Leonardo and me
About five years ago I read Walter Isaacson’s biography Leonardo da Vinci. I remember buying it for my Kindle and then returning it and buying hard copy because I couldn’t see the pictures. I’ve always been fascinated by this Renaissance scientist-inventor-artist-and thoroughly enjoyed the book. It would probably still be on our bookshelf had we not moved in the interim. I gave away myriad books to accommodate smaller shelf-space. A quick scan of said bookshelf indicates that Alan rarely rereads anything and Billie considers books to be “her friends.” So we now have a surfeit of her favorite scribes and no Walter Isaacson.
Isaacson paints Leonardo as an entrepreneur finding funding from the Renaissance power structures in Florence, Milan, Rome and France. Leonardo like many grant seekers occasionally sold his soul and more than occasionally pissed off the authorities.
Still he was perpetually curious building upon the research of others and continually experimenting, starting over with “beginner mind,” practice, and amazing imagination.
Today I was going through my most recently brimful black Moleskine notebook. There among literally hundreds of to-do lists, (some tasks done, some not quite – yet) there among notes for stories and songs long ago written, was a single page with this title and twenty bullet points.
It is from Isaacson’s conclusion. This biographer often summarizes what we should glean from a life he reviews. Now, this list has steeped for enough time in my brain that I choose to comment. The bold below are Isaacson’s bullets, the comments following are the ramblings and ruminations of my brain. (Not “this is your brain on drugs,” but “this is my brain on Walter Isaacson’s take on Leonardo”) I think it may contain a somewhat chaotic blueprint for becoming more creatively productive.
The Lessons:
Seek knowledge for its own sake.
Walter Isaacson told many stories of how Leonardo studied apparently irrelevant things, which he later folded into his work. Da Vinci’s codices are full of these examples. Learning is the basis for changing thinking. Sure, sure, one can overdo it.
People in my wife’s family often say “Aaaask Alan!” as a way of highlighting my miles-wide microns-deep knowledge from being a consultant for thirty-seven years, but sometimes even my font of totally useless information proves useful.
Retain a childlike sense of wonder.
“You are only young once, but you can be immature forever!” I get such a kick out of playing with my grandchildren, seeing things for the first time. Maybe all leaders should spend time in preschool once a year.
Observe.
Everyone who follows the scientific method talks this game. Why is it that so many of us only see what we are looking for?” How can we bring “beginner mind” without expectations to our observations.
Start with details.
I had a client once who called himself a big picture guy, He would come up with ideas and ask others to work out (and not bother him with) details. This led to some spectacular achievements at his firm. it also led to some firm threatening failures. “God is in the details,” said Mies van der Rohe. Leonardo would agree.
See things unseen.
For me this is an extension of the previous – hidden details, the how things work beneath the surface. It is also about changing your perspective “How would a giraffe view this design? An ant? What if/. . . ? In what ways might we. . . ?”
Go down rabbit holes.
“God is in the details” Deep learning. This may not mean getting lost in Google at work, but sometimes. . . maybe it does.
Get distracted.
There are a great many stories about the killer app entering someone’s brain when they were daydreaming in the shower. Archimedes was taking a bath when displacement dawned upon him “Eureka! I have solved it”
Distractions can allow the subconscious mind to work on the problem. In my case distraction only works when I have exhausted my brain with repeated excruciating focus.
Respect facts.
Isaacson spends a lot of the book describing how Leonardo recreated experiments by others to verify the facts. Then once established to his satisfaction he built upon facts in his work. I used to preach “facts and data” in my continuous improvement work, because it is easy to state an opinion so confidently that everyone wants to take action even if you just made it up because you couldn’t think of another explanation. This is how conspiracy theories form and grow the legs of a millipede.
Procrastinate.
