Elias Howe and the Sewing Machine
However , despite trying repeatedly, all his attempts to design a sewing machine fell apart. He was not able to design the machine to stitch clothes . One night he went to bed ,deeply thinking about how to design the sewing machine, fell asleep. He was awakened by a pull at his collar and found strange looking savage men dragging him. Before he could understand anything,Elias Howe found himself on his knees in front of the savage king who surprisingly knew that Elias was working on a sewing machine. The savage king was visibly angry about the fact that Elias had not been able to design the sewing machine so far. He told Elias that ‘ I am giving you just 24 Hours and if you cannot design the machine within the given timeframe and make it sew , then I will execute you.’
Howe worked and worked, and puzzled, and finally gave it up. Elias could not design the machine in the next 24 hours , so the warriors of the savage king pulled him out of his house again and dragged him to the streets . They were carrying spears in their hands and surrounded him. The savage king was very upset and told Elias - ‘ Your 24 hours are over . You useless fellow, you could not design a simple sewing machine so you have no right to live in this world. He raised his spear and in a fit of anger was about to pierce Howe in his chest when Howe gave out a loud cry and woke up. He realised that this was nothing but a dream. However after waking up he woke up his wife Elizabeth in excitement as well and told her ‘ I found the design of my sewing machine.’
Elizabeth was very surprised as she knew that Elias was not able to design it even till last night before they went to bed. So she asked if Elias had a dream and in the dream he designed it .Elias agreed that he was indeed dreaming and told Elizabeth about his dream. Elizabeth still could not understand that even in the dream, if he could not design the machine , how he found the solution after waking up from his nightmare.
Elias explained that , in his dream, when the savage king was about to put the spear through his chest, he saw that it was a strange looking spear and had an aperture like an eye at its tip. He noticed that the warriors carried spears that were pierced near the head too. He said all these days he was trying to design a sewing machine using a conventional needle with its eye at the heel but as he saw the spear in his dream, he found the design of the needle with its eye at its tip. It was 4 o'clock in the morning. He jumped out of bed, ran to his workshop, and by 9, a needle with an eye at the point had been rudely modeled. After that it was easy. That is the true story of an important incident in the invention of the sewing machine.
So what do you understand from this story about the nature of creativity?
Creativity is not considered synonymous with insight; however, insight can certainly result in creative solutions during creative problem solving. Insight inspires creativity, solves vexing problems, and improves our lives.
Yet, it often takes years to realize what turns out to be an astoundingly simple answer to a complex problem. When we do experience insight, it feels like a lucky accident, appearing suddenly, out of nowhere, in a flash of revelation – appreciated and celebrated but rarely understood.
How could it take more than 20 years to realize what turned out to be a strikingly simple answer to a profound problem? Even when so much is at stake and the answer is sought with conviction, passion and dedication?
How can it be that many of the greatest insights and ideas throughout history have been discovered in plain sight, right in front of us, where they’ve been hiding for years?
Creative problem solving and Analytical problem solving are they the same or different?
It should be noted that insights, while they do suddenly merge into one’s stream of consciousness, are preceded by unconscious processing to arrive at the insight. This is in contrast to analytical problem solving which involves the use of a systematic process or simply logical reasoning to arrive at a solution to a problem.It is deliberate and conscious, and often involves the use of some type of strategy which allows the individual to progress incrementally toward a solution.
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