This photo of Albert Einstein's desk depicts his office exactly as he left it before his death in 1955. Is there a link between being messy and creative, clutter and intelligence? Causation or correlation? Researchers have explored this very issue but, mostly, I just wanted to post the wonderful photo of Einstein's desk. From Entrepreneur:
Research published in Psychological Science has good news for messy-deskers. Scientist Kathleen Vohs and a team at the University of Minnesota found that both clean and messy workspaces have their own unique perks.
In this series of experiments, participants were seated at a desk that was either clean or messy, then asked to answer survey questions and make various decisions. Participants seated at a messy desk generated more creative ideas during a brainstorming exercise. They also chose new or novel products over established ones when presented with options.
In contrast, those seated at clean desks behaved more conventionally, doing that was expected of them. When presented with either an apple or piece of chocolate for a snack, for example, participants seated at clean desks chose the healthy snack more frequently.
It's a chicken-or-the-egg scenario that invites us to consider the type of thinking we want to cultivate.
(via Daily Grail)
