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Barker is the author of Barking Up The Wrong Tree

In Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation, Steven Johnson posits that “the more disorganized your brain is, the smarter you are” in reference to the results of a neuroscience experiment by Robert Thatcher.

Across the board, in Johnson’s book and other sources it seems pretty clear that creativity is messy.

Ideas need to be sloshing around or crashing in to one another to produce breakthroughs:

  • The “accept everything” mantra of brainstorming doesn’t work. Debate is far more effective. Let those ideas fight.

At the end of his book Johnson recommends:

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This piece originally appeared on Barking Up the Wrong Tree.

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