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Creative Problem Solving Lessons From “Old School”
Flipping through the channels over the weekend, I came across one of my favorite movies 
of all time: Old School. Like the subject of this clever Onion article, I ended up neglecting my plans and re-watching this comedy classic in its entirety. I saw the movie from a whole new perspective, a business innovation perspective. The movie is fundamentally about a group of guys implementing a seemingly absurd idea that breaks the mold. They are creative problem solving geniuses. Believe it or not, this comedy can teach us all a few things about business opportunities, innovation initiatives, and creative problem solving skills. Here are a few of my favorite quotes from this hilarious movie and the serious insights they contain.
Wish for the Moon
“Because this is a very big idea my friends. We’re talking about a non-exclusive, egalitarian brotherhood where community status and, more importantly age, have no bearing whatsoever.” – Beanie
One of the best ways to come up with truly creative, stretchy ideas is to suspend reality and wish for the moon. You don’t want to limit yourself to the current status quo or the way things have been done in the past. As Robert Kennedy once said “some men see things as they are and say why; I dream things that never were and say why not.” Beanie dreamed that there could be a fraternity open to everyone, regardless of age or enrollment in the college, and asked “why not?” And that has got to be the first time Vince Vaughn’s character in Old School has been compared to Bobby Kennedy.
Create a Diverse, Cross-Functional Team
- Mitch: Wait, who’s this guy?
- Beanie: Oh, that’s Blue. He’s an old navy vet who hangs around my store a lot. Don’t worry about him, he’s legit.
- Mitch: He looks like he’s one hundred years old. He wants to pledge?
- Beanie: You kidding me? Old man river can’t shut up about it.
The strongest implementation teams are those that bring together individuals from diverse perspectives and backgrounds to collaborate with one another. Age/experience is one area where diversity is valuable. Wizened veterans can share their knowledge and experience; while young guns can offer energy, naive creativity, and a fresh perspective. Ideally, you want to have both on your innovation teams. The Old School fraternity mixed college students, middle aged men, and the old-timer, Blue. It helped that they were all aligned behind a clear agenda: partying.
Permission to Play
“Frank, this is a safe place. A place where we can feel free sharing our feelings. Think of my office as a nest in a tree of trust and understanding. We can say anything here.” – Therapist
The best creative thinking takes place when people feel comfortable offering up ideas without fear of consequences. It’s important to give innovation teams permission to play, wish for the moon, and explore absurdity. Like Frank’s therapy sessions, invention meetings should be a safe place. We often tell people when we are brainstorming we want the really “out there” ideas, the ones that could get them fired if they were uttered outside of this meeting. This needs to be a genuine commitment though. Frank’s therapist said they were in the tree of trust, but his wife then proceeded to bazooka him with the expression on her face.
Executive Sponsorship
“Guys, this is a very special occasion. The Godfather himself has decided to grace us with his presence.” – Beanie
In order for a new business venture to get off the ground, it is critical to have support from executive sponsors. Innovation teams need to know that someone, preferably at the C-level, is going to provide them with resources and air cover. When we work with clients, one of the first things we do is clarify who is the decision maker. A decision maker is in a position to say yes to the following question: “if the team comes up with something really breakthrough, will you be able to approve the time, money, and staffing necessary for implementation?” The sponsor does not need to be involved at every stage of the process, but he or she does need to provide approval at critical junctures. The fraternity never would have happened if Mitch, “the Godfather,” hadn’t granted his approval and let them use his house.
Evaluate the Idea with an Open Mind
- Mitch: But this is my house! I live here, Beanie. I’m 30 years old! None of us are enrolled in the college!
- Beanie: I understand that. You’re focused on all the wrong sort of details. Did you or did you not have a good time at the party?
Humans are terrific at pointing out flaws. It’s human nature. When we come across something new, our brains try and fit it into a familiar frame of reference. Our brain rapidly toggles through existing patterns and, if the puzzle pieces don’t fit, a red flag goes up. We immediately kick into troubleshooting mode. We tell ourselves that voicing these objections or “playing Devil’s Advocate” is constructive feedback. And there is a time and a place for that, but in order to truly keep an open mind it is helpful to start with what we like about the idea. In an Open Minded Evaluation, the first step is to gather all of the plusses. Beanie understands this intuitively. He ignores Mitch’s concerns and instead focuses on the positive: the awesome time they had at the party. Beanie had an idea that broke the mold, and he was not going to let any of the issues Mitch brought up get in his way.
I never thought I would find innovation takeaways in a Will Ferrell movie but there you have it. What do you think? What is your favorite movie that contains unexpected business insights?
How Genius Works: Quotes on the Creative Process
It seems that every magazine article I have picked up lately has related directly to creativity and innovation. The trend continued this morning, when I discovered the The Atlantic‘s special culture report on How Genius Works. In Project: First Drafts, the magazine asks some of the world’s most creative and famous artists to explain their process of turning inspiration into art. Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the feature.
Define the Task
“First, we create the design brief for the car–the qualities we want it to convey. We make a list of attributes–upscale, elegant, sporty–and pull together images that visually articulate those attributes.”
