www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zPmertYzGc
Philosophy
Friday, February 24, 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
The Brainstorming Process Is B.S.
The Brainstorming Process Is B.S. But Can We Rework It? | Co.Design: business + innovation + design
The Brainstorming Process Is B.S. But Can We Rework It?
Two recent articles argue that brainstorming doesn't make people more creative. So how might we remake the brainstorming process, given what science tells us?
The business practice of brainstorming has been around with us so long that it seems like unadorned common sense: If you want a rash of new ideas, you get a group of people in a room, have them shout things out, and make sure not to criticize, because that sort of self-censoring is sure to kill the flow of new thoughts.
It wasn’t always so: This entire process was invented by Alex Osborn, one of the founders of BBDO, in the 1940's. It was motivated by Osborn’s own theory of creativity. He thought, quite reasonably, that creativity was both brittle and fickle: In the presence of criticism, it simply couldn’t wring itself free from our own minds. We could only call our muses if judgments didn’t drag us down. Osborn claimed that this very brainstorming process was the secret to BBDO’s durable creativity, allowing his ad guys to produce as many as 87 ideas in 90 minutes--a veritable avalanche. "The brainstorm had turned his employees into imagination machines," writes Jonah Lehrer in a long, excellent article in The New Yorker. But as Lehrer argues, the only problem with all this is that brainstorming is total bullshit.
You’re More Creative Working Alone
As an opening salvo, Lehrer lays out a devastating experiment, conducted in the 1950s, which found that when test subjects tried to solve a complex puzzle, they actually came up with twice as many ideas working alone as they did when working in a group. Numerous studies have since verified that finding: Putting people into big groups doesn’t actually increase the flow of ideas. Group dynamics themselves--rather than overt criticism--work to stifle each person’s potential.
Lehrer doesn’t quite explain why that happens. But in a nice coincidence, Susan Cain tackles that very problem in her upcoming book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. As she explains in The New York Times, groups don’t encourage creativity because of the social pressure they bring to bear:
People in groups tend to sit back and let others do the work; they instinctively mimic others’ opinions and lose sight of their own; and, often succumb to peer pressure. The Emory University neuroscientist Gregory Berns found that when we take a stance different from the group’s, we activate the amygdala, a small organ in the brain associated with the fear of rejection. Professor Berns calls this “the pain of independence.”
Criticism Improves the Brainstorming Process
Those findings all probably make sense to anyone who has sat in a brainstorming session and wondered why Debbie from accounting suddenly became the world’s most vocal expert on car design. (Here, I’m referencing a real-life experience I got sitting in on a brainstorming session for a major car company.) But Lehrer goes on to point out that other studies have shown that the presence of criticism actually increases the flow of ideas. One experiment compared two groups: One which brainstormed with a mandate not to criticize, and another which had the license to debate each others ideas. The second group had 20% more ideas--and even after the session ended, the people in the second group had far more additional ideas than those in the first. Groups don’t encourage creativity because of the social pressure they bring to bear.
Why is that? Lehrer doesn’t really say, and neither do his sources. But this idea makes sense. The problem with traditional brainstorming is the assumption that good ideas can spring up unbidden. In real life, the process is more interesting than that. Usually, inventions often begin when an inventor spots a problem. Good ideas usually don’t hang by themselves, unattached. They come about as solutions. Thus, allowing criticism into a room full of people trying to brainstorm allows them to refine and redefine a problem. Adding more and more complex problems to the mix doesn’t stifle creativity--it actually gives the mind more to work with, simply by demanding that we find better and better answers.
Creativity Is About Happenstance, Not Planning
Lehrer then goes searching for better models of the creative process, and finds a couple. One comes in the form of a professor who was able to study how the relationships within a group affect the quality of their work. Brian Uzzi, a sociologist at Northwestern, found that on Broadway the worst-performing productions were the work of two groups: Those that had worked together too much, and those that had worked together too little. Too much familiarity bred groupthink. Too little meant that they didn’t have enough chemistry to challenge each other. The most productive groups were those with a baseline of familiarity but just enough fresh blood to make things interesting.
