Sam Hodges
Bruce Daisley, who writes about the science of work, says taking time to distract yourself can give you a competitive edge.
- Distraction can stimulate innovative thinking, even more so than deliberately trying to be creative.
- Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs, and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin have used distraction to spur more creative thinking.
- Bruce Daisley, a former Twitter executive who now writes about the science of work, recommends that employees carve out time to let their mind wander. All it takes is a quick walk - or shower.
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Twitter was conceived at a daylong brainstorming session. Apple's late cofounder and CEO Steve Jobs deliberately procrastinated when he needed to think creatively. The screenwriter behind "The Social Network" reportedly comes up with his best ideas in the shower.
The common theme here: Allowing yourself to be distracted can spur creative thinking.
In today's economy, creativity and innovation are a job candidate's competitive edge - even more so than specific technical skills. Which means it's more important than ever to carve out time to let your mind wander, and to let those novel ideas surface.
Bruce Daisley, a former Twitter executive who now writes about the science of work, said the best way to cultivate innovative thinking is not to work so hard at it.
"When you look at people who are creative, inventive, original, they often don't spend their time trying to be productive all the time," Daisley told Business Insider.
Sometimes a quick walk is all it takes.
It's not so hard to incorporate distraction into your own workday
Daisley was Twitter's vice president for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa before stepping down in January. Now he's the host of the podcast "Eat Sleep Work Repeat" and the author of a book by the same name.
Based on his research, Daisley said there are some simple ways to increase your own creativity at work. And you don't always need permission from your boss.
Consider a survey from The O.C. Tanner Institute, an HR research firm. Of the 3,500 employees surveyed, from companies across the globe, the majority agreed that innovation is everyone's responsibility, but they lack the time and support from management to think about or execute new ideas.
Take a tip from Jobs instead. The former Apple CEO relied on so-called procrastination, and taking breaks from his work, to generate his best product ideas, like the iPod.
"The time Steve Jobs was putting things off and noodling on possibilities was time well spent in letting more divergent ideas come to the table," Wharton professor Adam Grant previously told Business Insider. That's in contrast to "diving right in with the most conventional, the most obvious, the most familiar."
Award-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, who wrote the 2010 film "The Social Network," on the origins of Facebook, is a prime example of the benefits of mind-wandering. According to Men's Health, Sorkin takes up to six showers a day to overcome writer's block. Sorkin isn't alone: Studies show that at least 72% of people get their best ideas in the shower, Business Insider's Jacquelyn Smith reported.
In his book, Daisley writes that another way to trigger divergent thinking is to go for a walk.
"To be creative we need to let our minds wander and imagine," Daisley writes. That's considerably harder when we're bouncing from emails to meetings to an Excel spreadsheet, he added, when "our executive attention network is fully fired up."
Science suggests that mind-wandering can facilitate creativity
Anecdotal evidence about the benefits of indulging in distractions is backed by research.
Harvard University psychologist Shelley H. Carson, the author of "Your Creative Brain: Seven Steps to Maximize Imagination, Productivity, and Innovation in Your Life," told Fast Company that being distracted can facilitate creativity.
"In some ways, distractions are a form of mindfulness - being mindful of your environment and noticing more new things," Carson told Fast Company. That might be the arc of a branch outside your office or the fabric of the chair you're sitting on. "Being open to them allows for the ability to take bits of information and combine them in novel ways that are useful or adaptive."
That ability to combine different pieces of information in novel ways is also called divergent thinking, and it underpins creativity.
Managers can help their team make time for innovation
If you're a manager, it pays to consider how you can make time for innovative thinking on your team.
Daisley cited his former employer as an example of something novel that came out of designated distraction time. Before Twitter was a public company worth $30 billion, its founders were running a podcasting platform called Odeo. In 2005, Apple launched iTunes podcasting and Odeo execs realized their big idea was going to be crowded out of the market. They needed to find a new one.
That year, Twitter's former CEO, Evan Williams, advised the company to start holding hackathons - all-day or all-night coding sessions, popular in the tech industry - at which employees would brainstorm new ideas.
During the hackathon, Jack Dorsey, Twitter's current CEO, came up with an idea for a product that would allow people to post updates on their "status," or whatever they were doing at a given time, Business Insider's Nicholas Carlson reported.
Ultimately, it's important for both managers and employees to find ways to alleviate daily stress and anxiety. Daisley said the "hurry sickness" that many professionals live in - rushing from one task to the next - may be inhibiting their ability to innovate, in turn making them less successful.
"The simple way to say it," Daisley added, "is that stress kills creativity."