Managing The Psychological Bias Against Creativity - Forbes

You come up with a great new idea at work, or at home. Or a political leader actually tries something “new and different” when faced with a previously intractable problem. But then, rather than grateful acceptance, or even a fair hearing, the idea is squashed, ridiculed, or otherwise ignored. Sound familiar? It should. As anyone who has ever suggested a creative solution knows, people often avoid the uncomfortable uncertainty of novel solutions regardless of potential benefit. Creativity, no matter how much we say we like it, frequently elicits what my grandmother used to warn about, “too smart is half stupid” (for a current illustration look no further than the Obama administration).

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Skylar Tibbits: Can we make things that make themselves? | Video on TED.com

MIT researcher Skylar Tibbits works on self-assembly -- the idea that instead of building something (a chair, a skyscraper), we can create materials that build themselves, much the way a strand of DNA zips itself together. It's a big concept at early stages; Tibbits shows us three in-the-lab projects that hint at what a self-assembling future might look like.

Edward Tenner: Unintended consequences | Video on TED.com

Every new invention changes the world -- in ways both intentional and unexpected. Historian Edward Tenner tells stories that illustrate the under-appreciated gap between our ability to innovate and our ability to foresee the consequences.

The cognitive neuroscience of creativity - Arne Dietrich, American University of Beirut

This paper is academic in style. However for those interested in this topic, it provides important description of the tension in the neural pathways between how neural computation produces emotional content and cognitive analysis which in turns produces creativity.

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The Thrill of Creative Effort - BusinessWeek

Sometimes it’s easy to forget what it is that really motivates people. Whether you lead a business or a project team, it is important to foster an environment in which people are empowered to create and feel satisfaction in achievement. With that in mind, here are five traits that successful business leaders share: 1. A collaborative management style. Engaging the team and stakeholders in problem-solving and decisionmaking is critical for management success. I’m not advocating anarchy or a lack of leadership, but I am suggesting that those closest to the work probably know it best and should be invited to collaborate on how it is done.

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