Too Much Structure May Stifle Your Creativity, Study Finds

Try these 5 low-impact methods for adding spontaneity to your schedule

Source: Everup, Kells McPhillips @everup

You line up your to-do lists just right, color-code your notes at work, and attempt to schedule each day to down to the last detail.

From a young age, we’re taught that organization and success go hand-in-hand; that structure acts as the groundwork for building a productive life, and that carefully aligned schedules create the ideal backdrop for imagination. While there is certainly an upside to structuring information when it comes to productivity and efficiency, our dependence on our planner is actually stifling our creativity.

According to a recent study conducted by the University of Toronto, “A hierarchically organized information structure may also have a dark side.” To reach this conclusion, Yeun Joon Kim (a PhD student) and Chen-Bo Zhong (an associate professor at the Rotman School) conducted a series of experiments.

Calling all writers: the first two experiments involved working with words. Both groups were given a group of nouns (that were either organized into neat categories or not) and then told to make as many sentences as they could with them. The third experiment was more hands on. Both groups were given a box of LEGO® bricks (one received blocks organized by shape and color, and the other received a box of disordered blocks), and then asked to build an alien. The findings from all three experiments suggested that participants displayed less creativity and cognitive flexibility when provided with pre-organized groups of information. They also spent less time on each task than the unstructured group, leading Kim and Zhong to conclude that the organized control group lacked persistence (an essential aspect for creativity).

In other words, it may be (metaphorically) time to dump your legos all over the living room floor for a fresh perspective.

The results may be of particular significance for managers with teams made up of multi-disciplinary individuals, which tend to show lower rates of innovation (perhaps because they are focused on organizing and categorizing their ideas).

“We suggest people put their ideas randomly on a white board and then think about some of their connections,” said Kim.

In addition to mixing up your brainstorming session at work, there may be some incentive to straying from a rigidly organized schedule in other areas of your routine. We know that tossing out your to-do list may result in heart palpitations, so here are five low-impact ways to add some spontaneity to your schedule that may just get your creative juices flowing:

Wake up one hour earlier, and don’t plan what you’re going to do with that time. Whether you feel like reading, taking a short jog, or going out for a solo-breakfast, just go with it. Early morning improv will work wonders for breaking up your normally-scheduled monotony.

Reroute your commute. Your trip to work is probably set to autopilot at this point, so why not refresh your viewpoint? If you normally walk, try biking. If you usually blast music on the train, try writing in a journal. Reframing your commute may actually lower your stress, and provide a twice daily period of “valuable time out” that you can look forward to.

Sign up for a subscription box. Let go of the need to micromanage your consumption habits by letting someone else pick for you. Here are some subscription boxes to add unexpected snacks, wine and style to your day.

Ditch your normal gym routine. Do you always head straight for the elliptical? Why not face off the stair climber instead? Or better yet, why not take advantage of all the nifty props you’re usually intimidated by? From TRX bands, to battle ropes, to kettle bells—here’s a guide to using all the gym toys that usually intimidate you.

Take an impulse vacation. Trips are usually scheduled months (if not years) in advance. Why not jet set this weekend? We’re thinking Terceira, an island in the Azores.

http://www.everup.com/2017/03/28/too-much-structure-stifle-creativity-study/?utm