But there’s a serendipity involved that you can’t fake: Studies have shown that the most successful groups of scientists also work in extremely close physical proximity. Just being around another creative person is vital to the process, because so many ideas happen as a result of water-cooler chatter and passing contact. The best support comes by anecdote: Building 20, a famous hothouse of ideas on the MIT campus. It worked because its design was so crappy and haphazard. It was nothing more than a sheetrock box, but in its maze of corridors and cramped offices, scientists of all stripes often found themselves happening upon conversations with others from wildly different fields. It’s no accident that so many breakthroughs came from that building, including radar, microwaves, the first video games, and Chomskyan linguistics.
Increasingly, companies such as Vitra are designing workspaces designed to blend intense solitude, shown above, and relaxed, freewheeling sociability.
Can We Rework the Brainstorming Paradigm?
I laid out all of these details from Lehrer’s article because each of these findings suggest that the brainstorming process might not be totally hopeless after all. We know that breakthrough insight likely requires intense, individual reflection. We also know that criticism unlocks creativity. And finally, we know that creativity can be fostered by a certain type of physical space. Solutions only flow when the problem becomes interesting enough to demand new ideas.
Each of these findings, taken together, is cause for optimism. For one, the brainstorming might work better if it focused not on finding solutions, but rather identifying problems. What if, during a brainstorming session, people weren’t asked to simply throw out ideas, but rather problems as well. Granted, you’ve still got the annoying problem of groupthink. But the fact is that people are usually better at finding fault than they are at finding answers. Properly harnessed, that could be a good thing. Let’s say, for example, you’re trying to invent a new computer UI. It’s much more productive to find what drives people nuts and the features that keep them from doing what they want to do than it is to find out what sort of computer they’d like to have in some idealized fantasy world. Solving such a complex problem as UI design demands a certain subtlety and depth of thought. But those solutions only begin flowing when the problem becomes interesting enough to demand new ideas. My point is that by reframing what we expect to gain from some technique such as brainstorming, we might make it far more useful.
Editor’s Note
Numerous designers are thinking hard about office designs that foster spontaneity and collaboration, including Vitra and Allsteel.
Finally, the fact that office design can so dramatically affect the work we produce means that designers have the wherewithal to affect a company’s core mission. Designers really can make a company smarter, if they embrace the chaotic reality of creativity, rather than trying to create spaces where every last function and possibility has its place. In other words, there might be room for a new design paradigm that embraces both limitations and flexibility. You can create offices where accidental encounters are encouraged. And you can create offices where nothing is ever fixed. The smartest office isn’t perfect, and it isn’t permanent.
Top image by Matthew Jacques via Shutterstock; image of thumbs by Dmitriy Shironosov/Shutterstock.
The Brainstorming Process Is B.S. But Can We Rework It?
Two recent articles argue that brainstorming doesn't make people more creative. So how might we remake the brainstorming process, given what science tells us?
The business practice of brainstorming has been around with us so long that it seems like unadorned common sense: If you want a rash of new ideas, you get a group of people in a room, have them shout things out, and make sure not to criticize, because that sort of self-censoring is sure to kill the flow of new thoughts.
It wasn’t always so: This entire process was invented by Alex Osborn, one of the founders of BBDO, in the 1940's. It was motivated by Osborn’s own theory of creativity. He thought, quite reasonably, that creativity was both brittle and fickle: In the presence of criticism, it simply couldn’t wring itself free from our own minds. We could only call our muses if judgments didn’t drag us down. Osborn claimed that this very brainstorming process was the secret to BBDO’s durable creativity, allowing his ad guys to produce as many as 87 ideas in 90 minutes--a veritable avalanche. "The brainstorm had turned his employees into imagination machines," writes Jonah Lehrer in a long, excellent article in The New Yorker. But as Lehrer argues, the only problem with all this is that brainstorming is total bullshit.
