Ramblings: On naive ingenuity
Emma, Charlie and Theo. My three kids are the best. I’m sure all parents think the same of their children, and I won’t dwell on parenthood too much, but some things require context before going anywhere. Besides my unconditional love for them and everything that comes with it, they also fascinate me as if they were little aliens. Witnessing them gaining knowledge always has me picking up my jaw from the floor. How do they allow themselves to be so free and open whenever running into something new or unfamiliar to them? Theo was born last month, and I’ve been lucky enough to spend 100% of my time (day and night) with him. This is what inspired me to quickly write this short piece.
Has anyone ever told you to think outside the box? This simple metaphor is kind of a white whale to me, as I don’t believe that one can truly use their brains so freely. Even though I feel that this notion in its purest form remains unattainable, I’m still constantly seeking fresh and inventive ways to think candidly. Not too long ago, my oldest daughter Emma and I were going through a preschool-activity book and something hit me as I witnessed her trying to understand how to solve a maze. Instead of following the rules of the game by finding the pre-defined unobstructed path from start to finish, she simply drew a line that completely ignored the presence of walls and blockers. She did so even though she was familiar with the rules, as this wasn’t her first time solving a maze. When she was about to turn the page and go on with her life, I asked her why she didn’t follow the rules. Her answer was simple: the goal of the maze was to have a frog reach a pond. Since frogs are known for jumping, she said that the frog could simply hop over the walls and reach the pond without bothering with figuring out a path.
Things like this constantly amaze me and while this small event wasn’t particularly special, it stuck with me. Seeing such a simple unobstructed approach to problem solving had me feeling envious of her. This naive and innocent way to acknowledge a situation differs from the typical toddler’s challenging of the rules since it doesn’t break or oppose them. Instead, this method simply tackles problems with a different understanding of the constraints.
The Box
Before going anywhere, it’s important to understand what this metaphorical box represents. Essentially, this can be seen as everything that we’ve ever learned. I think that the cost of knowing comes at the price of our freedom of thought, at least from a high-level perspective. I’m obviously not insinuating that everyone should stop educating themselves!
What makes us work in patterns is familiarity and previous experiences. Understanding is important, as it allows us to avoid pitfalls and such. Doing so is definitively a safe approach, but it also prevents us from discovering new avenues. The fear of running into a sub-optimal method or encountering unexpected issues is something that encourages us to think safely instead of freely. Knowledge is a double-edged sword. By looking at the past of some artforms, there’s a lot to learn. Before establishing best-practices or optimized workflows, there is a time for experimentation. Take the art of sound design for example. Before the existence of sound libraries and plugins, artists had to figure out ways to generate sounds exclusively through physical interactions. The sound artists from before had to think differently when exercising their craft. From today’s point of view, they were thinking outside the box simply because the box didn’t exist yet. They played with sounds the same way a kid would. Maybe more deliberately, but you get what I mean!
Different methods yields different results
Whenever I’m not satisfied with the results of something that I’m working on, I tend to scrap everything and restart from a different perspective. It doesn’t always yield the best results, but most of the time, I get something different enough from my first iteration. Adopting a more playful approach to creativity usually leads to more inventiveness since ingenuity can’t be forced through sheer brute force. Thanks to my beautiful kiddos Emma, Charlie and bébé Theo for helping me see the playfulness of creativity.
By deliberately avoiding the ‘optimal best processes’ and trying unexpected approaches, I often forget about the end results. Instead, my focus relies entirely on the act of creating. Combining my expertise while being confident in my abilities enough to dive in unprepared typically is the best method for me to quickly be able to pump out first drafts. It may not always work, but one thing is for sure, it’s always fun!.
