Solitude, a Catalyst to Innovation
This is groupthink, a trend ruining our creative spaces and thoughts and numbing the minds of creative professionals everywhere:
(Illustration by Andy Rementer, a very cool artist. You should follow him.)
Brainstorming isn’t bad, of course, as long as it’s used to get a large number of ideas out on the table, right up front. The problem with groupthink and design by committee is that, if the dynamic doesn’t end shortly after the beginning of the process, our end product caters to the lowest common denominator of the group, and it’s nearly guaranteed to be mediocre. Mediocre doesn’t stand out, and it doesn’t fly. It drives companies into an irrelevant oblivion as the lone wolves (think Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Steve Wozniak, Chuck Close, David Airey, Pablo Picasso et al.) think the thoughts and innovate the innovations and get the damn job done.
But… But what about Facebook?
Facebook now has an open office plan, and I’d love to see statistics on what this did to their productivity and creativity. They’re moving up in the world, and it’s definitely the cool thing to do, but they were real world-changers when the entire operation was three people pounding away in a basement.
My advice?
Get a pair of headphones, and learn to love Pandora. Find a quiet corner, even if it’s not the cool thing to do. And, if you’re really interested, read this article in the New York Times which expands on this topic, giving research and statistics… and includes some more nifty illustrations.
