[This is so late that I am going to back-date it so that all the BBGMBC posts stay together. Here we go!]
Today, July 15th, we continue the discussion for the Beyond Busy Global Monthly Book Club’s fourth book.
Anyone who has read our current discussion book can participate by commenting. You can also join our public BBGMBC Facebook group, if you would like to join us in reading one excellent quality book per month and then discussing it here.
And without further ado, let’s keep the discussion of Imagine: How Creativity Works by Johah Lehrer going.
It’s been over a week now since I finished reading this book and I have to ask myself what has stayed with me from what I read?
I’m happy that I have my notes from the book because I do find the book rather difficult to remember. But one chapter sticks out in my mind most. I feel like I can recall many of the points without having to go back to my notes. It’s the chapter about Shakespeare becoming a prolific writer in Elizabethan England. This section stood out for me because Lehrer seemed to be answering a long-standing question that many have always wondered about Shakespeare. That question is: how the heck did he become so prolific?
The way Lehrer explained it, I found his explanation to be credible. It was the perfect cultural combination of time and place and economic opportunity. When Lehrer talked about how so many of these opportunities to succeed as writers would not have existed only a few decades before, I felt moved. I felt like, wow, we might have missed out on Shakespeare. I could not even image that.
Think of how much Shakespeare has contributed to theater and literature. It’s impossible for me to imagine either without his works. So of all of the sections of the book, this one made the greatest impression on me.
Another part of the book that made a big impression on me was the section where Lehrer talked about the guy who moonlighted as a bartender and came up with the idea of a bacon-infused old-fashioned.
My parents drank old-fashions when I was a kid, so I know exactly what they taste like. And I have to say, that I found the idea of a bacon-infused old-fashioned absolutely fascinating. But mostly it stayed with me because it was like I could taste the drink while I was reading the book. I’m not sure if every reader had the same experience. In fact, I saw that one book reviewer was really annoyed with this example in the book. But I have to say that it must have meant something to the author because he wrote about it so compellingly and memorably.
And, reluctantly, I have to admit that there was one more section of the book that has stayed with me. It was the part about the invention of The Swiffer. I don’t use a Swiffer Sweeper. I find them annoying because they force me to buy into a whole system of products that I don’t necessarily want to support. However, I was hooked on the Swiffer dusters until I hired a cleaning team that believes in a washable mop head and good old-fashioned rags for dusting. So when I need to do a little spot mopping, I grab some Mrs. Meyer’s spray (because it smells really good) and an old-fashioned sponge mop. And it’s good enough for me.
However, I found the discussion of how the idea for the Swiffer mop was born to be very interesting. And what I got out of it more than anything is that if you want to revolutionize anything, you need to think outside the box. And thinking outside the box might seem easy, but it’s always much harder than you might expect. And it requires a ton of observation and analysis. And that makes sense to me.
So how about you. Without looking back at your notes, what sections or images come back to you from Imagine: How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer?
And thanks for joining the discussion!
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The bartender example stuck with me as well- the power of observation that lead to creativity. Had me wondering how observant I am. It reminded me of the Swiffer example- how they watched videos for months on mopping- how boring does that sound? But in both cases watching what would become boring or routine led them to breakthroughs.
The Chapter on the power of Q also stuck with me. Powerful concept and one to think about even when say starting a book club- do not get a just freinds group for example.
Swiffer, Dylan, Auden, Pixar, Greenwich Village, the research that showed what happens in the brain just before a person has an insight. That you always have to return to Beginner’s Mind. I loved the discussion of Innocentive and how it capitalizes on what some of the other companies, like 3M, already know: that cross-pollination between people studying different subjects is vital to finding breakthroughs. I have always had wide ranging interests and this was further validation that all things eventually relate to all other things. Loved this book and really think it will stick with me for a long time.
I actually re-read the section about the bacon-infused old fashioned because I wanted to go get one after reading his description — I could TASTE it on the kindle! (Take that smellovision…)
I also found the section on swiffer to be memorable, because it reminded me that sometimes the best feedback comes from people who have a lot less technical knowledge than the creator. It’s easy to dismiss feedback from someone who doesn’t understand the complexities of a problem without really thinking through their criticisms. When a reader says “I don’t understand this!” the answer MUST be “what can I do to clarify?” not “Well, then you just aren’t smart enough to get it!” Sometimes that dismissive answer is my knee-jerk.
I found the descriptions of neighborhoods in Greenwich village memorable, and they made me think about how all the geographic locations I have called home have affected my creativity. I think the internet is allowing people to form different kinds of neighborhoods now, and I wonder how we can boost our creative power by rambling through the “right” neighborhoods in cyberspace. I tend to think of it as a black hole that sucks up my time, but there is a lot to be gained by taking in ideas, making connections and letting our work reflect that coalescence.
The Late start today! Have a great weekend all.
The highlight of the book for me was hearing about Clay Marzo. This solitary surfer and his board waiting patiently all morning for just the right wave and then creating magic, doing things on a surfboard that no one else can do, envisioning it and then making it happen. The creativity and complexity of his surfing skill is awesome in the true sense of the word. Despite having Asperger’s syndrome, this young man imagines and creates things that no one else even comes close to on a surfboard. And we can have our own amazing moments. Not necessarily as dangerous as Clay’s, but great within our own sphere of influence. His accomplishments fill my heart with joy and gratitude.