Next Time You’re Stuck, Think Like a Tortoise
Indecisiveness is the unlikely key to creativity
“The Tortoise meanwhile kept going slowly but steadily, and, after a time, passed the place where the Hare was sleeping. But the Hare slept on very peacefully; and when at last he did wake up, the Tortoise was near the goal. The Hare now ran his swiftest, but he could not overtake the Tortoise in time.
The race is not always to the swift.”
By now, you’re probably somewhat familiar with Aesop’s famous fable. As the saying goes: slow and steady wins the race.
Here I am, at the grand old age of 23, re-learning that lesson. I first learned the “Tortoise Mind” concept in John Cleese’s book Creativity: A Short and Cheerful Guide.
Cleese made me realise the lessons I learned as a child still hold true throughout life; sometimes, it pays to slow it down.
The “Tortoise Mind” vs the “Hare Brain”
After first seeing it himself in Guy Claxton’s Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind, Cleese wrote about the concept. Claxton outlines some real-life ‘Hare Brain’ scenarios:
- “A mechanic working out why an engine will not fire.”
- “A family arguing over the brochures about where to go for next…
