Making Innovation Happen
Saturday, September 26, 2009 at 12:56PM The Art of Psychographics is a profound essay on how design affects the way we think and behave by design writer and historian Kenny William Purcell
http://observatory.designobserver.com/entry.html?entry=10767
Monday, August 31, 2009 at 11:51AM Ralph Kerle interviews Dr John Best, Vice President, Technology, Research and Development - Thales from Grant Crossley on Vimeo.
Ralph Kerle, Chairman of The Creative Leadership Forum interviews Dr John Best, Vice President, Technology, Research and Development of Thales, one of the world leaders in weapons development. Thales deliver weapon critical defence systems with a broad spectrum of products and services.
They talk about The Australian Transformation and Innovation Centre (ATIC), a facility where Thales has invested significantly in order to provide an environment where their customers can come in, experiment with the technology and trial the benefits of new products in a safe environment.
The importance of prototyping as an essential component in the creative process of product development is also discussed.
Friday, August 14, 2009 at 09:07PM 
Music not only soothes the savage beast; it heals the critically ill.
A study in Critical Care Medicine evaluated the mechanisms of music-induced relaxation in critically ill patients. The researchers measured blood pressure and heart rate, brain electrical activity, serum levels of stress hormones and cytokines, requirements for sedative drugs, and level of sedation before and after an hour of listening to piano sonatas through headphones.
Researchers found that patients who listened to the sonatas required less medication to achieve a comparable level of sedation, compared to those who didn’t.
One of the remarkable things about the study is that the researchers also found that serum levels of growth hormone went up after listening to music, while those of epinephrine and interleukin-6 went down. The levels of all three should decrease with lowered stress. The jury’s definitely still out on the mechanism by which this might occur, and bear in mind that this was an extremely small study: a total of just 10 patients in both intervention and control groups.
But not just any music will do. It has to be Mozart.
Another study compared the effect of listening to either Eine Kleine Nachtmusik or New Age music on relaxation states. Subjects were assigned to listen to either one for 28 minutes a day on three consecutive days. At the outset, all subjects scored similarly on the Smith Relaxation States Inventory.
On Day 2, Mozart listeners reported higher levels of a relaxation state called “At Ease/Peace” and lower levels of negative emotion. On Day 3, Mozart listeners reported substantially higher levels of the states of Mental Quiet, Awe and Wonder, Mystery, At Ease/Peace, and Rested/Refreshed than did those who listened to New Age music.
Researchers have demonstrated that listening to Mozart for ten minutes briefly improves performance on tests of spatial temporal reasoning and, most astoundingly, reduces epileptiform brain activity and clinical seizures. Mozart even works for mice. Those who were exposed to Mozart’s piano sonata K448 en utero and for 60 days after birth performed better at maze tests than mice who were exposed to silence, white noise, or music composed by Phillip Glass.
Computer analysis of the music of 58 composers revealed that Mozart was distinct in using long-term periodicity; that is, musical phrases lasting between 10 and 60 seconds with a definite beginning and end. Of all the music analyzed, only the Bach boys, J.S. and C.P.E., included similar periodicity.
Take two sonatas and call me in the morning.
References
Conrad, C., Niess, H., Jauch, K.W., Bruns, C.J., Hartl, W., Welker, L. (2007). Overture for growth hormone: requiem for interleukin-6?. Critical Care Medicine, 35(12), 2709-2713.
Hughes, J.R., Fino, J.J. (2000). The Mozart effect: distinctive aspects of the music–a clue to brain coding?. Clinical EEG, 31(2), 94-103.
Smith, J.C., Joyce, C.A. (2004). Mozart versus new age music: relaxation states, stress, and ABC relaxation theory. Journal of Music Therapy, 41(3), 215-224.
Source: Brain Blogger
Friday, July 17, 2009 at 06:55PM People who live abroad are more creative; and the more time they spend away from home, the more creative they become. That’s according to a recent study done by William Maddux, an assistant professor of organisational behavior at INSEAD. Certain conditions, however, apply, says Maddux, who conducted the studies in collaboration with Adam Galinsky, a professor of management at Northwestern University. For example, creativity is unlikely to spark for people travelling abroad for a short holiday. “We don’t find a positive correlation with travel abroad and creativity.” Maddux says it has to be at least a short stint abroad, but also adds that the quality of the experience matters as much as amount of time spent overseas.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 09:59PM Everyone thinks about creativity and how it is applied differently. Every single creative conversation is different. Every single explanation for how creativity and its outcome, innovation is correct. So how can we know and differentiate between which process is right for us, what works for us and doesn't? Research around creativity and the way we behave has been going on for over 150 years. Out of the generally discredited science of phrenology in the 18th century grew 19th century psychiatry and now neuroscience. The Journal for Creative Behaviour, an unheralded academic journal, has been turning out erudite and insightful research articles quarterly for over 60 years on creative thinking, creative processes and creativity generally.
