Did you have an imaginary friend as a child? Perhaps it’s time to reunite!
According to Antonio Damasio, a neuroscientist and director of the Brain and Creativity Institute at the University of Southern California, imagination is the cornerstone of creativity. “It’s pretty hard to conceive that anyone could be creative without a rich imagination,” he says.
Today, it’s all about doing things differently and doing different things. Did you know Google runs 50 to 200 search experiments at any given time? Innovation and creativity is the lifeblood of growth – organizations who think differently and act quickly as the ones who will break from the pack. And projects drive the change needed in any organization to survive.
Regrettably, most of us give up on imagination (and leave our pretend friends behind) around grades three to five, when we naturally become more interested in rules. The trick to keeping creativity going, according to Shelley Carson, a reasearcher and lecturer in pyschology and Harvard University and author of Your Creative Brain, is helping us see that rules and imagination are not at odds.
To keep the creative juices flowing, give yourself time every day to daydream and turn off the critical thinking and eliminate distractions — turn off electronic devices. And get enough sleep; studies show that creativity declines with lack of sleep. Who know’s, you just might meet with your long-lost imaginary friend in your dreams.
Lisa DiTullio, Principal, Your Project Office, www.yourprojectoffice.com