You’re More Creative Working Alone
As an opening salvo, Lehrer lays out a devastating experiment, conducted in the 1950s, which found that when test subjects tried to solve a complex puzzle, they actually came up with twice as many ideas working alone as they did when working in a group. Numerous studies have since verified that finding: Putting people into big groups doesn’t actually increase the flow of ideas. Group dynamics themselves--rather than overt criticism--work to stifle each person’s potential.
Lehrer doesn’t quite explain why that happens. But in a nice coincidence, Susan Cain tackles that very problem in her upcoming book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. As she explains in The New York Times, groups don’t encourage creativity because of the social pressure they bring to bear:
People in groups tend to sit back and let others do the work; they instinctively mimic others’ opinions and lose sight of their own; and, often succumb to peer pressure. The Emory University neuroscientist Gregory Berns found that when we take a stance different from the group’s, we activate the amygdala, a small organ in the brain associated with the fear of rejection. Professor Berns calls this “the pain of independence.”
Criticism Improves the Brainstorming Process
Those findings all probably make sense to anyone who has sat in a brainstorming session and wondered why Debbie from accounting suddenly became the world’s most vocal expert on car design. (Here, I’m referencing a real-life experience I got sitting in on a brainstorming session for a major car company.) But Lehrer goes on to point out that other studies have shown that the presence of criticism actually increases the flow of ideas. One experiment compared two groups: One which brainstormed with a mandate not to criticize, and another which had the license to debate each others ideas. The second group had 20% more ideas--and even after the session ended, the people in the second group had far more additional ideas than those in the first. Groups don’t encourage creativity because of the social pressure they bring to bear.
Why is that? Lehrer doesn’t really say, and neither do his sources. But this idea makes sense. The problem with traditional brainstorming is the assumption that good ideas can spring up unbidden. In real life, the process is more interesting than that. Usually, inventions often begin when an inventor spots a problem. Good ideas usually don’t hang by themselves, unattached. They come about as solutions. Thus, allowing criticism into a room full of people trying to brainstorm allows them to refine and redefine a problem. Adding more and more complex problems to the mix doesn’t stifle creativity--it actually gives the mind more to work with, simply by demanding that we find better and better answers.
Creativity Is About Happenstance, Not Planning
Lehrer then goes searching for better models of the creative process, and finds a couple. One comes in the form of a professor who was able to study how the relationships within a group affect the quality of their work. Brian Uzzi, a sociologist at Northwestern, found that on Broadway the worst-performing productions were the work of two groups: Those that had worked together too much, and those that had worked together too little. Too much familiarity bred groupthink. Too little meant that they didn’t have enough chemistry to challenge each other. The most productive groups were those with a baseline of familiarity but just enough fresh blood to make things interesting.
But there’s a serendipity involved that you can’t fake: Studies have shown that the most successful groups of scientists also work in extremely close physical proximity. Just being around another creative person is vital to the process, because so many ideas happen as a result of water-cooler chatter and passing contact. The best support comes by anecdote: Building 20, a famous hothouse of ideas on the MIT campus. It worked because its design was so crappy and haphazard. It was nothing more than a sheetrock box, but in its maze of corridors and cramped offices, scientists of all stripes often found themselves happening upon conversations with others from wildly different fields. It’s no accident that so many breakthroughs came from that building, including radar, microwaves, the first video games, and Chomskyan linguistics.
Increasingly, companies such as Vitra are designing workspaces designed to blend intense solitude, shown above, and relaxed, freewheeling sociability.
Can We Rework the Brainstorming Paradigm?
I laid out all of these details from Lehrer’s article because each of these findings suggest that the brainstorming process might not be totally hopeless after all. We know that breakthrough insight likely requires intense, individual reflection. We also know that criticism unlocks creativity. And finally, we know that creativity can be fostered by a certain type of physical space. Solutions only flow when the problem becomes interesting enough to demand new ideas.
