A famous photo taken at Princeton in 1955 shows Albert Einstein's office, the day he disappeared: total chaos. Files piled up without any logic, papers scattered everywhere, lawless and scattered doodling. And yet. We had just taken a picture of the office of the Genius of the Century, one of the most creative of its time...
Einstein is probably not the only great “thinker” to thrive in such an environment: Mark Twain, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg are some of the documented examples of creatives - or innovation figures - who have kept their offices in chaos. Is it express or indicative of a state of mind, of a particular disposition to creativity and innovation?
“No but I'm telling you, it's an organized mess, I swear to you! “
Recent research results, published in the journal Psychological Sciences, will please everyone who's in trouble. Scientist Kathleen Vohs and her team at the University of Minnesota discovered an astonishing fact that, once stated, seems quite logical, nevertheless: you don't make the same decisions, depending on whether you are placed in front of a cluttered desk, or a tidy or even minimalist desk. Or rather, we will tend to make more creative and unexpected decisions, while we will be more “conformist” in these choices in front of a tidy desk.
These are the results of the experiments that were conducted on a panel of volunteers, sitting in front of a desk in one of the 2 configurations, and who were asked to make various decisions. Even making healthier food choices in front of a clean desk, rather than in front of an untidy desk. The bazaar calls for the burger... Good to know.
It's a bit of a chicken and egg question: do you work better after first cleaning up your workspace and freeing up some mental space? Or on the contrary, does chaos leave you with a feeling of freedom, with the result of stimulating your idea generator?
We leave it up to you to test the configuration that suits you best;)
Alexis Botaya, creativity and innovation speaker.
- My creativity podcast on Majelan
- My Challenge
Create to Innovate on WelcomeOriginals
