Children, Chemistry and Creativity


We often hear similar phrases to: "Children start out with an innate ability to be creative until the education system educates it out of them." But is that true for all children? Is it indeed different for boys and girls? Does physiology determine our ability to come up with ideas or is it a socialised ability?


Tim Brown of IDEO has made an interesting observation in this interview for Fora TV.

The Ideo team brought in a group of seven year olds to brainstorm around a new toy.
They then put the boys in a separate space from the girls.

After an hour they discovered that the boys came up with around 50 ideas. The girls delivered over 200!

Why?

Apparently the boys were less collaborative. Shouting over each other and focussing on their own ideas. The girls however were more inclined to listen and build on each others ideas.

The benefits of collaboration are obvious but perhaps the consequences of competition not so.

The reason for the boys producing less ideas may be that if we feel we are in competition with others our survival instincts kick in, together with the need to win. As a result our cortisol levels may rise and the feeling of stress can both diminish our ability to surface ideas and our willingness to collaborate. In fact research has shown that an increase in stress hormones can cause tunnel vision.

However if we feel heard and supported we are more inclined to feel relaxed and encouraged to offer ideas freely.

Clearly women can be equally as competitive as men and men have the capacity to be highly collaborative.

So perhaps the question about creative thinking and idea generation is less about whether we are more creative as children and more about: "How much do emotions, gender roles, chemistry and environments determine the outcome of a brainstormimg session?"

The research continues!



Back to 4D website

Ingenious Packaging from Chivas Brothers

Just had to post this video highlighting another example of our client Chivas Bros creative and engaging packaging ideas. The marketing team were looking for a way to differentiate Ballantines Finest whisky on the back-of-bar shelf.

Working with London-based packaging agency The Core, they came up with a self-illuminating bottle. Modelled on a graphic equaliser, the bottle appears to react to music and makes an impressive impact, standing out amongst other back-of-bar brands.

Global marketing director for Ballantine's, Peter Moore, said "The ‘Listen to Your Beat' campaign will energise and engage consumers in a creative and eye catching manner."

We at 4D are proud to be supporting this highly innovative company as they continue to evolve their dynamic culture of innovation.



Back to 4D website