Grace Solis had decided she needed to do something to reimagine the business empire she had created. Every one of her businesses was based on innovative products where she could establish an early market presence. Industry giants could always get around her patents and produce “ditto” products at lower prices. That’s why the continual introduction of new products was essential. To do that required a creative work force, and that was a problem.
Grace wasn’t convinced that creativity development programs were worth the investment. She also wasn’t convinced that creativity was a genetic trait. She really struggled with what to do.
She found some guidance in her annual neurological exam. Some years ago, she was believed to have suffered a seizure during an interview on mentorship. While she had no lasting effects from the seizure, she had to have an exam each year to maintain her driver’s license.
She and her neurologist, Dr. Jim Stone, would just chat during her exams. Both of them came from similar backgrounds and had a love for their state. Dr. Stone admired Grace for locating her businesses in the state, especially in the impoverished county where he came from.
As Grace described her concern about the lack of creativity in her employees, Dr. Stone made her an offer. “Let me teach you some brain science for the next few weeks. I think that might help.” Grace immediately accepted.
“As a teaser, let me share with you some initial insights on what we know from brain science about creativity.”
“NASA was concerned about the same lack of creativity that you are having. They developed a creativity test as part of their hiring process. A researcher then used that test on 1600 children 3-5 years old who were enrolled in a Head Start program. Then he retested those children when they were 10 and 15 years old.”
“Children were given a problem and were asked to come up with new and different ideas. These ideas were then scored for their creativity. Here are the results.”
- Creativity scores for 5-year-olds: 98%
- Creativity scores for 10-year-olds: 30%
- Creativity scores for 15-year-olds: 12%
- Creativity for 280,000 adults: 2%
Grace was blown away. “I can’t wait to learn why that is. Could we schedule another time to meet? Why don’t I fix dinner for you.”
“Sounds great, I’m going to bring along your MRI brain scans if you give me permission.”
* * *
“To be young, really young, takes a very long time.” – Pablo Picasso