Combinatorial Creativity
everything is a remix of what came before
sari and
Combinatorial Creativity
“Bring together things that have not yet been brought together and did not seem predisposed to be so.”
― Robert Bresson, Notes on the Cinematographer
James Turrell took inspiration from astronomy and perceptual psychology. Coco Chanel was most influenced by nuns and religious symbols. David Adjaye drew from Yoruban sculpture, and Steve Jobs from Zen Buddhism and calligraphy. We could continue this list forever, but that’s not the point. The point is to look outside the confines of our industry... See more
The Browser Company • Optimizing For Feelings
everything is a remix
creativity is defined by the uniqueness and appeal of the combination of elements
sari and • 41 cards
Innovators are usually synthesizers—they synthesize everything they know and add their own personal talents, and out comes something new.
Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that... See more
Steve Jobs • Steve Jobs on Creativity
From Jorge Luis Borges:
I am not sure that I exist, actually. I am all the writers that I have read, all the people that I have met, all the women that I have loved; all the cities I have visited.
It also helps to travel in topic space. You'll have more new ideas if you explore lots of different topics, partly because it gives the angle grinder more surface area to work on, and partly because analogies are an especially fruitful source of new ideas.
Paul Graham • How to Do Great Work
Danny Meyer the restaurateur has called ABCD: “always be collecting dots, so that you can always be connecting dots.” Dots or breadcrumbs, if your whole life is oriented around that collection, which mine is, then you're always preparing.