they solved problems like wing shape and wing warping, each adjustment involved a small spark of insight that led to others.”

He admonishes that we should get to work instead of waiting for that one full-blown moment of inspiration. As we work—by gathering data, letting the ideas ferment, conducting experiments, and gradually modifying our approach—we begin to get those tiny little sparks of insight, one after the other.

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I Recommend:

My ebook “How to Be More Creative – A Handbook for Alchemists” explains that creativity is not the sole domain of the arts but is important in any field. Whatever you do, creativity helps you do it better. Discover practical advice on how to be more creative in every life endeavor by reading my ebook.

The Sedona Method is a simple, powerful, easy-to-learn technique that shows you how to let go of any negative, unwanted or painful feelings you may be experiencing at any particular moment. It consists of a series of questions you ask yourself that lead your awareness to focus on what you’re feeling in the moment and gently guide you toward letting it go. Read my review of the Sedona Method here.