This past weekend I read two books whose central themes were innovation, creativity and change. Those of you that are regular readers of this blog know that those are areas that I am interested in. The whole process of how people create and innovate is fascinating to me. One of the books - The Idea Factory – Bell Labs and the Great Age of 
American Innovation by Jon Gertner looks the rise the Bell labs, how the lab was put together and how it developed from the 1920’s onward. I was peripherally aware of the inventions and innovation that came out of the Bell labs but this book really brought it all front and center. Bell labs and the scientists and engineers who worked there literally changed the world. Without the Bell labs we would not have the personal computer, communication satellites and much more. It was here that the transistor was invented. It was a place that fostered innovation, the scientists and engineers were given time and space and encouraged to get out and look at the world differently. One of the biggest messages I got from the book was how important collaboration was in the process, how necessary it was to have other people around to bounce ideas off of, to challenge each to stoke the fires of creativity.
The next book Imagine – How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer was a real page-turner. It was one of those books that I just could not seem to put down. The book is full of tremendous insights and though provoking ideas about the creative process. Lehrer is a very good storyteller. Through his stories he is able to look at the science that underlies creativity, or I should say what we know of the science because this is an area of science where our knowledge is exploding. He looks at the importance of daydreaming in the creative process. During daydreaming he says: “Instead of responding to the outside world, the brain starts to explore its inner database, searching for relationships in a more relaxed fashion.” He reminds us how important it is to think like a child to see the world with new eyes. Surprisingly I learned how important criticism in the creative process.
One my favorite sections of the book was where he was talking about the famous designer Milton Glasser, it was Glasser who came up the iconic I love New York illustration. “Instead of simply trying to represent a thing. Glasser wanted to define it. His perfect visual was more than a picture: it was a summary of associations, a map of thought. It was a picture honed by human attention.”
A unifying theme of both books is that you get smart being around other people. Creativity and innovation is not a solitary process. If you are interested in creativity and innovation I also recommend Lehrer’s blog http://tinyurl.com/26duw7o