Each of these findings, taken together, is cause for optimism. For one, the brainstorming might work better if it focused not on finding solutions, but rather identifying problems. What if, during a brainstorming session, people weren’t asked to simply throw out ideas, but rather problems as well. Granted, you’ve still got the annoying problem of groupthink. But the fact is that people are usually better at finding fault than they are at finding answers. Properly harnessed, that could be a good thing. Let’s say, for example, you’re trying to invent a new computer UI. It’s much more productive to find what drives people nuts and the features that keep them from doing what they want to do than it is to find out what sort of computer they’d like to have in some idealized fantasy world. Solving such a complex problem as UI design demands a certain subtlety and depth of thought. But those solutions only begin flowing when the problem becomes interesting enough to demand new ideas. My point is that by reframing what we expect to gain from some technique such as brainstorming, we might make it far more useful.
Editor’s Note
Numerous designers are thinking hard about office designs that foster spontaneity and collaboration, including Vitra and Allsteel.
Finally, the fact that office design can so dramatically affect the work we produce means that designers have the wherewithal to affect a company’s core mission. Designers really can make a company smarter, if they embrace the chaotic reality of creativity, rather than trying to create spaces where every last function and possibility has its place. In other words, there might be room for a new design paradigm that embraces both limitations and flexibility. You can create offices where accidental encounters are encouraged. And you can create offices where nothing is ever fixed. The smartest office isn’t perfect, and it isn’t permanent.
Top image by Matthew Jacques via Shutterstock; image of thumbs by Dmitriy Shironosov/Shutterstock.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
What Animals Live in Mountains in Europe?
Source: http://www.squidoo.com/animals-in-the-alps
Animals that live in mountains like the Alps in Europe are naturally enough often those that shy away from contact with humans. However, if you do visit the Alps and walk quietly away from the busy paths, you may well see some of these Alpine animals and birds during your wanderings.
Top Ten Animals in the Alps
I've listed here 10 of the most loved animals (and a bird) found in the Alps. They include the Alpine Marmot, the Chamois and Alpine Ibex, and the European Lynx.
Some others are animals that live in mountains in other parts of Europe or on other continents too, such as the Red Squirrel and the Brown Hare. But all are a wonderful part of the Alpine ecosystem whose existence is jeopardised to some degree by human threats. Already a number of native species of Alpine animals have disappeared, the bear, wolf, and beaver among them.
While captive breeding programmes seek to stop the extinction of these creatures, there is nothing quite like seeing animals in the mountains where they belong.
(Photograph of Alpine Marmot copyright wordcustard.com)
Alpine Marmot -- Marmota marmota
Murmeltier (German), Marmotte (French), Marmotta (Italian)
The Alpine Marmot is a rodent with a thick fur coat, large front teeth, and small ears. This much-loved animal can be seen scampering around sunny mountain slopes and may occasionally wander across your path. Some marmot populations, such as those near the alpine mountain resort Davos in Switzerland, have become more used to humans and will eat from the hand.
The Alpine Marmot belongs to the squirrel family, and eats grass and herbs. It hibernates in winter.
Video of Marmots in Austria
See these delightful Alpine animals eat and play
This short nature film about marmots shows a marmot family up close in the Austrian Alps. (There is brief narration in German.)
powered by Youtube
Red Squirrel -- Sciurus Vulgaris
Eichhoernchen (German), Ecureuil (French), Scoiattolo (Italian)
Sadly not as common a sight as once it was, the Red Squirrel is now a protected species. Although generally recognisable by its reddish colouring, a Red Squirrel can also have black fur, and it has a pale underbelly.
The Red Squirrel lives in woodland, as well as in parks and gardens. Its diet includes eggs and young birds in addition to plants.
Brown Hare -- Lepus capensis
Hase (German), Lievre (French), Lepre (Italian)
The Brown Hare is another creature that may be found across Europe, but this endangered species is generally wary of humans and is well-suited to solitary life in Alpine areas.
In breeding season, Brown Hares can be seen 'boxing' with their forefeet as they balance on their hind legs.
The Brown Hare has a mainly plant-based diet but occasionally will also eat small animals.
Edible Dormouse or Fat Dormouse -- Glis glis
Siebenschlaefer (German), Loir (French), Moscardino (Italian)
The Edible Dormouse (also known as the Fat Dormouse) is one of 3 varieties of Dormice found in the Alpine regions. The (ironically) rarer Common Dormouse and the Tree Dormouse are protected species, and are smaller and lighter.
