People are biased against creative ideas, studies find(news.cornell.edu)
news.cornell.edu
People are biased against creative ideas, studies find
http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Aug11/ILRCreativityBias.html
17 comments
[deleted]
Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats. -- Howard Aiken
"There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. For the reformer has enemies in all those who profit by the old order, and only lukewarm defenders in all those who would profit by the new order, this lukewarmness arising partly from fear of their adversaries … and partly from the incredulity of mankind, who do not truly believe in anything new until they have had actual experience of it."
– Niccolo Machiavelli
– Niccolo Machiavelli
"Our greatness and efficiency crumbles away not all at once but continually... the everyday, hourly pitiableness of our environment which we constantly overlook, the thousand tendrils of this or that little, fainthearted sensation which grows out of our neighborhood, out of our job, our social life, out of the way we divide up the day."
- Friedrich Nietzsche
- Friedrich Nietzsche
Julia Gillard (Australian Prime Minister, who's getting voted out for trying to introduce a Carbon Tax and use the money to reform income taxes) really needed to hear that.
On the other hand, if your idea generates a lot of hostility it does not necessarily mean that it's creative or beneficial.
"...most good ideas seem bad initially. If they were obviously good, someone would already be doing them. "
--Paul Graham (yechhh... now I feel like some kind of kiss-ass... but this is something that I keep in mind every day...)
--Paul Graham (yechhh... now I feel like some kind of kiss-ass... but this is something that I keep in mind every day...)
I've observed this as well and I think I've recently glommed onto an idea that seems to explain it.
Most people operate in their day-to-day via procedures. They learn that to accomplish task X, they do A then B then C.
Creative ideas require a procedure-less thinking process (or at least one where the procedure is not all that important so long as X is accomplished).
Most of the time I've hit resistance to a creative idea is because it requires people to learn new procedures to implement the idea. "You mean to accomplish X I should do A then D then F? What's wrong with A, B then C?"
Even in the face of evidence that the new idea might be easier, or faster, or as a side-effect also accomplish task Y, people simply don't want to take the mental effort to learn the new process.
Creative thinking is just not highly valued among the vast majority of humanity and it's a very hard sell.
Most people operate in their day-to-day via procedures. They learn that to accomplish task X, they do A then B then C.
Creative ideas require a procedure-less thinking process (or at least one where the procedure is not all that important so long as X is accomplished).
Most of the time I've hit resistance to a creative idea is because it requires people to learn new procedures to implement the idea. "You mean to accomplish X I should do A then D then F? What's wrong with A, B then C?"
Even in the face of evidence that the new idea might be easier, or faster, or as a side-effect also accomplish task Y, people simply don't want to take the mental effort to learn the new process.
Creative thinking is just not highly valued among the vast majority of humanity and it's a very hard sell.
I always thought it was evolutionary. To be afraid of change and new things because new things bring unforeseen consequences. Better to stick with what works, picking berries in this bush, rather than venture across the river to get to the other bushes and risk being eaten by something.
Also, I remember a study done a long time ago on primates on an island. They all had a very specific way of opening coconuts or whatever, that they taught their young and each other, it wasn't very effective. So the researchers taught one of the primates a new and better way of opening a coconut and released him back with the others. Even though they others could clearly see that his way of opening coconuts was better and easier, the group stuck with the ways of the old. Perhaps because they wanted to conform and not stand out. Little by little a large number of them started using the new method over time. And when a certain percentage of them were using the new method the others converted as well. Lesson: We do what we do because society tells us to.
Also, I remember a study done a long time ago on primates on an island. They all had a very specific way of opening coconuts or whatever, that they taught their young and each other, it wasn't very effective. So the researchers taught one of the primates a new and better way of opening a coconut and released him back with the others. Even though they others could clearly see that his way of opening coconuts was better and easier, the group stuck with the ways of the old. Perhaps because they wanted to conform and not stand out. Little by little a large number of them started using the new method over time. And when a certain percentage of them were using the new method the others converted as well. Lesson: We do what we do because society tells us to.
