To remain creative, you must think and behave like a novice, always discovering. A creative person who remains “en route” is exposed to more diverse ideas and more varied influences—which can end up providing richer source material for those mental connections and “smart recombinations” that form new ideas. How can you keep moving away from what you know? The easiest way is to follow your curiosity. The author Elizabeth Gilbert, in a talk extolling the benefits of “the curiosity-driven life,”81 shares a wonderful analogy involving jackhammers and hummingbirds. According to Gilbert, people who
...more
