An interesting article from the pages of the New York Times science section asserts that creativity is almost entirely connected to play and gaming. The centers of the mind which result in creative outcomes to problems reveal that our minds are almost always at play while solving. More interestingly, during experiments, folks who’d been previously amused solved problems more readily.
This has actually turned into a bit of a self-help article for me; I’ve been having some success keeping my creativity on track over the past few days chasing our blind cat (who lives for it and looks silly as a duck tearing through the house like a maniac). And managers: brains that register reward and satisfaction try to do more and succeed more. “Aha” moments lead to a desire for more of the same.
Image from the article by Craig Frazier for the New York Times.