--- description: I’ve posted a ton of research about how conscientiousness may be the most important personality trait out there. What’s conscientiousness? Having your act together. Neat... title: How Poor Planning and Being Impulsive Can Lead to Big Wins In Life image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Psychology](/tag/psychology/) ## Psychology Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # How Poor Planning and Being Impulsive Can Lead to Big Wins In Life by [Eric Barker](/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 27, 2014 4:01 AM CUT by [Eric Barker](/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 27, 2014 4:01 AM CUT **I’ve posted a ton of research about how** [**conscientiousness may be the most important personality trait out there**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/11/personality-trait-determine-future/ "undefined")**.** What’s conscientiousness? Having your act together. Neat and tidy. Organized and on time. [**Success**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2010/10/what-personality-traits-predict-higher-income/ "undefined")**,** [**health**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2011/12/is-there-a-common-feeling-that-might-lead-to/ "undefined")**,** [**happy marriages**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/01/what-personality-trait-should-you-seek-in-a-s/ "undefined") **– they’re all tied to it.** Which can be really depressing because, frankly, I’m not all that conscientious. But this begs the question: **are there benefits to not being conscientious?** Yes, as a matter of fact, there are. ## My Spaghetti Abilities Are Unstoppable Peter Skillman created a design exercise called “The Spaghetti Problem.” Groups get 20 pieces of spaghetti, tape, some string and a marshmallow. **The group that creates the tallest freestanding structure that will support the marshmallow’s weight within 18 minutes, wins.** He tested groups of engineers, managers, MBA students, etc. Did tons of planning help? Nope. Really thinking things through provide an advantage? Nope. **You know who outperformed everyone?** **Who crushed the engineers and decimated the MBA students?** **Kindergarteners.** Skillman explains. (Watch from 1:17 mins to 4:04 mins): **Conscientiousness correlates with a lot of good things — b** **ut**[**creativity isn’t one of them**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/10/schools-workplaces-kill-creativity/ "undefined")**.** Via [How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0547564651/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0547564651&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20 "undefined"): In fact, [people with attention deficit disorder are more creative](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/03/is-there-an-upside-to-attention-deficit-disor/ "undefined"). There are not many best practices for constructing freestanding spaghetti structures. No planning was going to help here. **What was the kindergarteners secret?** **They just jumped in. They started failing immediately — and learning quickly.** This was their system: Prototype and test. Prototype and test. Prototype and test — until the time was up. Via [The Up Side of Down: Why Failing Well Is the Key to Success](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/067002614X/?tag=spacforrent-20 "undefined"): **This also works for people over four feet tall. Like you.** ## All Geniuses Use The Same System **All creative people arrive at greatness by the same system: trial and error. Prototype and test. Just like the kindergarteners.** How does Chris Rock create great comedy? By [bombing repeatedly onstage](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/07/how-does-chris-rock-create-such-brilliant-com/ "undefined") to see what works before he goes on TV. [Peter Sims](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/09/peter-sims/ "undefined"), author of [Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge from Small Discoveries](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1439170436/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1439170436&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20 "undefined"), explains: And that’s exactly what Skillman found. Multiple iterations win in the end. Via [The Up Side of Down: Why Failing Well Is the Key to Success](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/067002614X/?tag=spacforrent-20 "undefined"): If I read one more article about how companies can’t innovate I’m going to throw up. **You can’t be risk-averse, prone to punishing failure and expect creativity.** In his acclaimed bestseller [The Lean Startup](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307887898/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0307887898&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20 "undefined") Eric Ries makes it very clear: I’ve seen this myself. **When I was writing in Hollywood no one ever told me “Don’t make mistakes.” They told me to make my mistakes** **_early_** **.** One very successful writer told me: “Every writer has three bad screenplays in them. Get those out of the way as quickly as possible.” ## Failing Is Dangerous — Here’s How To Do It Right We’ve all read articles that say “Don’t be afraid to fail.” Yeah, that’s BS. **There are very good reasons to be afraid of failure. You can look stupid. You can get fired.** There’s a reason why conscientiousness is prized, but it’s an inherently conservative strategy. **How do you bridge the gap and fail well so you can be creative and improve? Here are 3 tips:** **1) “Little Bets”** [Baby steps](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/09/how-can-we-spur-innovation-at-work-and-in-our/ "undefined"). Test theories with experiments that aren’t too expensive or risky. Via [Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge from Small Discoveries](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1439170428/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1439170428&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20 "undefined"): **2) Give your ideas time** Many of [the greats used notebooks](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/07/strokes-of-genius/ "undefined") to let their ideas evolve and grow until they were perfect. Eureka moments are a myth. **A great idea comes into the world by drips and drabs, false starts, and rough sketches.** Via [Zig Zag: The Surprising Path to Greater Creativity](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BG62E9C/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00BG62E9C&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20 "undefined"): **3) Hide From The Boss** **When you’re testing, avoid situations where you’ll be judged.** They can be paralyzing. As Stanford professors [Jeffrey Pfeffer](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/04/interview-stanford-mba-school-professor-teaches-secret-promotions-raises-power/ "undefined") and [Bob Sutton](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/11/scaling-up-excellence/ "undefined") point out, **bosses hurt creativity because no one wants to fail in front of the boss.** Via [Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths, and Total Nonsense: Profiting from Evidence-based Management](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005DI8XS0/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B005DI8XS0&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20 "undefined"): [Megan McArdle](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/067002614X/?tag=spacforrent-20 "undefined") quotes Alain de Botton as saying: ## How To Get Started Maybe you’re already an impulsive risk-taker. Congrats, you’re a born innovator. What if you’ve had that whipped out of you by years of schooling and performance reviews? Where do you start? How do you get a little of it back? **All you need to do is remember who ruled at the spaghetti experiment: Children.** **Research shows that merely** [**pretending to be a child again increases creativity**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2010/10/how-to-quickly-and-easily-be-more-creative/ "undefined")**:** **When you need a breakthrough, when planning and preparation won’t help — it’s time to act like a kid again.** **Join 45K+ readers.** Get a free weekly update via email [here](http://eepurl.com/o6uAD "undefined"). Related posts: [8 Things The World’s Most Successful People All Have In Common](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/12/successful-people/ "undefined") [What 10 things should you do every day to improve your life?](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/05/what-10-things-should-you-do-every-day-to-imp/ "undefined") [How To Make Your Life Better By Sending Five Simple Emails](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/07/make-your-life-better/ "undefined") _This piece originally appeared on_ [_Barking Up the Wrong Tree_](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/ "undefined")_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/110864/how-poor-planning-and-being-impulsive-can-lead-to-big-wins-in-life/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/110864/how-poor-planning-and-being-impulsive-can-lead-to-big-wins-in-life/"},"headline":"How Poor Planning and Being Impulsive Can Lead to Big Wins In Life","datePublished":"2014-05-27T04:01:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:54:09.653Z","description":"I’ve posted a ton of research about how conscientiousness may be the most important personality trait out there. What’s conscientiousness? Having your act together. Neat...","url":"https://time.com/110864/how-poor-planning-and-being-impulsive-can-lead-to-big-wins-in-life/","keywords":["Psychology","Happiness","health","Success topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eric Barker","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eric-barker/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/110864/how-poor-planning-and-being-impulsive-can-lead-to-big-wins-in-life/","name":"How Poor Planning and Being Impulsive Can Lead to Big Wins In Life"}}]}] ```