Thoughts on Creativity

Marissa Ann Mayer is vice-president for search products and user experience at Google.  The 2/13 issue of BusinessWeek features a one-page article from her on how "creativity loves constraints."  As she puts it, "Constraints shape and focus problems and provide clear challenges to overcome.  Creativity thrives best when constrained."

She also talks about how "speed lets you fail faster."  She asks if you've "ever wondered how a product so lame got to market."  Her answer, which is probably 100% accurate, is that "the people working on the project invested so much time that it was too painful to walk away."  Ouch.  Been there, done that!

Lastly, she cites one of my favorite Henry Ford quotes: "If I'd listened to customers, I'd have given them a faster horse."  Think about that the next time someone interprets the results of a customer survey or focus group.

Comments

[Joel Fugazzotto]

And if you are looking to squash creativity, there are six ways according to Teresa Amabile, who heads the Entrepreneurial Management Unit at Harvard Business School and is the only tenured professor at a top business school to devote her entire research program to the study of creativity.

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/89/creativity.html

[Joe Wikert]

Hi Joel. It's great to hear from you. Thanks for chiming in on this. I'll definitely take a look at that article.