This little rodent has large, dark eyes and thick grey fur. It has an omnivorous diet that includes plants and berries, eggs and baby birds.
Alpine Ibex -- Capra ibex
Steinbock (German), Bouquetin (French), Stambecco (Italian)
The Alpine Ibex is a type of mountain goat with long curved horns. It lives high up in the Alps where it has a diet of lichen, grass and herbs.
Having been hunted almost to extinction, the Alpine Ibex is now a protected species. It normally lives between 12 and 15 years.
The Pine Marten belongs to the same family as the badger, stoat and otter, and all can be found in the Alps. It lives in woodland and forests.
The Pine Marten has a dark coat with yellowish underparts and a distinctive yellow throat patch. It eats small mammals such as squirrels, birds and their eggs, and berries.
The Eagle Owl is the largest species of owl that is found in the mountains of the Alps. It can be up to 70 cm (27 inches) in height. The Eagle Owl has distinctive bright orange eyes and tufted ears, and feathered legs.
The Eagle Owl generally lives on high rocky ledges and hunts mammals and birds.
Other species of owl found in Alpine areas include in order of descending size: Tawny Owl, Long-Eared Owl, Barn Owl, Tengmalm's Owl, Little Owl, Scops Owl, and Pygmy Owl.
AND More.......
Animals that live in mountains like the Alps in Europe are naturally enough often those that shy away from contact with humans. However, if you do visit the Alps and walk quietly away from the busy paths, you may well see some of these Alpine animals and birds during your wanderings.
Top Ten Animals in the Alps
I've listed here 10 of the most loved animals (and a bird) found in the Alps. They include the Alpine Marmot, the Chamois and Alpine Ibex, and the European Lynx.
Some others are animals that live in mountains in other parts of Europe or on other continents too, such as the Red Squirrel and the Brown Hare. But all are a wonderful part of the Alpine ecosystem whose existence is jeopardised to some degree by human threats. Already a number of native species of Alpine animals have disappeared, the bear, wolf, and beaver among them.
While captive breeding programmes seek to stop the extinction of these creatures, there is nothing quite like seeing animals in the mountains where they belong.
(Photograph of Alpine Marmot copyright wordcustard.com)
Alpine Marmot -- Marmota marmota
Murmeltier (German), Marmotte (French), Marmotta (Italian)
The Alpine Marmot is a rodent with a thick fur coat, large front teeth, and small ears. This much-loved animal can be seen scampering around sunny mountain slopes and may occasionally wander across your path. Some marmot populations, such as those near the alpine mountain resort Davos in Switzerland, have become more used to humans and will eat from the hand.
The Alpine Marmot belongs to the squirrel family, and eats grass and herbs. It hibernates in winter.
Video of Marmots in Austria
See these delightful Alpine animals eat and play
This short nature film about marmots shows a marmot family up close in the Austrian Alps. (There is brief narration in German.)
powered by Youtube
Red Squirrel -- Sciurus Vulgaris
Eichhoernchen (German), Ecureuil (French), Scoiattolo (Italian)
Sadly not as common a sight as once it was, the Red Squirrel is now a protected species. Although generally recognisable by its reddish colouring, a Red Squirrel can also have black fur, and it has a pale underbelly.
The Red Squirrel lives in woodland, as well as in parks and gardens. Its diet includes eggs and young birds in addition to plants.
Brown Hare -- Lepus capensis
Hase (German), Lievre (French), Lepre (Italian)
The Brown Hare is another creature that may be found across Europe, but this endangered species is generally wary of humans and is well-suited to solitary life in Alpine areas.
In breeding season, Brown Hares can be seen 'boxing' with their forefeet as they balance on their hind legs.
The Brown Hare has a mainly plant-based diet but occasionally will also eat small animals.
Edible Dormouse or Fat Dormouse -- Glis glis
Siebenschlaefer (German), Loir (French), Moscardino (Italian)
The Edible Dormouse (also known as the Fat Dormouse) is one of 3 varieties of Dormice found in the Alpine regions. The (ironically) rarer Common Dormouse and the Tree Dormouse are protected species, and are smaller and lighter.
