Who knew that physical positions mattered so much when it comes to generating novel, useful and profitable business ideas? Your feet, your hands and your use of space directly impact your fluency (how many ideas you can generate), flexibility (the sheer number of ideas) and originality.
In recent studies conducted at the University of Michigan and New York University, researchers demonstrated that your body guides your mind. Change your position, burst with creativity.
Here’s the measurable evidence submitted by Suntae Kim, Jeffrey Sanchez-Burks and Evan Polman in the New York Times on Sunday.
People walking around unrestricted while tasked to come up with original ideas for use of a common toy generated 25% more ideas than those who were forced to stay within a path marked by tape while doing the same assignment.
People who were instructed to alternate between two hands as they came up with new ideas for a use of a building generated 50% more novel ideas versus people who were told to use one hand only .
People sitting outside a cubicle came up with 20% more word associations (variations on the word “tape” for example, like worm or measure) than those sitting inside the cubicle.
For a long time we’ve known that objects impacted your perception of the environment – especially those around you. Carrying a warm cup of tea will generate more “wow, these strangers sure seem warm and hospitable” thoughts than an holding a piece of ice.
Now we know that where you are and what you are doing with your body can generate the billion dollar category busting innovations.
Would you like your personal brand to be seen as abundant, effective and overflowing with effective solutions?
Do this. Take a hike. Do a downward facing dog yoga move. Sit on the roof. Carry a lucky (fake) rabbit’s foot. Let the cubicle dwellers stare at their screens. Make your fortune.
Want to be more creative without adding any expense to your budget? Email me: Nance@NanceRosen.com
Author:
Nance Rosen is the author of Speak Up! & Succeed. She speaks to business audiences around the world and is a resource for press, including print, broadcast and online journalists and bloggers covering social media and careers. Read more at NanceRosenBlog. Twitter name: nancerosen
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Hi Nance,
Very good article, I will share it with my students and clients.
Laura
Dear Nance:
This is a really interesting post, especially as it relates to authors and writers.
From my own experiences, I know how easy it is to get locked into a “production” mentality and just sit there grinding away. Writing becomes almost an addiction, rather than the exhilarating event it should be.
Often, as you point out, better results will follow a walk along a beach or pedestrian-friendly city street or, gasp, even just exercising at the gym.
Good post!
Roger
Vanessa and Roger: Thanks for sharing!
Great post Nance! This made me realized that often we experience life as “normal” or “average.” Each day is routine. Sound a bit monotonous perhaps even mediocre. If we aren’t careful, mediocrity creeps into our lives before we detect its presence. What’s more, we can fall prey to its vicious traps that keep us from living the life we were born to live.
What you shared in this post are good points on how we break free from mediocrity. For that, well done! Looking forward to read your next posts.
Kent Julian
i completely agree with you on this….creativity can n’t come in saturated and tired mind….these small things are so obvious but we just forget the same so often