How to Discover Clever Ideas Thanks to Diversity

Travel Makes You Think Differently

“Picasso, Handel, Hemingway and Stravinsky all created their most well-regarded work while living in foreign countries.” Tendayi Viki writes for Forbes. Multicultural experiences helps others become more flexible with their ideas. Experiments linked understanding meanings of different cultural behaviors with the ability to connect ideas.

Try this: Travel without traveling. Try something new that’s outside of your normal environment like a class or museum. Look at photos and imagine how different people might think. Talk to new people. Talk to those you know about new subjects. I’ve found many new places within my own neighborhood just by walking in different directions.

How other culture’s perspectives help you create

Exposure to other cultures has instant benefit Studying abroad and living abroad boost creative thinking. Priming individuals with information about cultural icons allowed participants to generate more creative ideas.

Children who grow up in multicultural families had more unusual ideas. The exact reason for all of this is still not completely explained by studies. Theories point toward thinking more flexibly due to exposure toward different cultural perspectives.

Try this: Place yourself in situations that require thinking about different cultural perspectives. Consider taking foreign language lessons. Listen to podcasts that expose you to different ways of life. Volunteer with classes that force you to interact with different cultures. Try looking at local workshops and try something absolutely new.