Wanted: Non-Routine Savants

Posted by Polly - July 17th, 2008

Google’s founders launched their IPO with a now-famous declaration of independence from business as usual: “Google is not a conventional company. We do not intend to become one.” That proved to be more than a boastful slogan largely because the company’s leaders focused from the start on being as unconventional and uncompromising about its people practices as they were about every other part of the business.

The company’s rigor and inventiveness when it comes to finding and unleashing the best talent is well-documented: from the practice of 20% time to the obsessive tweaking of its hiring algorithm to the juicy and utterly original language with which it describes its unique appeal to the best talent in the world. And this week, Google’s blog features a particularly illuminating post on which talent holds a unique appeal for the company (and any company interested in innovation).

What’s truly Googley? “Non-routine problem solving skills.” Poster Jonathan Rosenberg goes on: Non-routine savants not only exhibit a data-driven analytic ability, good communication skills, great teamwork, and genuine passion—they also, importantly, demonstrate a willingness to experiment, see old things in new ways, let go of pet theories and assumptions. The challenge with that, he says, is that “It’s easy to educate for the routine, and hard to educate for the novel.”

That’s both good news and bad news. On the one hand, it points to the fact that creativity is not some genetic gift only available to a thin slice of the population. On the other, it underscores the fact that creativity is a habit and a discipline to be rigorously and regularly cultivated—and while it’s a prized outcome in schools and businesses, it tends to fall off the curriculum as a practice.

That’s why I’m drawn to people who seem to be masters of their domain, but never fall victim to their mastery. They’re inspirational not so much because they exhibit genius (which they do), but because they demonstrate discipline (but often make it seem like fun—practice is play). A classic example of this kind of artist at work is Dan Wieden, founder and chairman of Wieden + Kennedy, the Portland, Ore maverick ad agency of record for Nike and Starbucks. Dan is arguably a creative genius (he actually penned the words “Just do it”), but he’s a zealot when it comes to cultivating the fresh perspective of a newbie. He told me he’s come to believe his job is “to walk in stupid everyday.” Why? Because no matter what business you’re in, and no matter what day it is, something’s changed overnight. And it’s your job to forget what you knew yesterday and to start afresh today.

That goes against the grain in a business world that values the “experience curve” (the more you do something–whether it’s manufacture computer chips or craft advertising messages–the more productive and skilled you become). But the “non-routine savants” who win by playing a different game, appreciate the power of the “inexperience curve”—the idea that the more you do something, the more important it is to challenge the assumptions and habits that built your success in the first place.

Cultivating “stupidity” is surprisingly challenging. The most open-minded and creatively-charged leaders I know seem to share one quality: they’re insatiably curious—about a whole range of things, most of which seem to have nothing to do with their job. They make it a personal discipline to get out of their element, to mix it up with people who are not like them, to invite subversive elements into their sphere as often as possible, and to generally try anything that switches them off autopilot and awakens them to all the signals out in the world.

If that all sounds good to you, but you’re not exactly sure where to start, take a page from one of my favorite handbooks of productive stupidity (or, if you prefer, non-routine savanthood): Twyla Tharp’s “The Creative Habit.” It’s both rigorously practical and endlessly inspiring when it comes to cultivating creativity as a lifelong habit. The crunchy exercises, robust rituals, and powerful mindflips on every page perform an end-run around the fears, excuses, and smarts that keep us from seeing the world with fresh eyes and acting on what we see. Add it to your summer reading list. Who knows? You may come back from the beach with a breakthrough—or a job offer from Google.

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