Everyone from Einstein to Mickey Mouse has had this experience. It comes with the territory of trying to innovate.

Most of us, unfortunately, have a hard time acknowledging it.

"Not knowing" has become a euphemism for "ignorance" or "being unprofessional." And so begins our curious routine of appearing to know and giving bogus answers -- to ourselves and others -- in a pitiful attempt to mask our confusion and maintain a sense of control, brilliance, and selfhood.

Our fundamental discomfort with not knowing -- much in the same way that a person who breaks up with their sweetheart often rushes too quickly into the next relationship -- prevents us from mining the value of this potentially fertile time of dislocation.

Picasso puts it well: "The act of creation is first of all an act of destruction."

Translation? Great breakthroughs emerge after times of dissolution, chaos, and confusion. Jump too quickly into the next thing and you may be short-circuiting a critical stage of the (yes, often uncomfortable) creative process.

Wasn't the universe itself created out of chaos?

llya Prigogine, a leading brain researcher, describes this phenomenon as the "Theory of Dissipative Structures". Simply put, it means that when things fall apart, they eventually reorganize themselves on a higher level (if they don't first become extinct).

And while this transition stage certainly looks and feels like confusion, what's really happening is that the old structures are giving way to the new.

Lao Tzu, one of China's most revered sages, knew all about this phenomenon:

I am a fool, oh yes, I am confused.
Other men are clear and bright.
But I alone am dim and weak.
Other men are sharp and clever,
But I alone am dull and stupid.
Oh, I drift like the waves of the sea,
Without direction, like the restless wind.

Somehow, he knew that "things" needed to be a little mixed up for there to be sufficient space for something new to enter his life. He knew that sometimes it was wisest just to let life unfold -- and that any knee-jerk attempt to clear up what he perceived to be confusion would only leave him with his old habits, patterns, and routines.

There is no need to fight confusion. Let it be.

It's a stage we must pass through on the road to creation. Fighting confusion only makes it worse -- like trying to clean a dirty pond by poking at it with a stick.

And, besides, even while our conscious mind is telling us we're confused, our subconscious mind is processing a mile a minute to come up with some amazing solutions. In the shower. While we're exercising. Driving home from work. Even in our dreams.

Look at it this way...

First, we REFUSE (to have our status quo threatened). Then, we get CONFUSED (trying to sort out all the new input). Next, we try to DIFFUSE the process (by regressing or denying.) Eventually, we get INFUSED (inundated by new insights). And, finally, we get FUSED (connecting with previously unrelated elements to form a new and unified whole).

Your next step? Allow confusion to be what it is -- the catalyst for new and more elegant solutions in your life. And if you really can't stand the confusion, know there are simple things you can do to go beyond it:

1. Take a break from the problem at hand
2. Get clear about what's confusing you
3. Talk about your confusion with trusted friends or co-workers
4. Seek out missing information
5. Redefine your problem or challenge
6. Pay attention to your dreams and other clues bubbling up from your subconscious
7. Ask for input/feedback from others
8. Let go
9. Realize it took 10 years for the post-it (an accident in the lab) to go from idea to commercial product
10. Find the humor in it

Idea Champions

Photo