It's not that surprising it it? Most new ideas are unproductive (not to suggest that having them is!). Makes sense that we'd develop a resistance to them as a defense mechanism.
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The study sounds dubious. (Though I do agree with the conclusion, but for other reasons).
> For example, subjects had a negative reaction to a running shoe equipped with nanotechnology that adjusted fabric thickness to cool the foot and reduce blisters.
As if no reasonable person could ever have a negative reaction to that? I hope this wasn't their only test.
Personally, I think most people are biased against creative ideas because most people are concrete thinkers (as opposed to abstract thinkers). Their motto in life is "better the evil you know". Now all you have to do is test people on whether they're abstract or concrete thinkers, then correlate that to how they react to new ideas. I think you will find most concrete thinkers will react negatively to creative ideas that haven't been tried before.
> For example, subjects had a negative reaction to a running shoe equipped with nanotechnology that adjusted fabric thickness to cool the foot and reduce blisters.
As if no reasonable person could ever have a negative reaction to that? I hope this wasn't their only test.
Personally, I think most people are biased against creative ideas because most people are concrete thinkers (as opposed to abstract thinkers). Their motto in life is "better the evil you know". Now all you have to do is test people on whether they're abstract or concrete thinkers, then correlate that to how they react to new ideas. I think you will find most concrete thinkers will react negatively to creative ideas that haven't been tried before.
>Goncalo said this bias caused subjects to reject ideas for new products that were novel and high quality.
Article lost me here. Because its hard to judge an idea as 'novel and high quality' in prospect. They should have used an idea that's proven but unknown to the test subjects.Makes the study harder but you end up with more concrete proof.
Article lost me here. Because its hard to judge an idea as 'novel and high quality' in prospect. They should have used an idea that's proven but unknown to the test subjects.Makes the study harder but you end up with more concrete proof.
Has there been much research into this idea of concrete vs. abstract thinkers?
For me it is rewarding to here these findings written on paper. I am forever generating ideas and am continuously faced with awkard silences as people are not sure whether to laugh or congratulate me - it seems true, many people are unable to distinguish a good idea from a bad one (although the article talks specifically about 'creativity').
NB: In many occasions laughing maybe the most appropriate option!
NB: In many occasions laughing maybe the most appropriate option!
SciFi idea: An alternate universe where people are able to recognize talented people and quality work/ideas when they see them. Society quickly collapses.
I've experienced this problem in focus testing.
"What do you think of this new idea?"
- "I don't like that, it's not something I'd want. I think it would be pointless."
<lets them try a demo>
- "Wow, this is amazing!"
"What do you think of this new idea?"
- "I don't like that, it's not something I'd want. I think it would be pointless."
<lets them try a demo>
- "Wow, this is amazing!"
"People dismiss creative ideas in favor of ideas that are purely practical -- tried and true."
What about practical, creative ideas, aka. hacks and lifehacks? Most of the people I know dismiss any 'non-standard' solution unless you actually implement it, and then force them to accept it. If you tell your idea before actually realizing it, there's no way they'll let you.
Also reminds me of stories from "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" - it seems that Feynman experienced this first-hand as a child, when trying to optimize some kitchen chores (one of the solutions is now sold in stores, and nobody objects it now...).
What about practical, creative ideas, aka. hacks and lifehacks? Most of the people I know dismiss any 'non-standard' solution unless you actually implement it, and then force them to accept it. If you tell your idea before actually realizing it, there's no way they'll let you.
Also reminds me of stories from "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" - it seems that Feynman experienced this first-hand as a child, when trying to optimize some kitchen chores (one of the solutions is now sold in stores, and nobody objects it now...).
It is totally reasonable that people act like that. They already have experience in how they solve their daily problems. So beside being highly unlikely to work, new ideas also mean a cost of relearning old habits. This is a big cost and people don't want to do that. Actually we spent a lot of time and energy to not need to relearn our habits so often. Not having to pay this cost is luxury or maybe even goal of life to many people.
Yes! Sadly most of the new "visionary", "creative" ideas people try to promulgate are, in fact, bad. Usually there's a reason things are done the way they are, and the complexities of the current system are hard to appreciate from the outside. So a bias against "creative" ideas may be entirely appropriate.
