Click here to read Part I of the series Ingenuity in Storytelling.
If ingenuity improves whatever it is applied to, why don’t I use it on every project I take on?
Ingenuity isn’t obvious, otherwise it would simply be the standard. On top of that, just because I used ingenuity yesterday doesn’t guarantee I will today. The path to ingenuity is a tough thing to map out; it eludes a formula.
Instead of trying to spell out hard and fast rules, I’m going to look at it in terms of things that will either produce or destroy ingenuity. In other words: friends and foes.
FOES OF INGENUITY
1. That sounds exhausting.
When I wake up in the morning my muscles are sore and tight. I know that if I stretch for just 10 minutes or so and pump out a few push-ups and crunches, my blood will get going and the rest of the day will go well. The problem is, when I first wake up, that sounds exhausting. I just want to go back to sleep or slink into the shower and skip the exercise.
On the days I don’t give myself the time to stretch and exercise, I pay the price with low energy, stiffness, and lack of mobility. How often do you see ‘creative’ work that fits that same description? Like visual examples? Here’s one:
2. Distra… wait, what were you saying?
There are 1,000 things to distract me from performing high quality work each day. For example, this, this, this (you know, for a creativity room!), and this.
3. Flexible standards of excellence (not as good as it sounds).
Time and energy may limit the use of ingenuity on every single project we work on. Those should be our only limits.
Unfortunately, when a client or boss will accept less than our best work we often lower our standards of excellence accordingly. How many of your clients have a refined sense for quality creative work? If they don’t, how does that affect your effort?
4. The game speeds up on you.
I borrowed this phrase from sports. You can see it most clearly with a baseball example: A young pitcher is cruising along doing fine, then he gives up a solo home run. It’s just one run, everything should be fine. But, all of a sudden, that pitcher can’t hit the strike zone. He walks a couple batters, tries to overcompensate and grooves a pitch or two to the wrong savvy hitter. Next thing you know he’s given up 5 runs and there’s only one out. Once he lost control, the game sped up on him and he couldn’t reign it back in.
This happens to me at work all the time. I’ve got a clear head in the morning; a to-do list that’s concise. By the afternoon I have 9 tabs open on my internet browser and I’m shuffling between 7 applications. I’m hopping from task to task with no big picture perspective. All of a sudden it’s five o’clock. The game sped up on me.
5. Making an effort is not cool.
I kind of blame Seinfeld for this. All of us who were raised on Seinfeld saw on the surface this guy who loafed around, cracked wise with his friends, didn’t stand for much, lived in New York, and had a very comfortable lifestyle. As previously discussed here, we were already spoiled and believed ourselves bound for greatness. This didn’t help.
FRIENDS OF INGENUITY
1. Lending your all to solving the problem.
It’s like Don Draper told Peggy Olson, “Concentrate deeply on the problem, and then forget about it completely. An answer will just appear.” I’m not sure it’s the perfect answer, but it is insightful. Focus all your mind’s energy on a problem (no cell phone distractions, no email, no distractions!) and you are well on your way.
2. Do your homework.
Budget time to do your homework, is a little more accurate. Know as much about the history and details of the subject as possible. When you have a vast and deep understanding to draw from you will multiply your options creatively. Time spent actively dedicated to research on a project will show in the results.
3. Cross pollination.
Draw inspiration from a broad variety of sources. Don’t be afraid to apply solutions from diverse areas to your problem, or compare apples to oranges. Sometimes this creates interesting dichotomies and possible solutions. Malcolm Gladwell’s article in the New Yorker, Most Likely to Succeed compares hiring school teachers to drafting NFL quarterbacks. It is a great example of an interesting comparison of apples to oranges.
4. Don’t stop at just a few ideas, keep going.
Exhaust yourself idea-wise. This is where Jerry Seinfeld the man redeems Jerry Seinfeld the TV character. You won’t stumble backwards on to true success.
5. Rigorous investigation of elements.
Ever wonder how Pixar only makes great movies? My dad does. He asks me all the time, “How do they do that? How do they only make really great movies?” Well, this is how: Andrew Stanton, co-writer and director of WALL-E, explains the rigorous process they go through in writing their stories:
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(Click here to stream the entire interview done by Creative Screenwriting Magazine’s Jeff Goldsmith.)
These are just a few friends and foes of ingenuity. What things have you found that produce or destroy ingenuity?
Stay tuned for Ingenuity Observed the ongoing search for ingenuity in the world around us.
Tags: ingenuity, philosophy
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