One Shoe?

Driving to my office this week I saw a family out walking on a sunny day,  two parents patiently escorting  5 children from the ages of about two to 9,  each child carrying a different color  and different size of umbrella.  The older ones walked with pride, holding their umbrellas carefully.  The little ones were turning every which way to look,  or bending down to pick up something, something clearly too fascinating to be left behind. Watching that cluster of umbrellas bob and weave down the sidewalk like balloons, or flowers in a breeze, just cracked me up, it was so funny and so beautiful.  I suddenly was full of questions, such as how the umbrellas were chosen and where so many sizes could be found, and did the parents decide to go for the parasol look or did the children beg? I really wanted a photograph of this little parade.

 Some things regularly make me smile because of an old association. For example, have you ever noticed one shoe lying by the side of the road? Believe it or not, there’s been quite a bit written on this phenomenon….

 Years ago I heard a comedian who did a short bit based on wondering about those shoes, how they ended up solo on the road.   (Sidebar note: I ask the comedian’s forgiveness for not remembering who it was, although a Google search turned up several other possible sources, which may be where he drew the material from.)  At any rate,  now, every time I see that one shoe, I remember laughing out loud at the image of a driver taking a sudden dislike to his left shoe and tossing it out the window. And I suspect it is the memory of that routine that allows me to keep seeing shoes---- because what you pay attention to increases.

Have you ever noticed how much comedy is based in curiosity?  How many routines start with questions?   Besides storytelling, much of comedy is based on noticing certain small everyday occurrences and situations, and wondering why, how, what if? 

Another big element of humor is surprise, and curiosity often leads to surprise, or to an opening for the unexpected response.  Just as surprise leads to  more curiosity. So a comedian wonders , “why do women do this…?” or  “why do men say that…? or  “why do children always tell us this….?” The punchline that works best catches us by surprise at some level----the unexpected consequence, the ridiculous exaggeration, the reversal of expectations, the wordplay, the boomerang back, the connection with something in our own life that we didn’t see coming. It may even make us cringe as we laugh.

It’s no wonder that humor has so much to do with creativity in organizations. Think about your most creative gatherings.  What kinds of things happen?

One of the factors that allows for innovation is being willing to suspend disbelief about what is possible, to go along for the ride and see where it takes us, to be willing to be surprised. 

Are you one of the people in the group willing to ask questions?

Tie curiosity and humor together in problem-solving, and radically new ideas will emerge.   For example, ask questions that make no sense at first, or about small details.  Ask “what if” and imagine the wildest possible good outcome. 

Being willing to laugh at ourselves is a great gift, which helps us recover from mistakes. Being willing to laugh together in a group is a known way to increase the creativity in the group.  Anything which sets up a positive emotion in the group prior to starting a task---whether food, play,  a funny story, recalling past successes, celebrating strengths----all of these social communication strategies help build community but also help the community be a more creative problem-solving group.

What might you do to help your work group get more creative?

Comments

[Wes]

I think the comedian was George Carlin. I can imagine how the whole umbrella's parade came to pass.
We really need to remember to keep our minds open to questions. Our minds search for answers to questions. If we assume the answer the mind says, "ok. done. Next topic" - and progress, possibility & creativity are stifled. If we ask "how do I/we or how can I/we...?" & let our brains work it will seek to provide and answer.