As a world-class procrastinator I love Isaacson’s imprimatur for my “mañana” way of being in the world. It is true that some problems solve themselves and sometimes solutions need to percolate. Sometimes the burst of deadline-induced, adrenaline-fueled activity can produce flashes of brilliance that plodders cannot match. Also, sometimes, it produces safety-risking corner-cutting and crash and burn failures
Let the perfect be the enemy of the good (sometimes).
Pragmatism has its place. Passionate perfectionists need to understand where that place lies so they can skirt around it when appropriate.
Think visually.
Leonardo’s drawings helped us imagine the uninvented. His paintings spark discussion “when is a smile not necessarily a sign that someone is happy? (“Mona Lisa men have named thee.”)
Eyes are an organ of choice for many, (“Seeing is believing.”) but not all (“I hear where you are coming from.”) Making things benefits from visual thinking; emotional intelligence -maybe- maybe not.
Use analogy to see patterns.
Analogic thinking – comparing a process to nature often produces insight. Leonardo saw patterns to be repeated. Fibonacci (another Leonardo), the golden mean found in many of da Vinci’s designs.
My many to-do lists in this same notebook show some things that routinely fall to the next to-do list. Is the pattern immediacy? Do I do things for others more than for myself? What is the selective mud that grabs my personal tires on those issues?
Most of us could use analogies in change implementation. Spinning wheels doesn’t help when you’re stuck in the mud. You need a tool to provide traction the way you put a plank under your tires.
Avoid silos (think across disciples and power structures).
Leonardo was the poster child for multidisciplinary thinking, incorporating biology, and chemistry into physical-mechanical projects. Silos -functional or business groups that don’t collaborate in organizations are an extreme limiter of innovation and performance. When was the last time you talked, really talked with someone very different from yourself?
Let your reach exceed your grasp.
Jim Collins called these Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAG) -goals you had no idea how to achieve. Expressing intention is powerful.
Indulge fantasy.
I buy that fantasy as a way to understand a problem and imagine solutions. Acting on magical thinking (see facts and data) not-so-much.
Having said that I read and watch a lot of science fiction, medieval and magical fantasy. I don’t think Lord of the Rings or The Song of Ice and Fire helped my career. I don’t think it hurt it either.
Create for yourself not just for your patrons.
There is an ongoing discussion t have with my son about the business side of the arts. The joy is in production of art, whether it be painting or writing, the money is in distribution (reaching the patrons). I have the advantage of choosing my art as an avocation. If it is ultimately read by people who will pay to read it, great. Zac would like to sell more art and only “rich white women” seem to buy paintings. (Interesting – women buy more books than men too though the price point is lower.)
Neither of us is Leonardo-level, (he’s closer than me) but we do agree that taking joy in the production is imperative.
Make lists – put odd things on them.
My father always had a 3”x5” index card with his list. I write them everywhere. I’ve never been known to put “hummingbird tongues” on a list. Whether that was something to learn about, an analogy for a water suction project, Leonardo didn’t say, but these random ideas may spark thought or productively distract us to examine more than the doings of the day.
Take notes on paper.
As I’ve said, I have full notebooks of ramblings, ideas and to-dos. I don’t use the notes function on my iPhone. There is something about the act of writing it down that helps me to remember. Reading those scratches and scrawls often starts me thinking anew.
I used to do a great deal of interviewing for my job as a consultant. People would ask for my handwritten notes, but they were completely illegible. However I could type them up and capture an interview nearly verbatim if I transcribed soon after the interview.
Be open to mystery. Not everything needs sharp lines.
I think Walter Isaacson is referring to Leonardo’s da Vinci’s rough sketches and “unfinished” paintings. But for me this is like reach exceeding grasp BHAGs and a sense of wonder -provoking creativity, imagination, and childlike wonder.
And now. . . this
Our world has a lot of problems. As Einstein told us they are unlikely to be solved with the same thinking that created them. Here is Leonardo da Vinci’s blueprint for creating a different kind of thinking -an innovative mindset that might help us grow into a better world.
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