Now, on the flip side, some creative ideas are awesome, and would be great, but no one knows about them, and everyone is tired of suffering through the 99% that are fiascoes, so they resist them. It's a pity, but the response is a reasonable one. Thus both the barriers to, and the rewards of, a truly groundbreaking innovation are high, and the innovator is called upon to do a lot of painful, frustrating, tedious selling of the idea.
Now, on the flip side, some creative ideas are awesome, and would be great, but no one knows about them, and everyone is tired of suffering through the 99% that are fiascoes, so they resist them. It's a pity, but the response is a reasonable one. Thus both the barriers to, and the rewards of, a truly groundbreaking innovation are high, and the innovator is called upon to do a lot of painful, frustrating, tedious selling of the idea.
Yeah it's really tedious to try to change something. It's a pitty people don't value the work you've put into getting something done at all. I also surprisingly saw, that people don't know how much trouble it is, because it tends to look so easy to get something great done.
Some of us are deeply biased in favour of creativity. Isn't it possible that this creates a backlash? Especially when lots of new ideas are actually unproven. The best way to change things is incrementally in small steps. It is ego that makes us think that we can just skip steps.
Could this be another reason why 2nd mover in a field actually has an advantage, above being able to learn from the first mover mistakes?
The first in the market educates, and all but a few say "I don't want that, that's useless". Then a competitor arrives, and now the idea is no longer as creative, it is now somewhat familiar, and a much smaller leap for people to grasp.
The first in the market educates, and all but a few say "I don't want that, that's useless". Then a competitor arrives, and now the idea is no longer as creative, it is now somewhat familiar, and a much smaller leap for people to grasp.
Isn't that what makes them creative ideas? Else they'd be obvious.
I think it also matters where the idea comes from: boss, peer, intern, consultant, etc.
I think this is the downside of intelligence. You see so many patterns you start to believe that everything falls into one. New ideas are assumed to be no better than old ones.
I don't think it should matter where an idea comes from. I read an article from Fred Wilson that mentioned (in a good way) how surprised a CEO was to find so many good ideas coming from customer service reps (who have the most direct experience with customers). I won't assume you ignored interns, but I think stereotyping by position is a good recipe for overlooking opportunities, just to save yourself some mental fatigue.
I don't think it should matter where an idea comes from. I read an article from Fred Wilson that mentioned (in a good way) how surprised a CEO was to find so many good ideas coming from customer service reps (who have the most direct experience with customers). I won't assume you ignored interns, but I think stereotyping by position is a good recipe for overlooking opportunities, just to save yourself some mental fatigue.
At my former employer (a commercial software division of a major electronics manufacturer) my managers were dumbfounded when I suggested we ask the tech support people for input when we did feature planning for the next version.
That was around the time I started thinking about finding somewhere else to work.
That was around the time I started thinking about finding somewhere else to work.
By that you mean authority level attached to the idea? thats what I've noticed, brilliant people without any authority get laughed at, and the converse people do what idiots command as they have the authority.
Myself I'm somewhat of a creative anomaly (I have psyhc tests that put me in the top 0.1% of people on the planet). When I start a new project I go through this flow very quickly, I start by being laughed at as a crazy man, far out ideas. I pull a few tricks out of my hat, and within 2-3 months I'm the go to man for entire business.
That said I shift jobs every 18 months or so as I get sick of fighting with people constantly. Being creative can draw the worst out of people you are working with, unintentionally you belittle them, or expose them as frauds or whatever, some people are just jealous, others lazy and just offload hard work your way. You end up polarised very quickly.
I now run my own business because of this (as opposed to contracting which I was doing for a long time), and the majority of my ex employers still come to me for advice, some 10 years later still phoning me up with questions or inviting out for lunch/beers etc... I even have open ended job offers sitting there if I ever want to come back.
But as this article says its hard being creative in a world that out right rejects it.
