Stanford Ecorner: Connect and Combine

Stanford eCorner
Connect and Combine
Tina Seelig, Stanford Technology Ventures Program
August 15, 2011
Video URL: http://ecorner.stanford.edu/videos/2778/Connect-and-Combine
The re-combination of information is critical to

developing new ideas, says STVP Executive
Director Tina Seelig. This is the same reason
innovation flourishes throughout the world in
places where different people and ideas come
together, such as ancient Alexandria and modern
day San Francisco. But how do you teach this?
Seelig shares how metaphors can be a powerful
key to unlocking creativity through the
combination of ideas.
Transcript
The second rule or tool is to connect and combine things. Now, what do I mean? Well, let's see. Do we have any scientist
in the room? Trade is to creativity as sex as to biology. What the heck I am talking about? Well, let's look at this picture. What
do we have here? Some chromosomes - what are these chromosomes doing here? They're having sex. OK. You guys are all
grown-ups. They're replicating here, right? And what's happening over here? What is it called at this place? Crossing over,
right? Look what has happened, the blue chromosome and the red chromosomes are actually swapping information. And this
is some of the most interesting things that happen in biology. Because you got this amazing re-combination of the information
from the different chromosomes and they combine with each other.
Now think about it. This is like crossing over in the real world. Imagine that you're walking on this path and you're being
incredibly observant, paying attention to everything. And then, you come across someone walking down this path. If you talk to
them, engage with them, learn what they've seen, learn what they know, all of a sudden, the breath of your knowledge expands
exponentially, right? This is why places in the world like ancient Alexandria or San Francisco or London or New York-or pick
any major metropolitan area where people come together from all over the world- that's where you see amazing innovation.
Because you're getting this incredible connecting and combining of ideas and cultures and thoughts and foods and language,
and that's where interesting things take place. Now, how do we teach ourselves to do this in our everyday life? How do we
teach it? It's very simple actually. One of my favorite ways is to use metaphors. I am a huge believer that metaphors are the
key, a key, to creativity. Let's think about it.
If I ask you, if I say something like, "Ideas are like something." Anything, pick anything. Ideas are like shoes. Why are ideas
like shoes? They carry you. They take you places, right? Fabulous. Where else? Another reason? Ideas are like shoes
because... What's that? You can own them. OK, cool. Or maybe you can have too many. OK. Maybe you have to walk in them
for awhile before you get comfortable.
OK, there are lots of other ways. And it gives you some interesting... OK, we could say, well, ideas are like candy. Or ideas
are like light bulbs. Or ideas are like a walk in the park. You can do anything. And that's a wonderful way to get all sorts of new
ways of looking at something from a different perspective, is by using metaphors. In fact, there was an article that was in just
this week's Stanford Report about some research that was being done in the Psychology Department about using metaphors.
Did anyone read it? It was very interesting. It's about how, when you describe something like crime, you say "crime is a beast"
or "crime is a virus".
What ends up happening is people come up with very, very different solutions. If then you say, "Crime is a beast" and you
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describe it that way, then you start thinking you want to have more police, you want to have more jails, you want to basically
keep this beastie criminals contained. But you when you say that crime is a virus, all of the sudden, people come up with all
sorts of social reforms. So the answers you come up with are very dependent upon the metaphors you used in the beginning.
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Stanford eCorner

Connect and Combine

Tina Seelig, Stanford Technology Ventures Program

August 15, 2011

Video URL: http://ecorner.stanford.edu/videos/2778/Connect-and-Combine

The re-combination of information is critical to

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