Bizarre Ways Frustration Influences Creativity

When we deal with creativity blocks on this show, we’ve generally talked about procrastination because that’s an area where many people struggle. In this episode, I want to talk about another important way we block ourselves: Not being willing to put down the wrong tool. Relying on the wrong thinking strategy to solve a problem is a recipe for frustration. It seems like such an easy fix, yet it’s incredibly difficult to both realize your using the wrong tool and, when you do, actually put it down and try a new one. This has been shown by some fascinating studies in creativity research.

Imagine your a creativity researcher. You’ve created 20 math problems that are moderately hard, but solvable. When you give a single problem to a single participant, it takes them rough 2-3 minutes to solve. The more problems you give them, the quicker they’ll get at solving the problem. This is to be expected. The first time you solve a math problem is much more difficult than the 2nd or 3rd. This is what’s true for the control group of the study. The control group are the people who get the boring placebo that lets scientist compare results.

Here’s where things took a turn. While all 20 of the math problems looked roughly the same, there’s a dirty little secret under the surface. Half of the problems require one set of problem solving skills and the other half requires a different set. Said differently, 10 problems are “Group A” problems and you can only solve them using Strategy A. The other 10 problems are “Group B” problems that can only be solved with Strategy B. So the math problems look the same, but require different strategies to solve.

As creative people, we must always be willing to put down our tools and try other ones. Every problem can be solved with the appropriate tool. There’s always a strategy or a path that leads to the breakthrough. When you feel frustrated, it’s often a sign that this is happening. Frustration occurs when you expect something to work but it doesn’t. You expect them to be easy, but they aren’t. We usually conclude that the problem is that we need to work harder. We need to double down, we need more motivation. If we only pushed harder against this brick wall, we could finally break through. But the problem isn’t motivation. The problem is that we’re attacking the problem with the wrong strategy. The breakthrough you’re after is as simple as finding the best tool for the job, but it requires that you first put down the tool in your hand. It requires you take a step back and question whether you’re doing the right thing. Life has taught you the best way to solve problems. Don’t solve today’s problem with yesterday’s tool. When a tool doesn’t solve our problem, we put the tool down and search for another.

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