Summary.—...We presented a scenario in which 125 participants believed that they had completed a task and so had no reason to seek further solutions. To their surprise, after a period of distraction, we resumed the testing session... the second session displayed a remarkable similarity to those from the first, including an initial burst of ideas, allowing the inference that... a process of nonconscious idea generation might be operating. Nonconcious Idea Generation, Psychological Reports, 2004
The task for the 125 participants (11 to 71) was write down as many uses for a piece of paper as possible for 5-minutes. The "period of distraction" lasted five minutes.What happened after the second testing period?
Although the majority of participants had seemingly exhausted their capacity to produce new ideas by the end of the first session, in the second session they generated, on average, approximately 60% as many new ideas as they had on the first occasion.
60%... ! For a piece of paper!
This simple experiment powerfully illustrates why architect's who stay with the project and invest huge amounts of time produce a better product. They continuously generate new thoughts, ideas, analysis and get feedback from others. They communicate the work to be accomplished, monitor its progress in real time and continue the "idea generation" process as the feature is being built.
An architect can come in for his rare and "timely site-visit" but he's missed a lot since his previous visit. A lot of feedback, communication, and critical time to roll ideas through his head.And that "timely site visit"? By the time most would generate a second "burst of ideas" from their handful of hours on-site, they're in the rental car or helicopter headed to the airport.
Tony Ristola
agolfarchitect.com
agolfarchitect@yahoo.com
+49 (0)173 450 4552
+1(909) 581 0080
