Is that a lion in the grass or just a looming deadline? How to enhance our ability to generate creative solutions

Way back when, a rustle in the grass could have been enough to trigger cortical arousal, the term neuroscientists use to describe a state of heightened vigilance and wakefulness that rips us from our otherwise low arousal stasis.

What’s fascinating about this threat awareness-response relationship, is that whilst the large predators may not be quite so much of an obstacle today, our response to perceived threats is still as neurologically and physiologically hardwired as ever; we respond the same way to perceived threats whether they be a competitor’s new product, a looming deadline or a lion in the grass. Man’s instincts developed over millions of years, they won’t be changing any time soon and this is important to understand when trying to be creative.

The importance of low-level arousal when seeking creative solutions

Jonah Sachs, in his delightful book Unsafe Thinking, argues that when it comes to creative thinking, it is a low arousal state that is best. In this state our attention is free to wander to wherever our curiosity beckons and this fosters the best conditions for creative insights to come to the fore.

Once our anxiety is triggered, our cortical arousal places us at a tremendous disadvantage in trying to find creative solutions because our ability to consider a wider range of options shrinks. We become hyper-vigilant and often retreat to the safety of what we have done before. This might alleviate the immediate threat, but it isn’t necessarily a recipe for peak creativity.

In fact, research shows that in seeking creative solutions, it can be helpful to take your mind away from a difficult problem and onto something else. But here’s the rub, that something else has to be something else that also engages the mind (pro tip – mindless TikTok scrolling won’t cut it).

This certainly chimes with my own experience. I tend to come up with my most creative behavioural solutions as I’m pounding the treadmill whilst listening to behavioural science podcasts (discussing different but related things) or even dabbling in a mindfulness session – anything that gets me away from the rush of cortical arousal.

The key, it seems, is to focus intently on the behavioural problem and challenges for a given period of time and then seek mindful engagement elsewhere. Where that elsewhere is for you, may be completely different to me, your colleagues, your boss. It’s important that you (and they!) recognise this.

Tailoring how we work is key when trying to come up with creative solutions to sticky behavioural problems. Thankfully, we can nudge ourselves down a more creative path, we just need to adapt the way we work to us as individuals.

Interesting reads

Sachs, J. (2019). Unsafe Thinking.