Hack Your Creative Block

Written By Jeremy Utley

“Creativity is doing more than the first thing you think of.” This is perhaps the best definition of creativity I’ve ever heard (which, of course, comes from an unknown seventh grader in Ohio): it’s simple, yet profoundly challenging, in that it highlights one of the biggest cognitive biases that keep us from breaking through.

The Einstellung Effect is a well-documented phenomenon, which I’m particularly fond of because of its phonetic resemblance to a certain creative genius I admire. Researchers at Oxford (among other places) have demonstrated that the first idea that comes to mind often prevents a problem solver from finding the best solution. This is true both for experts as well as beginners.

This is a problem for anyone who hopes to be creative, per the definition above…

What’s the key to overcoming the Anti-Einstein Effect?

Simply, remind yourself of the effect. Similar to other cognitive biases, the Einstellung Effect can be short-circuited by a simple phrase: “Interestingly, when Luchins and Luchins gave experimental group subjects the warning, ‘Don't be blind,’ over half of them used the simplest solution to the remaining problems.[2] Thus, this warning helped reduce the prevalence of the Einstellung effect among the experimental group.”

At Stanford, we codify this reminder in a simple daily ritual called the Idea Quota: a daily creative practice which prompts a problem solver to deliberately shift their approach to one problem from the default, quality-orientation, “What’s the answer?” to a generative, quantity-orientation, “What are ten possible answers?” The simple prompt works wonders at opening up creative possibilities.

By shifting the objective from finding the answer, to exploring many possible answers, innovators inherently remind themselves to watch out for the Anti-Einstein. By doing it daily, they train their brains to react to problems differently.

Related: Critical Reminders for Innovation
Related: Try More Than One
Related: Hit Your Idea Quota
Related: Flip One Problem
Related: Train Your Brain

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Jeremy Utley
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