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Ideas per Square Inch of Brain: Why Creativity Defies Measurement
The Absurdity of KPIs for Innovation
Picture this: a manager leans over, clipboard in hand, tallying up your weekly “idea output.”
“Congratulations, you’ve produced 25 ideas per square inch of brain this week. Keep it up and you’ll meet your quarterly creativity goals!”
Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? Yet this kind of oversimplified measurement is exactly what modern workplaces attempt when they try to quantify creativity.
True innovation is sparked by curiosity, not compliance
Goodhart’s Law
When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.
The Irony of Metrics: Do They Hurt Creativity?
Imagine a painter staring at a blank canvas, knowing they need to produce ten “masterpieces” this month to meet a quota.
Does this pressure spark brilliance, or does it lead to rushed and uninspired work?
Creativity thrives in unpredictability, spontaneity, and even failure. It’s more like a flourishing, untamed garden than a factory assembly line. But organizations often reduce it to metrics like “brainstorm sessions per quarter” or “number of…
