THE CREATIVITY PROJECT X HYPER ISLAND 

THE CREATIVITY PROJECT PART I

Originally published on hyperisland.com

This series is dedicated to creativity, in particular how to strengthen our creativity when collaborating with others. This series are part of an ongoing process trying to uncover the mystery of creativity. 

‘Kill your darlings.’ I have heard this phrase repeated a million time throughout my whole life, but it has proven particularly relevant in the process of teamwork.

I have never enjoyed working with others. Back at school, teamwork was the most overwhelming experience. It often became a battle of who will have the best idea, who will argue the best and eventually win this sad competition of creativity. 

However, my experience of teamwork has drastically changed over the past year having being so immersed into collaborating with others. 

Why is working with other people so challenging?

Some time ago, our group task was to find a solution to a problem. Eventually, I got so blindsided, thinking I had had the best idea that I barely listened to others’. Soon enough, my idea failed and my ego suffered. 

One of the biggest challenges in teamwork is to get over your ego. How many times have we thought the idea we have just had is the best one around the table? Plenty of times. 

In his 2010 book The Upside of Irrationality, Dan Ariely, a professor of Behavioral Economics introduces the theory of the ‘Not-Invented-Here bias’. The theory is in other words ‘if I (or we) didn’t invent it, then it’s not worth much’.

This theory is also called the Toothbrush theory, he explains that ‘everyone wants a toothbrush, everyone needs one, but no one wants to use anyone else’s’.

One argument is that the ownership of an idea makes us value our ideas more, sometimes even overvaluing them. We often don’t understand why others find issues in our ideas. 

Whilst committing to ideas can create a great personal drive, we can also end up dismissing others’ ideas, which in retrospect could become more useful than our own. 

Ariely’s conclusion to create a balance in valuing our ideas is ‘to figure out how we can get the most good and least bad out of ourselves’.

Creativity is about connections

That being said, if we think of our best ideas we realize that they took time to form into our minds. Creativity takes time. 

A few times, I have had such epiphanies, realizing that this is the idea I had been looking for. 

But in fact the process of finding ideas is a much longer, and tedious one.

Research made about creativity has shown that ideas are the outcome of many connections your brain has put together. According to Steven Johnson in his 2010 TED talk ‘Where good ideas come from’ makes clear that ‘An idea - a new idea - is a new network of neurons firing in sync with each other inside your brain. It's a new configuration that has never formed before.’

Whilst ideas take time to form in our brains, they’re the product of different outputs in our lives. When I think of all the ideas I have had in the past year, I can only realize that they have been heavily influenced by my experiences, what I have read, what I have discussed with friends or even what I have seen happen in the world. As Steven Johnson puts it ‘we take ideas from other people, from people we've learned from, from people we run into in the coffee shop, and we stitch them together into new forms and we create something new. That's really where innovation happens.’

When I overestimated my ‘oh-so-great idea’ and held on to it only to see it fail, my ego suffered. Sure. Ideas are simply ideas, they are not a reflection of who I am. Whilst committing to our ideas and visions is crucial, we also need to question them. That’s when the rest of the team can come in handy and help your own creativity, making the process a much more enjoyable experience. 

We cannot escape external influences. And we better not try to. Even ideas which don’t seem to go anywhere at first glance might lead to outstanding ones. By listening to others’ ideas, ideas which aren’t our own, we strengthen our own creativity, both for our own good and for the team’s. 

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