Myself I'm somewhat of a creative anomaly (I have psyhc tests that put me in the top 0.1% of people on the planet). When I start a new project I go through this flow very quickly, I start by being laughed at as a crazy man, far out ideas. I pull a few tricks out of my hat, and within 2-3 months I'm the go to man for entire business.
That said I shift jobs every 18 months or so as I get sick of fighting with people constantly. Being creative can draw the worst out of people you are working with, unintentionally you belittle them, or expose them as frauds or whatever, some people are just jealous, others lazy and just offload hard work your way. You end up polarised very quickly.
I now run my own business because of this (as opposed to contracting which I was doing for a long time), and the majority of my ex employers still come to me for advice, some 10 years later still phoning me up with questions or inviting out for lunch/beers etc... I even have open ended job offers sitting there if I ever want to come back.
But as this article says its hard being creative in a world that out right rejects it.
Being creative can draw the worst out of people you are working with, unintentionally you belittle them, or expose them as frauds or whatever, some people are just jealous, others lazy and just offload hard work your way.
Thinking of yourself as part of the top 0.1% people on the planet may lead to an attitude that makes people feel belittled or antagonistic.
If you treat people like idiots or mindless sheep, of course they'll reject your ideas.
Thinking of yourself as part of the top 0.1% people on the planet may lead to an attitude that makes people feel belittled or antagonistic.
If you treat people like idiots or mindless sheep, of course they'll reject your ideas.
The fact is I shy the hell away form confrontation because creativity vs society problems has existed my entire life.
As a kid I was treated really bad by there children. Teased constantly as ebign a weirdo because I thought differently, physical attacks from kids as the awards kept piling in. I remember getting a maths award, had to get up on stage to receive it. On the way out of the auditorium I was punched in the side of the head and some other kid ripped up the paper certificate. It wasn't nice, I was scared of other kids and went very quiet/introverted and focused on escapism... which ironically probably made the creative as I spent all my time imagining, drawing, reading.
I have boxes of awards, I think I've won some sort of award every year of my life without trying. This year I won an advertising award. I've never worked in advertising, I just got approached as I was running an online news team. I suggested an idea, prototyped, it sold, industry choked on how left field it was, and now I have an award for being the top advertising creative person of 2010.
I'm quite an extrovert these days as I got past most of that sort of stuff... but its still there. University changed me heaps, when all of a sudden all the girls liked me. I got my confidence back, became somewhat of a people person and cavalier amongst the ladies.
Most people who know me outside of work wouldn't even consider me as employable. The crap I went through as a kid has stayed with me, I never like to expose any true abilities I have unless I have to.
Most as people know me as a comedian, drunken musician, and an artist. Very few people could guessed I have been a contracting and designing major infrastructure projects for governments, telecommunications projects. I have no formal training in computing at all. All I know I picked up as a child, and through short term contract work. My tertiary training is in conceptual artwork and minoring in music production. To look at me you'd probably call me a stereotypical hipster. Stretched ear lobes, tattoos, and a suit at a board meeting with directors of multinational corporations is a bizarre mix ;)
I didn't know I was in the 0.1% until recently, went more or less my whole career just trying to be average Joe blogs who had good ideas and got promoted quickly. To be honest most of the time I would show my manager something (or suggest it), and then they would force me into a situation where I would have to take me idea to the business, sell what ever it is, and defend it from criticism etc... I would usually try and get out of it if I could but often people don't quite understand the concept enough they don't feel comfortable making the sell.
It was only working on a project and management decided to do a team building day. They brought in psychologists to do pshycho-analysis so we could see each others benefits and flaws, and they where blown away by my results and offered me to participate in some other tests they had (as I turned out to be an anomaly and they don't often just stumble across prime research people).
As a kid I was treated really bad by there children. Teased constantly as ebign a weirdo because I thought differently, physical attacks from kids as the awards kept piling in. I remember getting a maths award, had to get up on stage to receive it. On the way out of the auditorium I was punched in the side of the head and some other kid ripped up the paper certificate. It wasn't nice, I was scared of other kids and went very quiet/introverted and focused on escapism... which ironically probably made the creative as I spent all my time imagining, drawing, reading.
