262ventures.com

There is just too much good stuff flowing out of the New Yorker these days, say what you will about the ‘controversial’ cover.  I need to mention a particular article, “The Eureka Hunt“, in which Jonah Lehrer describes recent advances in neurological process of insights, which is extremely relevant to those working in the creative, scientific, and services industries.  The basic premise of the article is “How do we have those ‘Eureka!’ moments” when suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, we solve a problem we have been struggling with.  I’m quite certain that every human being has had this moment, typically when we least expect it.  I recall solving many research problems in graduate school while sleeping or playing our indoor version of the basketball game HORSE.

The moral of the story, according to the conducted research, is that diligence, focus, and drive are required to get us through the necessary analysis and extrapolation of a problem, until we reach the point where a unique insight or leap needs to be made.  But at that point, those same qualities that we store in the the work ethic tool chest, need to be abandoned to allow insights to occur, to allow our brain to make connections between what our brain stores as disparate concepts.  The researchers suggest that only when we allow ourselves to relax, to allow our minds to wander can we invoke the required parts of our brain to make these connections.  What are the consequences of this research?  For companies that rely on major intellectual advances, it is important to foster an environment that can promote this relaxation.  A few examples: ping pong tables, yoga, guitar hero, a library of book, dart boards, surfboards.  The author even specifically mentions the success of Google, the corporate king of blending the work-relaxation environment.

What else can we do to stimulate insightful thinking?

Tags: Insight, New Yorker

This entry was posted on Monday, July 28th, 2008 at 4:37 pm and is filed under Management, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.