Tim Brown TED Talk: Tales of creativity and play

Most adults are very conservative in their thinking as they fear judgements from fellow peers. This is far way different from kids, who tend to care or fear less of judgements. From this talk, Tim Brown compares between adults and kids on how they work and think.


Drawing of the person beside in 30 seconds

• most of the audience(adults) were laughing at each other
• there were a few "sorry's" from them
• the reason behind these "sorry's" are because adults fear of what others might think of their opinions or work
• they are embarrassed about showing their ideas 

Playful atmosphere

• creative workplaces that make people feel relaxed and have that playful environment
• microbus meeting rooms at IDEO
• working in wooden huts at Pixar
• one of the office in Google has slide and a fireman pole to create some fun in the workplace
• IDEO founder, David Kelley created a company where all of his employees are his best friends
• having the same kind of security for work and play
• a sense of trust 

Finger blast

• pulling the finger blasts all the way to the stage
• after most did it, a few still have yet to do so
• adults tend to think and categorised everything to solve a problem
• kids tend to figure it out fast 

Exploration

• when adults encounter a new situation, they would want it to be categorised quickly and settle the problem
• kids are more open to exploring possibilities

30 Circles Test

• drawing each of the circles in forms of an object
• quantity than quality
• adults tend to self edit

Psychedelic drugs

• to test on the effects of creativity
• test before and after the drugs on 27 professionals with the question of "How many uses can you find for a paper clip?"
• they came up with interesting ideas and solutions 

Building

• kids learn through a construction way
• building play is when the hands do the thinking

Role playing in kids

• kids learn how and what to do from their experiences
• they observe and follow what others do
• this is like the process of learning the rules/ solution to solve a problem

To sum up, Tim Brown is emphasising on how adults will have a hard time of kicking their habits. Through the experiments he made, it shows how adults think and find a way for a solution to their problems. Sometimes, adults need to follow rules or a process to find creativity and prevent them from limiting themselves to possibilities. It's hard for adults to get out of the behaviour however when everyone follows a certain rules, they will all be able to brainstorm, have more creative outcomes and everything will work well.