• Creating

Becoming an Accidental Creative: Using Stimuli to Detect Good Ideas

By Mindy Holahan

Editor’s Note: today’s feature is the latest in columnist Mindy Holahan’s series Becoming an Accidental Creative.

“I call the information and experiences we absorb “stimuli” because these are the raw materials that stimulate thought. Each creative idea is the combination of previously existing ideas, or bits of stimuli, into something new.” — The Accidental Creative, page 137

As we make our way to the fourth, Stimuli, of the five elements of Creative Rhythm (Focus, Relationships, Energy, Stimuli, and Hours), I’ll share with you the quote I keep on the cover of my notebook:

“You see, but you do not observe.”—A Scandal in Bohemia

Those words come from Sherlock Holmes, the master of Stimuli management. He is the literary pinnacle of an Accidental Creative, a man whose careful observation of the world around him led him to see what others did not, to make leaps of logic that were both brilliant and “simplicity itself when it was once explained.”

I’d like to show you how Sherlock Holmes can be your guide to processing the stimuli necessary to do brilliant work.

You are an accomplished creative with your own cases to solve. Your clients bring you their projects, desperately in need of a creative solution; just as Inspector Lestrade from Scotland Yard laid his most challenging cases at Holmes’s slippered feet. You listen to your client describe the problem; you ask pointed questions. You agree to take the case.

The hunt for a solution is on.

Collecting Clues

“As he spoke, he whipped a tape measure and a large round magnifying glass from his pocket. . .So engrossed was he with his occupation that he appeared to have forgotten our presence.”—A Study in Scarlet

Your process, much like Holmes’, is one built on meticulous observation. Details catch your eye; a faded footprint in the grass for Holmes, an intriguing turn-of-phrase for you. You jot it down in your pocket notebook. Perhaps this means something.

You are always prepared with your tools, ready to study and to document, collecting details as carefully as a detective with a magnifying glass. Others see, but you observe.

Forming Observations

As you gather your clues and form your observations, you turn to your trusted support group, just as Holmes turns to Dr. Watson. “I am lost without my Boswell,” Holmes declares, and you would be lost without your group. They appreciate your methods, even if they do not fully understand them. And for you, the simple act of reviewing the case serves to clarify your thoughts. No matter how clever you are, you cannot work alone.

“Nothing clears up a case so much as stating it to another person.”—Silver Blaze

You have collected your clues and made your observations. It is at this moment that you are in the most danger. The wrong solution lurks just around the corner.

Resist the Obvious

Perhaps your client is like Inspector Lestrade: he trusts you, but he is not completely comfortable with your deductive process. He grows impatient. He hovers. He seizes upon a dull idea—a red herring—and insists that you develop it. Lestrade often wanted Holmes to pursue the wrong suspect; your client wants you to act on a less-than-brilliant idea.

You must resist the obvious (and dull) solution. As with Holmes, clients seek you out for your masterful leaps of logic. And like Holmes, you must trust your deductive process. Counsel your client to be patient. You may appear to search in an improbable direction, but it may just lead to your solution.

“There is nothing more deceptive as an obvious fact.”—The Boscombe Valley Mystery

Draw on Experience

Clues and observations assembled, you must settle in to think, even as others push you to act. You know that thinking is action. Now is the time to utilize your steady diet of stimuli, to draw upon the wisdom gained from your deliberate study of books, articles, experiences. Just as Holmes carried out a great many experiments to increase his knowledge of forensics; so too have you have practiced your craft, building a bank of knowledge.

“I consider that a man’s brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose…the skilful workman. . .will have nothing but the tools which may help him in doing his work, but of these he has a large assortment, and all in the most perfect order.”—A Study in Scarlet

Do as Holmes did: pace the room; play your violin; shoot bullets into the wall (okay, please don’t do that one). Move! Or be very still. Sometimes the solution comes quickly, other times you may need to bring in the bloodhounds to track it down. Don’t rely solely on your brain; allow your instincts to drive you toward a solution.

The more you have prepared—the more you have read, the more you have observed—the better able you will be to find your creative solutions.

“To let the brain work without sufficient material is like racing an engine. It racks itself to pieces.”—The Adventure of the Devil’s Foot

The Science of Deduction

Have confidence in your deductive process. Use the clues around you to form observations; consult with your Watson; draw wisdom from your cultivated study habits and have confidence in your instincts. The solution you seek is in front of you. And if the trail toward your solution grows dark and uncertain, console yourself with this thought:

“There is nothing more stimulating than a case where everything goes against you.”—The Hound of the Baskervilles

Now come, friend! The game is afoot!

###

Image credit: dynamosquito

RELATED ARTICLES:

• "Them" and The Tyranny of Chasing Cool
• Uncertainty: An Interview With Jonathan Fields
• Ask the Readers: Do You Talk Too Much?
• Sean Platt: Creating, Selling & Innovating

FTC Disclosure: Some of the links in this article may be "affiliate" links, especially those to Amazon.com. AC will receive a commission if you buy the product through these links. We only endorse products we like.