Last Updated on 25 January 2012
While reading “Discover Your Genius
” by Michael J Gelb I came across this great passage about transforming a conference room into an Einstein Room.
Einstein’s parents encouraged his natural talent for imagination by creating a stimulus-rich, brain-nourishing environment. Psychologists have known for many years that the quality of stimulation provided by the external environment is crucial to brain development in the early years of life. Brain researcher Dr. Richard Restak emphasizes that this holds true for adults as well: “Throughout life, not just during the first few months, the brains’ synaptic organization can be altered by the external environment.”
Alter your external environment to liberate yourself from “cubicle-consciousness” and promote creativity in the workplace. Take over a conference room and transform it into an Einstein Room. Replace the standard office furniture with comfortable chairs and a couch, bring in fresh flowers and live plants, and hang inspiring art on the walls. Install a stereo and assemble a collection of favorite music. (Einstein particularly loved Bach and Mozart). Fill the room with large whiteboards and flipcharts and stock it with colored pens. Use this room for combinatory play* sessions on important work issues.
*Combinatory Play is the exercise of taking unrelated topics, items, thoughts, etc. and forcing them together to obtain new and novel ideas and apply them to the problem you’re trying to solve.