The “Chief of Confusion,” John Seely Brown, wants to guide people toward asking the right questions that will lead to inspiration towards imaginative ideas. We need to ask more questions in the U.S. to keep up with the rest of the world and keep innovating.
WATCH Baruch Shmetov from genConnect get out of his comfort zone and gain some clarity with John Seely Brown at the Aspen Ideas Festival:
When others talk about a theory or idea, it is important to listen carefully to everything that is being said and then think of a question that can tie together what was discussed, Brown says. In-deoth questions that make people think are what lead to imagination and deeper creativity. Without that imagination, there is a lack creativity which then leads to mediocre ideas.
“In today’s crazy world, where change is almost everywhere, it may be more important to ask cutting-edge questions than finding answers,” Brown says.
“Questions are often now more powerful, more useful for unleashing advancement than almost anything else.”
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Brown suggests the one area that could use more imagination – not necessarily creativity, mind you – is communication. While there are many ways for people to connect with each other, they are all fairly similar and uninspired. What we need is something new that gets people to think outside of their comfort zone. “Creativity often applies to the tools that help us close the gap but if you can’t imagine what could be, then creativity is just smaller, faster, cheaper,” Brown says.
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