I am finally back from a long summer hiatus. Thanks for patience to my faithful readers. I am preparing a new post on the astonishing disruptive potential of Google’s new browser, Chrome. But in the mean time, here is something very enjoyable to remind just how important creativity is for innovation.
Sir Ken Robinson (at TED) makes the point better, and more humorously, than I every could. In this TED 2006 talk, he argues that schools are killing creativity. This has profound implications for innovation and even for national economies. Please to enjoy…
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Is this the talk you were referring to?
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html
It’s a great talk. I agree that being creative is often more important than being smart, simply because it isn’t nearly as common. I wish formal education focused more on how to ask good questions instead of just how to find the right answer.
As pointed out, the fear of being wrong that gets ingrained in us stifles creativity and risk-taking. Google counteracts this phenomenon in the workforce with their “20% time” policy, under which employees work on experimental, pet projects one day a week. Without strict return on investment expectations, employees are free to explore new ideas. Most of the projects have probably failed, but several have become profitable, the most notable perhaps is the AdSense program.