Creativity and collaboration

I am very creative on my own. Give me my computer (with Internet access of course!), good music, no interruptions, fresh coffee and something to snack on and I’m set for the day. The problem is, interruptions are inevitable, coffee runs out and sometimes good music can’t be found. Or I’m just human and far from perfect.

Einstein couldn’t change quantum theory on his own. He needed collaboration. He needed Bohr.

We all need someone that can look at our ideas and add to them, tear them down, build them back up, stronger, more efficient and definitely better.

But it’s scary, right? You have created something brilliant, it sounds flawless…perfect. And then you tell someone about it and they start asking questions. What if this happens? What if that goes wrong? What if your calculations are off? And all you want to do is beg them to stop…because you don’t have the answers. Your idea isn’t perfect, and thank goodness it isn’t! Having an imperfect idea is the start to something great, because at least you have an idea.

You have somewhere to start, something to build from.

I would be a little worried if every idea you came up with (and I’m talking about the generic ‘you’ here) was brilliant. In fact, I might not want to know ‘you’.  I want people I interact with to be imperfect, to make errors and come up with ideas that need work. Because perfect people really scare me. Perfect people are no fun to talk to, not good to work with and definitely no fun at parties. Perfect people irritate me. I’ll take ‘you’ imperfect, with lots of crazy wild ideas that through collaboration, can become brilliant life changing ideas.

What are your thoughts on collaboration? Do you like collaborating or does it bring out the fear of “someone won’t like my idea” in you?

Einstein liked inventing phrases such as “God does not play dice,” “The Lord is subtle but not malicious.” On one occasion Bohr answered, “Einstein, stop telling God what to do.”

(I know the quote doesn’t quite connect..but I liked it!)

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