Most of the following quotes are my own, a few are apocryphal or “real”
Rewarding curiosity is […] about creating a climate that nurtures critical thinking, where challenging authority and speaking up are encouraged, even if it means creating discord. […] particularly important if you want your team to produce something innovative. – 4 ways to create a learning culture (HBR, July 2018)
“Creativity is not a technical skill that can be learned through drilled standardised [toolified] instruction but a total-life-orientation” – Purser & Montuori. Meaning: it can only work if you actively want to
Outside the Box you don’t let constraints block your thoughts, Inside the box constraints may push you to new creativity. So why not forget this “box” altogether?
“Curiosity begets new connections and new connections are the veins through which the blood pumps to and from the Heart of Creativity.”
“If I would have 24 hours to save the world, I would spend 23 on them to discover what the real problem is” – Einstein (alleged)
“Curiosity is, in great and generous minds, the first passion and the last” – Samuel Johnson
“Logic can get you from A to B, imagination will bring you anywhere” – Einstein
“Once you have the right question, the answer is relatively simple.” - Elon Musk
Learn, not to judge the past but to improve the future
“Curiosity has its own reason for existence” – Einstein
“Impossible? I’m possible!” (unknown source)
Turn it on
Complexity is reality, learn to let it work for you
Strive to be adaptive, instead of obsessing with being “in control”
Curiosity is the power to ignore the fear that your question sounds stupid
“The curious are not always creative, but the creative are always curious” – Brian Manley
“Nurturing creativity is like gardening: you don’t grow a plant, you create the right conditions so it grows itself” – Ken Robinson
Creativity and even innovation are not so much about coming up with clever answers as they are about asking more inquisitive questions.
Instead of infinitely debating whether the glass is half full or half empty, you can also appreciate that your thirst is quenched and take it from there