Besides perfecting its search engine, fostering user-generated video and releasing self-driving cars on our roadways, Google also manages to publish a quarterly online magazine from of their UK office. The latest edition of their Think Quarterly (a name, that at first glance, reads like a command to cogitate but once every three months), is “dedicated to digital creativity in its many forms ? from YouTube remixes to next-generation advertising to data visualizations ? and what it means for your business…” They also hope “it makes you feel like a kid again.” And it does.
Between the requisite cheerleading of its VP of Global Marketing Lorraine Twohill, several salient points on creativity bubble up in her?essay?The Curious Case of Creativity. Here are some selections:
- Curiosity and creativity are never far apart. You need to be curious to identify problems worth solving, and then come up with new solutions.
- Collaboration is essential to problem-solving in our increasingly complex world.
- Creativity can also be a decision you make. And the truth is, it’s too easy to say ?no? all the time. It’s too easy to be cautious. Pushing the boundaries of creativity means saying ?yes,? taking risks, trying new things, learning, and being surprised.
- Creativity is most powerful when it has a purpose.
And later from the fine essay?Cognitive Creativity,?Monisha Rajesh quotes NYU cognitive psychology prof and?The Creativity Post?co-founder?Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman:
?A creative person is someone who is curious, open-minded, and on the lookout for new patterns of thought. The simple idea is that putting 10 minds with 10 views about something together in one place will immediately [lead to] more creative?[discussion].? ??Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman
In a all, a fine read from the UK Googlers, wrapped in a pleasing design that looks like the love child of Co.DESIGN?and McSweeney’s?(both of which I’m sure?they’ll surely acquire someday ? the GoogleBots needs something to read!).