I have boxes of awards, I think I've won some sort of award every year of my life without trying. This year I won an advertising award. I've never worked in advertising, I just got approached as I was running an online news team. I suggested an idea, prototyped, it sold, industry choked on how left field it was, and now I have an award for being the top advertising creative person of 2010.
I'm quite an extrovert these days as I got past most of that sort of stuff... but its still there. University changed me heaps, when all of a sudden all the girls liked me. I got my confidence back, became somewhat of a people person and cavalier amongst the ladies.
Most people who know me outside of work wouldn't even consider me as employable. The crap I went through as a kid has stayed with me, I never like to expose any true abilities I have unless I have to.
Most as people know me as a comedian, drunken musician, and an artist. Very few people could guessed I have been a contracting and designing major infrastructure projects for governments, telecommunications projects. I have no formal training in computing at all. All I know I picked up as a child, and through short term contract work. My tertiary training is in conceptual artwork and minoring in music production. To look at me you'd probably call me a stereotypical hipster. Stretched ear lobes, tattoos, and a suit at a board meeting with directors of multinational corporations is a bizarre mix ;)
I didn't know I was in the 0.1% until recently, went more or less my whole career just trying to be average Joe blogs who had good ideas and got promoted quickly. To be honest most of the time I would show my manager something (or suggest it), and then they would force me into a situation where I would have to take me idea to the business, sell what ever it is, and defend it from criticism etc... I would usually try and get out of it if I could but often people don't quite understand the concept enough they don't feel comfortable making the sell.
It was only working on a project and management decided to do a team building day. They brought in psychologists to do pshycho-analysis so we could see each others benefits and flaws, and they where blown away by my results and offered me to participate in some other tests they had (as I turned out to be an anomaly and they don't often just stumble across prime research people).
What were the tests? And how were you anomalous?
From your description, it sounds like this was a more validating experience than awards. Why do you think that is?
From your description, it sounds like this was a more validating experience than awards. Why do you think that is?
The anomalous stuff just popped up in the team building stuff.
They displayed the results and I wasn't normal, intact my results seemed like they might be completely wrong. At the time I was working for a large courier company, in an IT department, improving delivery tracking systems. To get someone off the scale in metrics not generally found in an IT department is an anomaly. Maybe if it was a group of artists I may have just been elevated and overlooked, but I guess the context was important for making me stand out.
I don't know what the tests where. I just took an afternoon off and went down to there offices and did the tests they presented. Its was on a computer and lots of behavioural questions and IQ type puzzles. I thin I did around 5 tests that after noon. They rang me back a week or so later and went throughout eh results with me, and then emailed me a series of figures and graphs.
Are they accurate I dunno? but the last set of figures which they went through had that creativity figure. But to tell a story of accuracy I'll tell yo a story about my friend who is in Mensa.
He worked out that the mensa test he was given was time based. So he paid his fee, answered the first few questions, then skipped all the rest and finished the exam in a few minutes. When all the weighting was put together he had scored extremely high on the IQ scale by doing this.
Is he a genius? I dunno. If its a genius move to outsmart mensa then yes. But he didn't really sit the test, he intact just spotted a flaw and abused it.
As for awards and validation. I think I've associated awards with the potential for negative thing to happen later. In my last position when I won the advertising award, a new pressure to be the best this year suddenly appeared... after all I was now recognised as the best in the industry... My daily work became more difficult because expectations are imposed on me that I didn't want or need. Hell running a news team + site is enough hard work without being expected to be an advertising maverick as well.
So its usually other people either that notice things I've done or put me forward, I never nominate myself. I hate awards.
I just want work and solve problems. I get pleasure from taking something that doesn't exist, thinking it through, and making it a reality. My house is full of useless inventions, toys, prototypes. I can't help myself. People often note on my inability to relax, I relax by indulging myself in ideas, which to others is the opposite of relaxing.