Collaboration Helps; Snacks Don’t Hurt
“A movie is only as good as its villian. So Lord Shen was one of the first things we thought about when we began work three years ago. A small group of us gets together. We get a lot of snacks, and we get in a room and start spitballing ideas.”
– Jennifer Yuh Nelson, director
Issues Can be Overcome
“With me, if it’s a good idea and I don’t have it right, I stay with it. You have to be patient, just keep erasing what you don’t like. At a certain point it becomes alive, and you know the problems are solvable with solutions you may have used before.”
Work In Pen… Then Take a Step Back
“I draw directly in ink. I don’t pencil and ink, like these kinds of assembly line cartoon shops. And something has to be produced each week. Week-to-week, you see what you’ve done, and then you think, Is this where I want this thing to go? It doesn’t have to conform to a template, or even like it was when it was laid down at the beginning. That’s just not the form of a story like this. It’s like an improvisational performance.”
When in Doubt, Doodle
“I don’t sit down and try to draw a character. I attempt to reserve some time each day for myself to sit and do nothing—stare off into space or doodle or whatever–just be in my own head. That time is very precious for me, and sometimes the characters will strike me in these quiet moments.”
Where Do Ideas Come From?
Where do ideas come from? I recently came across this fascinating interview from Wired Magazine in which authors Keven Kelly and Steven Johnson discuss the “natural history” of innovation and technology. Together, Kelly and Johnson provide what I can only describe as an evolutionary/biological/anthropological perspective on the history of new ideas. I highly reccomend reading the entire article, but here are a few key insights to keep in mind in any pursuit of innovation.
1. Foster Environments of Collaboration
Kelly and Johnson make the point that the idea of a lone genius sitting alone thinking up inventions is a myth. Even the classic genius inventor, Thomas Edison, once said “nobody ever came up with a great idea all by themselves.” Instead, ideas happen in situations where ideas are given the opportunity to connect. That is why at Creative Realities we are the innovation management collaborative. By creating environments where diverse teams are free to collaborate, we facilitate the connections that lead to breakthrough innovations.
2. Ideas are Really Connections
Kelly says “we should think of ideas as connections,in our brains and among people. Ideas aren’t self-contained things; they’re more like ecologies and networks. They travel in clusters.” Creative Realities, Inc. CEO Mark Sebell believes that “at least 30% of innovations come from borrowing from other worlds.” By that, he means making connections between seemingly irrelevant stimuli. The story of Velcro is the classic example. Innovation comes when ideas are recombined and repurposed in a whole new way.
3. Outsiders Provide Fresh Thinking
Johnson describes how Kelly was able to capture the essense of what his book was about better than he could himself becuase Kelly was able to read it with “fresh eyes.” The importance of bringing in outsiders, or “wildcards”, as we like to call them, cannot be understated. Everyone brings a unique perspective to the table and you never know who will be able to make that connection from their world that sparks breakthrough innovation in your world.
4. Focus on the Adjacently Possible
Kelly and Johnson provide numerous brilliant insights on how the adjacencently possible defines the space for innovation, but the main point is that any new invention has to be built on the platform of previous and closely related technologies. In business, this means that organizations should focus on innovating in spaces that leverage their core competencies. As, Kelly says “the great inventions are usually those that take the smallest possible step to unleash the most change.” It is much easier to launch a new product when you already have the supply chains and distrubtion channels in place than it is to build them from scratch to support the product.
5. Generate, Invent, Explore… Then Throw Out the Bad Ideas
An interesting a consequence to the concept of the adjacently possible is that you need to have the range to explore tons of ideas in order to produce a few superb ones. Kelly argues that the best TV is better now precisely because there was the opportunity to produce so much bad TV. In invention session, we encourage clients to generate as many ideas as they possibly can, then go back and assess them later.
John Cleese on Creativity
Your creativity isn’t dead, ’tis merely a flesh wound! In this fascinating lecture on creativity, the legendary member of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, John Cleese offers insights into the creative process he learned through his own sketch writing experience.
Cleese talks about the value of sleeping on a problem and waking to find the answer is apparent. He also described experiences where his “unconscious” continued to work on a sketch when he wasn’t consciously aware he was thinking about it. Cleese is describing the phenomenon of Relaxed Concentration. Relaxed concetration is a mental state that is essential for creative thinking and innovation.
Ever notice that your best ideas come to you at seemingly random times? They hit you when you are in the shower, going for a run, or driving to the store. They rarely come when you’ve been sitting at your desk for an hour focusing hard on the problem and trying to figure it out. Our most creative ideas require the metaphorical “right brain” thinking that can only happen when we forget about the problem and let our mind wander. As Cleese points out, our subconscious actually continues to mull it over and send signals up to our consciousness until… Eureka! we have a solution.
Cleese also talks about the necessity for creating an oasis or enclosure for the tortoise of creativity; “a shy creature that needs to poke it’s head out and see if it’s safe to come out and play.” In today’s Blackberry/iPhone enabled high speed, uber connected, business world we are constantly bombarded with interruptions and distractions. As this New York Times article on multi-tasking suggests, this connectivity comes at the expense of our brain’s much needed relaxed concentration time. Cleese suggests that you set aside a designated time and space for creative thinking during which nothing can interrupt your train of thought. Have you created an enclosure where it is safe for your creativity tortoise to poke it’s head out and play?
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