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CREATIVITY IS CONNECTING THINGS
As Edison said, “Nearly every man who develops an idea works it up to the point where it looks impossible, and then he gets discouraged. That’s not the place to become discouraged.” Indeed, that’s the place to start looking for a connection and finding a purpose in your thinking. The question is then, How can this be?
There are success stories of individuals and organizations that made the leap to employees’ engagement and idea generation.
Let’s talk about story from Japan.
FIND-A-WAY ATTITUDE
In November 2019, I was invited by the Japan foreign ministry to visit Japan and meet Japanese officials, global brands, and corporate leaders as recognition for my efforts to enhance and support the business relationship between UAE and Japan. Part of the trip was to use the bullet train to travel from Kyoto to Tokyo. This trip was very memorable as I had the chance to see and wave to His Majesty Naruhito and Her Majesty Masako, who happened to be on the same train. We were so happy to meet.
The origin of the bullet train is also very unique. The story goes that when Japanese engineers proudly unveiled the latest model of the bullet train, they didn’t anticipate the downside of speed. The new train came zooming out of tunnels so fast that it created a sonic boom. Neighbors from half a kilometer away complained. The sound was clearly out of regulation, putting the new train at risk of being decommissioned!
Company engineer Eiji Nakatsu studied the problem. He recognized that the sound was the result of the train hitting the higher air pressure outside when it emerged from the tunnel. He went in search of an analogy or a similar experience that would help him study something that moved seamlessly at high speed from a low-pressure environment into a high-pressure one. From a researcher point of view, that can mean looking at things in ways people haven’t looked at before.
“Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
Albert Einstein
Nakatsu was also a birdwatcher and knew that a kingfisher could enter the water without creating a ripple. The long wedged shape of its beak allowed it to move seamlessly from air to water. He redesigned the front of the train to mimic the kingfisher’s beak. The connection he made not only resolved the noise problem, it let the train use 15 percent less electricity and travel 10 percent faster.
Every thought and action you take corresponds to a series of neurons in your brain. And these neurons connect to other neurons to make what researchers call neural maps. For instance, when you think of the color red, you don’t just think of the color itself, but also likely an object such as an apple or a fire truck. The color is connected to something concrete in your brain. And it does this for higher-level actions as well. Caroline Webb notes in How to Have a Good Day, “If you once spent an afternoon cranking out great work while settled into that window seat [at home], your ‘window seat’ neural network might be connected with the one representing ‘extremely productive and focused behavior.’”
