David Brooks is taking a break from his usual NY Times columnist beat (“I'm a Republican yet I really like Obama”) to talk about creative process. “Genius: The Modern View" is a review of some of the popular writing on the subject, particularly “The Talent Code” by Daniel Coyle, and “Talent Is Overrated” by Geoff Colvin.
The most interesting item in the column is this: “The mind wants to turn deliberate, newly learned skills into unconscious, automatically performed skills. But the mind is sloppy and will settle for good enough. By practicing slowly, by breaking skills down into tiny parts and repeating, the strenuous student forces the brain to internalize a better pattern of performance.”
That “sloppy” trap is a killer. I fall into it continually. Being a pro photographer means having a toolkit of ready made solutions that you're known for, and can bring to bear at a moment's notice. Probably ninety eight percent of the time I'm responding to the moment in a way I've done in previous, similar situations. The challenge is to bring to the situation a state of awareness, and know that you're falling into a habit. If the habit is providing the right solution, then bingo, you're good to go. Those dependable solutions are our stock in trade. But paying attention to some other input, maybe a feeling, or a body sensation, can be where mastery of a more complex treatment can emerge.
You don't need to be a genius to make this work.
Wow Doug - I love this
Posted by: Gail Mooney | May 03, 2009 at 03:56 AM