Sergius Gardner, psychologist
I thought this was a great read about Sergius Gardner. He contends that humans are wired to be creative. That is, we are wired to be able to imagine new things and come up with new solutions to problems, so we do not rely on intuition or instinct. We need more than the conscious ability to think. We need conscious awareness of how we are thinking; what our problem is; what our solution might be; how the solution might work and how it might not work; and so forth. We do this by focusing on the past (we research), the present (we experiment) and the future (we develop). Gardner calls this “the three-legged stool”:
• Research – researching everything possible about an object or situation in order to understand it better
• Experiment – using controlled conditions to test ideas and see if they hold up under real world conditions
• Development – using novel forms of technology, design or process in order to advance ideas and make them better
He argues that there is no “one right way” for any type of problem, but that there is one way that works best for a wide variety of problems: focus on solving problems with no clear-cut solution, then use your ability to create new solutions from scratch. It’s a bit like trying out lots of different socks until you find ones that fit perfectly - but keep doing it! It’s also about being willing to explore alternatives until you find something that works for your unique situation - and if you don’t find anything at all, keep trying!