This little rodent has large, dark eyes and thick grey fur. It has an omnivorous diet that includes plants and berries, eggs and baby birds.
Alpine Ibex -- Capra ibex
Steinbock (German), Bouquetin (French), Stambecco (Italian)
The Alpine Ibex is a type of mountain goat with long curved horns. It lives high up in the Alps where it has a diet of lichen, grass and herbs.
Having been hunted almost to extinction, the Alpine Ibex is now a protected species. It normally lives between 12 and 15 years.
Chamois -- Rupicapra rupicapra
Gaemse (German), Chamois (French), Camoscio (Italian)
The Chamois is an Alpine goat with a coat that changes from a red-brown with dark underparts in summer to a blackish-brown with light underparts in winter. It has slim, curved horns. It can be recognised by the dark stripes from eye to nose.
The Chamois is perfectly designed for high altitude living on mountainsides. This nimble animal has hooves that allow it to remain stable-footed on rocky ground. It eats grass and herbs.
The tuft of hair that is often seen on traditional alpine hats comes from the neck of the Chamois. It is also known for its soft leather.
Pine Marten -- Martes martes
Marder (German), Marte (French), Martora (Italian)
The Pine Marten belongs to the same family as the badger, stoat and otter, and all can be found in the Alps. It lives in woodland and forests.
The Pine Marten has a dark coat with yellowish underparts and a distinctive yellow throat patch. It eats small mammals such as squirrels, birds and their eggs, and berries.
Eagle Owl -- Bubo bubo
Eule (German), Hibou (French), Gufo (Italian)
The Eagle Owl is the largest species of owl that is found in the mountains of the Alps. It can be up to 70 cm (27 inches) in height. The Eagle Owl has distinctive bright orange eyes and tufted ears, and feathered legs.
The Eagle Owl generally lives on high rocky ledges and hunts mammals and birds.
Other species of owl found in Alpine areas include in order of descending size: Tawny Owl, Long-Eared Owl, Barn Owl, Tengmalm's Owl, Little Owl, Scops Owl, and Pygmy Owl.
AND More.......
Alpine Marmot
The Alpine Marmot belongs to the squirrel family, and eats grass and herbs. It hibernates in winter.
Goats on a Dam
Dam You Crazy: Goats Climbing Vertical Dam
Cingino Dam isn't completely vertical, allowing ibex—such as these goats pictured in summer 2010—to gain some purchase.
Adapted to their perilous environment, Alpine ibex have evolved a specialized split hoof, whose cleft is wider than on any other split-hooved species, according to Smithsonian Magazine. The hoof also has a hard wall that can grab on to steep cliffs and a soft, rubbery inside that serves as a "stopper" when the animal is pushed forward by gravity, the magazine reported.
And because dams are usually built in steep canyons, Cingino's steep rock face is likely nothing novel for the mountain-dwelling ibex, according to Opperman. (See dam pictures.)
Sometimes reaching heights of 16,000 feet (5,000 meters), the herbivores spend their lives scrambling the European Alps' rocky and steep terrain, according to Caters news agency.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Cowboy Monkeys Riding Dogs Herding Goats
And Now Monkeys riding dogs herding goats at a Baseball Game.
There’s nothing as quintessentially American as the dog-riding monkeys of the old west who herded goats to feed a young nation. And add baseball to the mix you have, well, I’m not sure what, exactly, but it seems to be popular. Here in the video below is Team Ghost Riders, who have traveled throughout the land to perform at many of our finest Minor League Baseball venues.
Witness:
Monkeys apparently strapped to the backs of border collies. Is it humane? No one’s asking.
Goats being herded around the outfield, into a pen, and, amazingly, onto the roof of a pickup truck.
Players trying to warm up in the outfield while dodging goats.
So remember, if your local Minor League Baseball team is advertising a Cowboy Monkey Rodeo Night, run — don’t walk — to purchase tickets.
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