Creativity in the workplace

Creativity
We usually associate creativity with the arts, with painting, sculpture, drama and literature but creativity is one of the most important forces in business. As Harvey Firestone said: "Capital isn't so important in business. Experience isn't so important. You can get both these things. What is important is ideas. If you have ideas, you have the main asset you need, and there isn't any limit to what you can do with your business and your life."
When Alexander the Great visited Diogenes and asked whether he could do anything for the famed teacher, Diogenes replied: “Only stand out of my light.” Perhaps some day we shall know how to heighten creativity. Until then, one of the best things we can do for creative men and women is to stand out of their light." John W. Gardner.
There is little doubt that creativity is a major function of successful businesses. Apple, the world’s most successful business is innovative; Steve Jobs was a creative founder and CEO. Microsoft is said to be in decline because of a relative lack of creativity.
One of the tasks of good leadership in any organization is to foster creativity and now, with the development of neuro science we know how to foster creativity. We can use brainwave entrainment.

Brainwaves
Brainwaves are a measure of the electrical activity of our brains. Thinking occurs when the cells in our brains exchange electrical and chemical signals. Brainwave activity indicates what is going on in the brain. The following table shows the common frequencies that we experience daily.
State Frequency range State of mind
Delta 0.5Hz - 4Hz Deep sleep
Theta 4Hz - 8Hz Drowsiness and first stage of sleep -suggestible state ideal for hypnosis and mind programming
Alpha 8Hz - 14Hz Relaxed but alert – good for meditation
Beta 14Hz - 30Hz Highly alert and focused- good for learning and IQ development

How Does Brainwave Entrainment Work?
Just as brainwave patterns measure a person's mental state, so we can alter brainwave patterns and thus influence mental states.
The Theta frequency dominates when we are drowsy, so entrainment at the Theta frequency induces drowsiness and can be used to combat insomnia. It is said that half an hour of Theta entrainment can substitute for four hours of sleep. Alpha and Theta entrainment can also be a shortcut to meditation and mind programming.
The Dutch scientist Christian Huygens is credited with discovering entrainment. While working on the design of a pendulum clock in 1665 Huygens found that when he placed two clocks near each other on a wall at first the pendulums swung at different rates, but eventually they ended up synchronized, swinging together. The synchronization was perfect. It was as if the pendulums were connected physically.
Entrainment is not just a phenomenon associated with physics, it is a universal scientific principle found in chemistry, biology, psychology, medicine, sociology, astronomy and other scientific fields. Entrainment even in physics is not completely understood. It must depend on direct transmission of impulses though, as Huygens’ clocks did not entrain if they were not on the same wall.
Brainwave entrainment depends on a frequency following response, a naturally occurring phenomenon where the human brain tends to change its dominant frequency towards the frequency of an external stimulus, just as one pendulum synchronizes with another.
The effect that causes brainwave entrainment is a pulse of sound. A drumbeat is a pulse of sound and if the drummer is 100% accurate in maintaining a drumbeat then that beat could be used for brainwave entrainment.
Drums have been used by shamans and others for millennia to induce trance states and altered states of consciousness. Light as well as sound may also be used in brainwave entrainment, but light is difficult to incorporate in, for instance, study routines which require reading. Flashing light can also induce seizures in epileptics. We use only sound, which can be incorporated in anyone’s study routine.
Binaural beats
A pulse is a rhythmic tone that turns on and off at a certain frequency per second. In order to entrain brainwaves the technology we use generates pulses of either isochronic tones or binaural beats. Binuaral beats are produced in the brain whereas isochronic tones are produced externally, like drumbeats. Binaural beats require earphones whereas isochronic tones do not. You will see a lot about binaural beats on the Internet.
A beat is interference between two sounds of different but close frequencies. Thus if a sound of 100 Hz is played into the left ear and another sound of 109 Hz is played into the right ear the resulting beat frequency is 109 – 100 = 9 MHz, a frequency in the low alpha range of brainwaves. All we need to induce beats in the brain is an iPod or other MP3 player and stereo headphones for binaural beats, headphones are not needed for isochronic tones though they may be used.
You can read about binaural beats on websites devoted to brainwave entrainment. Binaural beats may be over-hyped on the Web; some research indicates that binaural beats, which are produced in the brain, are not as effective for entrainment as isochronic tones. Binaural beats are very quiet. On the other hand binaural beats have been used successfully and are in our software suite.
Binaural beats produce sine waves, not the simple, abrupt pulses of isochronic tones; binaural beats lack the clear on/off definition of isochronic tones. Also isochronic tones are usually more audible that binaural beats. This is why research indicates that isochronic tones are the most effective stimulus for brainwave entrainment. We generally favor the use of isochronic tones.
If you go to the website: http://www.NeuroLearnings.com you will find brainwave entrainment tracks that facilitate learning and IQ development. One such track is described thus in the website:
Creative Focus
Reduce Frustration & Maintain Creativity (60 min) - $27.50
Creative Focus is the intensely focused creative state that artists, writers and performers exhibit while bringing their vision into reality. It is what athletes call 'The Zone'. This session acts to create a mental state dominated by low beta (helping promote focus) and high alpha to reduce frustration and keep the creative ideas flowing. Helps students to write essays, term papers and theses. It may also be used by creative artists such as writers and painters.
Creative focus may also be used in business. Creative members of the business team may listen to the Creative Focus track through earphones on an MP3 player, or the track may be played in the office through speakers attached to a conventional sound system.
Creative focus will help induce creativity in team members through brainwave entrainment and thus help the business become more creative.