Seeing the results from those tests made me realise a lot of the problems I had been experiencing where probable never going to go away. Lets be honest (entrenched) IT is one of the least creative industries out there. Its generally very goal/problem focused, that often only has one or two possible outcomes. It gave me the motivation to pack up my 6 figure salary and walk out the door. Currently I'm going week to week scraping money together for food, but I haven't been happier. Got a few products close to launch, so the trial by fire is about to begin. Exciting times ... just need to stay off hacker news and reddit LOL
They displayed the results and I wasn't normal, intact my results seemed like they might be completely wrong. At the time I was working for a large courier company, in an IT department, improving delivery tracking systems. To get someone off the scale in metrics not generally found in an IT department is an anomaly. Maybe if it was a group of artists I may have just been elevated and overlooked, but I guess the context was important for making me stand out.
I don't know what the tests where. I just took an afternoon off and went down to there offices and did the tests they presented. Its was on a computer and lots of behavioural questions and IQ type puzzles. I thin I did around 5 tests that after noon. They rang me back a week or so later and went throughout eh results with me, and then emailed me a series of figures and graphs.
Are they accurate I dunno? but the last set of figures which they went through had that creativity figure. But to tell a story of accuracy I'll tell yo a story about my friend who is in Mensa.
He worked out that the mensa test he was given was time based. So he paid his fee, answered the first few questions, then skipped all the rest and finished the exam in a few minutes. When all the weighting was put together he had scored extremely high on the IQ scale by doing this.
Is he a genius? I dunno. If its a genius move to outsmart mensa then yes. But he didn't really sit the test, he intact just spotted a flaw and abused it.
As for awards and validation. I think I've associated awards with the potential for negative thing to happen later. In my last position when I won the advertising award, a new pressure to be the best this year suddenly appeared... after all I was now recognised as the best in the industry... My daily work became more difficult because expectations are imposed on me that I didn't want or need. Hell running a news team + site is enough hard work without being expected to be an advertising maverick as well.
So its usually other people either that notice things I've done or put me forward, I never nominate myself. I hate awards.
I just want work and solve problems. I get pleasure from taking something that doesn't exist, thinking it through, and making it a reality. My house is full of useless inventions, toys, prototypes. I can't help myself. People often note on my inability to relax, I relax by indulging myself in ideas, which to others is the opposite of relaxing.
Seeing the results from those tests made me realise a lot of the problems I had been experiencing where probable never going to go away. Lets be honest (entrenched) IT is one of the least creative industries out there. Its generally very goal/problem focused, that often only has one or two possible outcomes. It gave me the motivation to pack up my 6 figure salary and walk out the door. Currently I'm going week to week scraping money together for food, but I haven't been happier. Got a few products close to launch, so the trial by fire is about to begin. Exciting times ... just need to stay off hacker news and reddit LOL
Just going to leave this here.
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Dunning%E2%80...
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Dunning%E2%80...
Mensa always struck me as just moronic. How intelligent is it to care about that? One of the funniest things I ever saw was when someone got hold of a "Mensa" bumper sticker and put it on his car upside down.
Anyway, good luck with the self-validation and back away from those awards.
Anyway, good luck with the self-validation and back away from those awards.
Worse than that, focusing on oneself is toxic to creativity in the first place. Wile E. Coyote's business card says "Genius". But it's the Roadrunner who is in a state of creative flow.
Really good ideas often don't seem like much even to the person who's having them. They're fragile. It takes tolerance and suspension of judgment to allow them to survive even for half a second. This is a form of listening, one that goes hand in hand with the ability to listen to others, which makes sense since creativity is also a kind of other.
Really good ideas often don't seem like much even to the person who's having them. They're fragile. It takes tolerance and suspension of judgment to allow them to survive even for half a second. This is a form of listening, one that goes hand in hand with the ability to listen to others, which makes sense since creativity is also a kind of other.
Wait doesn't the Roadrunner just go "Meep, Meep"
... and the Coyote come up with elaborate traps that fail with tragic irony. The Coyote seems more like in state of creative flow, right?
His shit's overcomplicated. The Roadrunner does next to nothing and prevails effortlessly. Who's more in touch with the Tao?
I grant you that the Coyote is lovable, though. For one thing he never seems to get angry.
I grant you that the Coyote is lovable, though. For one thing he never seems to get angry.
[deleted]
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