Can creativity be enhanced in science or in art? Answering this question has been one of my personal obsessions over the past decade. After studying the literature, talking with heads of research groups who examine the phenomenon of creativity, and working with scientists to improve the quality of their work, I have concluded that people can, indeed, learn to be more creative. The trick is to actively cultivate curiosity, as well as to learn how to let go of mental habits that offer the security of established knowledge at the expense of developing childlike curiosity.

Physicist David Bohm thought deeply about the nature of scientific creativity and how it manifests itself. Bohm believed that scientists seek the previously unknown because of strong motivations to "learn something new that has a certain fundamental kind of significance; a hitherto unknown lawfulness in the order of nature, which exhibits unity in a broad range of phenomena." They find in their reality "a certain oneness and totality, or wholeness, constituting a kind of harmony that is felt to be beautiful" [1]. Bohm felt that scientific creativity is similar to artistic creativity with respect to the search for novel patterns. Scientists discover new patterns within nature, while artists create their own patterns. Furthermore, scientists must be creative in developing the overall structures of ideas that are necessary for expressing the harmony and beauty within nature, as well as in devising new methods and instruments for disclosing new facts.

For Bohm, the creative scientist searches for nature's patterns by looking for similarity among known differences and differences between known similarities, then comprehending all findings within a higher order of explanation [2]. In order to do this, the scientist must perceive the irrelevance of the already known set of fundamental differences and similarities for the current problem [3]. "Psychologically speaking, this is the hardest step of all. But once it has taken place, it frees the mind to be attentive, alert, aware, and sensitive so it can discover a new order and thus create new structures of ideas and concepts" [4].

Bohm illustrates scientific creativity by showing how Einstein questioned Newton's assumption that space and time differences were universally similar simply because they were perceived as similar. New observations forced Einstein to note that two observers moving at different speeds were unknowingly perceiving two separate space-time events, but that observers having similar differences of velocity would choose their space and time assessments (being at the same distance, simultaneity) in a similar way. As Bohm stated it, "Einstein's basic step was to perceive a new set of essential differences, from which there arose a new relationship of similarity, and thus a new order of space and time" [5].

How do you cultivate this type of creative perspective? It begins by allowing your natural curiosity to develop. Spend more time paying attention to things for their own sake and consciously replace old routines with new behaviors in the most trivial aspects of your life. For example, as you ascend an elevator to the laboratory, forgo the habit of thinking about the rest of the day to consider why the elevator is placed where it is, what the architects and engineers were thinking when they built the building, etc. Break your commuting habits by trying a different route or form of transportation.

Several people who study creativity suggest exercises such as brushing your teeth with your nondominant hand and enjoying the novelty of the experience. Consider writing brief notes, detailing what surprised you most and what you did that most surprised others each day. Writing and reading your notes will make you more capable of appreciating your development and may illuminate new trends or uncover desires that have been long suppressed.

Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi, who has conducted extensive research on creative scientists and artists (see the Careers article The Right Stuff: What Distinguishes Great Scientists), believes that the more you can increase the enjoyment of your work, the more you can develop the sustained attention and playful work habits that are required for creativity. He suggests three keys: before going to sleep, imagine what you will most enjoy about your work on the following day, then eventually visualize all the tasks that you will enjoy; invest more effort in your tasks; and ruthlessly pare away distractions and unnecessary tedium. Increasing effort leads to greater mastery and enjoyment - essential elements for creative work; to enhance enjoyment and stave off boredom, work to enhance the complexity of whatever you enjoy doing.

Avoiding distractions is especially important. Csikszentmihalyi's studies have led him to conclude that differences between highly creative thinkers and others do not lie in brain structure and function so much as how much uncommitted attention is left over to deal with novelty [6]. You can help avoid distraction by carefully controlling your schedule, physical space, and social contacts while working.

If thoughts of other projects or commitments intrude while working, create a to-do list, briefly jot down the task, then quickly return to work. This can eliminate the worry about forgetting, while quickly making the commitment to take action in the future. Scheduling your work-alone time apart from your work-with-others time will help ensure that you won't be disturbed when you need to be creative. In addition, pay close attention to the period of the day when you are most creative and are enjoying your work the most. Schedule your day around this period. Finally, as you grow to notice the occasions when you are most creative, note how they correspond to your diet, sleep habits, and exercise patterns and adjust your habits accordingly. Proper rest and relaxation are essential. An exhausted mind will rarely lead to creative work.

From a psychological perspective, the most important internal trait for creative work may be the ability to control how the mind shifts between intuitive, imaginative perceptions and analytical perspectives. Scientists are more likely to get stuck in an analytical mode, while artists tend to get stuck in the imaginative mode. Surprisingly often, when I ask scientists what the main points of their papers are, they utter a list of facts or conclusions, but have trouble stating what is at the heart of the work. This indicates that they may have simply followed established procedures and merely extended the work of predecessors, rather than investigating novel ideas with new methods.

As creative scientists imagine and speculate, they must be able to check their gut feelings to help determine which hunches feel right. Only then should they critically evaluate their ideas. The imagination must roam freely. If you are not discarding plenty of bad ideas, you may not be coming up with good new ideas. In order to become more focused on what you are really curious about and what motivates your ongoing research, quickly write down 10 answers to the general question of what your current research is about. As you write them and read them over, note which answer evokes the strongest positive emotional response. You can trust those feelings to help you identify what you do best and enjoy most, if you are confident that your reasoning will test your resulting work.

Csikszentmihalyi suggests that regular meditation cultivates openness to novelty, while it concentrates energy within a discipline that focuses attention. Meditation does seem to activate a detached curiosity while anchoring attention on an object, such as the breath, stomach, mantra, or chant. It can also reduce anxiety and anger and diminish the effects of emotional memories that cause creative blocks, leaving more energy free for creative work.

Meditation, as well as the use of guided imagery, may enhance your capacity to visualize, which is a touchstone of creative scientific thinking. Graduate scientific training, which focuses on methods and results, doesn't address how to increase the capacity to conduct thought experiments, which have been essential to scientific breakthroughs from Galileo to the present.

Prior to the development of quantum physics, scientists used visualization based on sensory experience. The need for visualizing and extending quantum theory led to Feynman diagrams, which allow the mind to manipulate mathematically true images that have no bearing on sense perception. Whether your work is derived from physical or mathematical structures, you can increase your capacities by conducting more extended thought experiments more frequently, even for minor scientific problems.

All of the techniques mentioned in this article can help produce at least modest increases in creativity because they tap into fundamental cognitive processes that have proven instrumental in creative science. Exercises to develop intuition - particularly by cultivating the capacity to feel and imagine - may be particularly difficult for some scientists to accept and perform, since science is supposed to be about what's "out there" in front of us. Some skepticism is warranted - there are no guarantees that even sustained efforts will lead to enormous changes in your career, since habits of mind can be unrelenting. However, if you are willing to experiment in a disciplined way over time, you may notice more and fresher insights, as well as greater energy and an increased enjoyment of your work. Try it.