Speaking of creative, when you are looking for inspiration, for a new perspective, for a new way of approaching an issue, orderly methods will most likely fail you. That’s why we like browsing on the Internet, where one link takes you to another and you end up reading about stuff you didn’t even know you were interested in. That’s why we like browsing garage sales, traveling to new places, and playing silly games with kids.
Last weekend, I’ve visited the Suzzallo library in the University of Washington, Seattle. Other than being totally impressed by the space, one detail caught my attention. The books in the shelves were not organized at all. You could see a book about parenthood right next to a book about agriculture in Russia or a book of poems from long time ago. If you ask my family, I’m an “arranger”. Creating order from chaos is my way to live. But I really loved the chaos of the library. I felt inspired. I realized that the only way to see things from a new perspective is actually to be removed from the system and to be faced with something unusual, provocative, or unfamiliar.
Creating an orderly environment may help you focus and avoid distractions, but you also become somewhat blind to your surroundings. You may become stuck with the same ways of approaching life, the same thoughts going around in your head, the same solutions to your problems. You may stop evolving and run on autopilot.
What about inviting some chaos and randomness into your work? Maybe you can ask your boss to switch the projects around the team members or you can raise your hand for a project you have no clue how to do. Scary? Maybe. But I’m sure it can also be very inspiring.
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