Monday Buzz: Creative Thinking About Nonconformity

Sometimes, the smallest choices can be the most indicative of how our minds work. For example, according to management consultant Adam Grant, your browser choice may be a sign of your own preference for conformity or creativity.

“If you’re somebody who had that instinct to say, you know, ‘I wonder if there’s a better browser out there,’ that’s just a tiny clue that you might be the kind of person who’s willing to reject other defaults in your life too,” he told NPR in an interview  (opens in a new tab).

Grant, who has previously spoken at ASAE’s Annual Meeting & Exposition about the importance of selfless workplaces, is tackling a new topic in his book Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World.

In his research, Grant uncovered a number of insights and observations about how creativity works. Nobel Prize-winning scientists are more likely than their peers to have artistic outlets, for example. And those who seek variety over repetition may be giving themselves a crucial advantage in creative thinking.

“Practice makes perfect; unfortunately, though, it doesn’t make new,” Grant notes, citing the entrenched thought that can take hold when entirely new ways of thinking aren’t given the chance to take root.

Twitter Update of the Day

Another big change is reportedly coming to Twitter, and The Verge has the details  (opens in a new tab). “Here’s one way to think of it: scroll down through the timeline, and it’s like the Reddit homepage, showing the most popular things first. Scroll back up, and the feed turns into regular reverse-chronology Twitter,” editor Casey Newtown explains. And if that sounds awful to you, you’ll have the opportunity to opt out of the new feed.

Other Good Reads

Being able to handle a surge of traffic to your website is essential, as Team Beyonce found out after her site went down following her Super Bowl performance  (opens in a new tab).

Not all membership organizations have a noble mission, as this story about the yakuza’s deep ties to the Japanese film industry  (opens in a new tab), from Daily Beast contributor Jake Adelstein, reveals.

Alternative accommodations are quickly becoming the new normal, with one out of four U.S. leisure travelers staying in private housing in 2014, notes HotelNewsNow reporter Bryan Wroten  (opens in a new tab).

(mik38/ThinkStock)