You Just Read The NYT Sunday Magazine
A new feature of my blog is to pick an article that I read on a recent perusal of The New York Sunday Times.
This week the article I am featuring is from the Times Magazine by Gretchen Reynolds. She wrote about new research that is controversial to what has been assumed to be true, and that is "Does a Messy Desk" affect creativity.
In this experiment college students were placed in a messy or neat office. They were then asked to come up with a new usage for Ping-Pong balls. And it was found that those in messy offices generated ideas that were significantly more creative, according to two independent judges.
The results were very surprising, according to Kathleen D. Vohs, a behavioral scientist at the University of Minnesota, as few previous studies supported this notion.
In the final portion of the experiment, participants were given the opportunity to "boost" their circumstance for a lunchtime smoothie by either getting the "new" or "classic" version. The participants in the messy office were more likely to get the "new" one and the tidy office goers were more likely to ask for the "classic."
"Disorderly environments seem to inspire breaking free of tradition," said Vohs, "which can produce fresh insights."
I guess this is why I am so creative because my office is a MESS!"
In this experiment college students were placed in a messy or neat office. They were then asked to come up with a new usage for Ping-Pong balls. And it was found that those in messy offices generated ideas that were significantly more creative, according to two independent judges.
The results were very surprising, according to Kathleen D. Vohs, a behavioral scientist at the University of Minnesota, as few previous studies supported this notion.
In the final portion of the experiment, participants were given the opportunity to "boost" their circumstance for a lunchtime smoothie by either getting the "new" or "classic" version. The participants in the messy office were more likely to get the "new" one and the tidy office goers were more likely to ask for the "classic."
"Disorderly environments seem to inspire breaking free of tradition," said Vohs, "which can produce fresh insights."
I guess this is why I am so creative because my office is a MESS!"
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