Scroll, swipe, repeat: are inspiration echo-chambers destroying our creativity?

Is it just me, or is it easier than ever to find inspiration and yet harder than ever to actually be inspired?

As Bart Simpson once said, "the ironing is delicious".

The ‘ease’ of accessing inspiration is certainly part of it. A never-ending stream of algorithmically-tailored stuff at your fingertips. Computational intelligence ready to provide large language-modelled answers to literally any question that your heart desires.

Sounds like the stuff of inspirational nirvana, surely? Well, no. For reasons which we’ll get to, our brains actually prefer it when they have to work a little at ideas. Like a dog extracting treats from a rubber chew toy as it bounces around the kitchen…

Our brains are gradually being rewired to feed off little dopamine hits before quickly truffle-hunting for the next.

Those recommendation algorithms are also part of the problem. As imperfect as they are prolific, there is a reason why all our feeds slowly become oddly mutating little echo chambers. At once curated for the individual but ultimately homogenised - it can’t be a good thing for creativity or the culture that it fuels, can it?

Finally, the bite-sized nature of much of the inspiration that we’re exposed to is also a factor. Yes, it means that you can see lots… but the transient nature of it - here in a scroll, gone in a swipe - means that our brains are gradually being rewired to feed off little dopamine hits before quickly truffle-hunting for the next. We aren’t given time to dwell, navel gaze or deconstruct in the same way that we might after digesting something more substantial…

So, all doom and gloom, then?

In short, no. But I do think that we’re running out of time to set things right, and here’s why…

That slightly numb snow-blindness that we can experience in place of ‘inspiration’, should be enough for us to take a stand; however, I think there might be a more pressing reason - specifically for those of us who work in the creative industries.

Don’t worry. This isn’t about handbrake turning into yet another piece about the impending impact of artificial intelligence, but I do think it’s of profound importance when it comes to preserving human inspiration. There is no doubt that we will delegate an increasing amount of the ‘making’ to AI... but this means that the human input becomes all the more important. Without this, we’ll all be baking with the same ingredients. And the cakes will likely taste the same. And therein lies the death of creative difference for any business. Not cool.

There is no doubt that we will delegate an increasing amount of the ‘making’ to AI...

I would like to posit that the solution is not to fearfully claw back responsibility from AI - that train has left the station and will only pick up speed; rather, it is to focus our efforts on making sure what goes in is as humanly… human… as possible. That means weird, imperfect, and irrational… but also original, emotional, and maybe even pitch-winning.

So, if it’s the digital screens, platforms, and engendered behaviours that are throwing us off course, is there an inspiration-based sanctuary available through a more analogue approach?I think so. Because our brains are ace. Genuinely. We just need to give them the chance. And here are three painfully simple ways to do just that…

Above: Bill Gates, "simply sitting and thinking may be a much higher priority".

Just do nothing

The first technique is my personal favourite because it is both the easiest and hardest thing to do - nothing. That’s right. Stare out of the window. Stare at the cat. Be bored.

There is a laundry list of cultural and commercial luminaries who have espoused the benefits of doing nothing - from Agatha Christie to Anish Kapoor and JK Rowling. US business behemoth, Warren Buffett, said ‘busy is the new stupid’ (he was famous for his surprisingly empty diary). And, in a famous conversation with tech tycoon and philanthropist, Bill Gates, the latter agreed on the danger of being occupied as a proxy for being productive: ‘simply sitting and thinking may be a much higher priority’.

Being bored works, because, without stimulus, our brains are forced to create their own.

Being bored works, because, without stimulus, our brains are forced to create their own. We reflect. We process. We ruminate and - if you’re that way inclined - we may even start to create. This won’t always happen automatically; you’ll most likely experience ‘phantom phone’ syndrome and reach into your bag or pocket. But treat it like a practice and it gets easier to let your mind wander.

In the workplace, we have a responsibility - for ourselves and those we manage - to make sure there is time for precisely this. ‘Doing nothing’ has terrible P.R. and yet in his book, Slow Productivity, Georgetown professor Cal Newport warns us that ‘the performative busyness of modern work impedes the ability to get important stuff done.’ The solution to this isn’t necessarily installing flotation tanks next to the office toilets - more nurturing a culture in which people are given time to sit and, as Einstein put it, ‘stimulate the creative mind’. Right on.

Above: Jony Ive, "My experience has been that an idea starts life as a tentative thought that tends to grow from something that you’re thinking into a conversation."

Real talk

The second technique is almost as simple - it’s having a conversation. But not the kind of conversations that tend to fill our days as creative professionals. Workflow meetings. Creative reviews. Client briefings. Midnight oil-burning pitch counselling. None of these allow the space or freedom to be inspired because they are typically time-sensitive, objective-based and - with the greatest of respect to all involved - generally not conversations that anyone actually wants to be part of.

At a creative agency I used to work for, we introduced something at the beginning of every new pitch or brief - the imaginatively-named ‘ What’s Interesting Session’. It was simply the chance to come together and shoot the breeze. What appealed to us. What bored us. What felt like it needed fixing. What random connections we could make together. They were as informal as possible but often, the core of the idea that we polished and brought to pitch, came in that first session. 

Workflow meetings, creative reviews, client briefings, midnight oil-burning pitch counselling; none of these allow the space or freedom to be inspired.

As a creative strategist, I’ve always believed in trying to be a magpie. Flying at distance over as much stuff as possible in order to spot the shiny thing. A tension. An opportunity. An injustice. A chance to poke fun at something that needs poking fun at. And almost always, this happens through conversation. 

Jony Ive has talked extensively about the ‘biography’ of an idea - where it comes from - and cites a chat as a good place to start: "My experience has been that an idea starts life as a tentative thought that tends to grow from something that you’re thinking into a conversation."

It really can be a glorious shortcut in the creative process. You just have to make sure it’s with the right people at the right time and feels as little like a meeting as humanly possible.