In one of the chapters, he mentions a study of architects widely regarded to be most creative in their field by their peers. Architects were picked because their jobs involve a clear combination of the creative and practical.
When he compared the architects considered most creative, he found two key differences: The first was that they hadn’t forgotten how to “play” in the sense that they hadn’t unlearned that instinct from their childhood when it came to coming up with ideas. Secondly, and more surprisingly, they appeared to procrastinate more, or at least he thought that at first. But on closer inspection, he concluded that they were choosing not to decide if there was no advantage to deciding early. He noticed that lots of people like to make decisions sooner because they are uncomfortable with holding an unresolved issue in their mind for too long. It creates anxiety, plus there is status in groups to be gained by appearing decisive since others like closure sooner as well. But the research suggested that the trait of not deciding before there was a disadvantage to waiting suggested a greater sense of comfort with the ambiguity that persisted before making the decision.
I thought this was interesting because it resonates with what I’ve observed in some of the people who have come up with creative breakthroughs. You might like that book if you haven’t seen it already.
David—this is a topic I think about a lot since I work with a lot of startups that usually need to operate with a high sense of urgency to succeed.
Another take on decisiveness is offered by John Cleese in his book on creativity.
https://www.amazon.com/Creativity-Short-Cheerful-John-Cleese/dp/0385348274
In one of the chapters, he mentions a study of architects widely regarded to be most creative in their field by their peers. Architects were picked because their jobs involve a clear combination of the creative and practical.
When he compared the architects considered most creative, he found two key differences: The first was that they hadn’t forgotten how to “play” in the sense that they hadn’t unlearned that instinct from their childhood when it came to coming up with ideas. Secondly, and more surprisingly, they appeared to procrastinate more, or at least he thought that at first. But on closer inspection, he concluded that they were choosing not to decide if there was no advantage to deciding early. He noticed that lots of people like to make decisions sooner because they are uncomfortable with holding an unresolved issue in their mind for too long. It creates anxiety, plus there is status in groups to be gained by appearing decisive since others like closure sooner as well. But the research suggested that the trait of not deciding before there was a disadvantage to waiting suggested a greater sense of comfort with the ambiguity that persisted before making the decision.
I thought this was interesting because it resonates with what I’ve observed in some of the people who have come up with creative breakthroughs. You might like that book if you haven’t seen it already.