Mind the SCARF

Over the past year, I’ve been researching and exploring the concept of Inventive Thinking. Simply put, inventive thinking is about bringing an inventor’s mindset into everyday work.

I started seeking out invention stories, but I lost interest in well-known inventors (e.g., Thomas Edison, Steve Jobs, James Dyson, etc.) because there is an unreasonable (and occasionally unearned) mythology surrounding them (and they’re typically all white men with privilege). No. Instead, I’ve been looking into the origin stories behind many everyday inventions (e.g., paper clips, potato chips, windshield wipers, etc.) and looking for patterns.

To me, most of these origin stories feature regular people (not professional inventors) who see a problem and find a way to fix it. They are much more relatable. Here's my contention: bringing an inventor’s mindset to the table helps us regain agency, build resilience, and reflect and grow – even in an era marked by complexity and uncertainty.

But it’s not as simple as that. What stops people from entertaining creativity in their workplaces? I found many possible answers to that question, but I quite like the social threat angle behind David Rock’s SCARF model. It’s hard to be creative when one of the following is under threat:

Status. We like to know where we stand. When our competence is questioned, we get defensive.

Certainty. We want to know what is going to happen. When uncertainty arises, we fill the gaps with (mostly negative) predictions.

Autonomy. We need to feel control over our circumstances. When choice evaporates, we get desperate.

Relatedness. We are social creatures. When we feel isolated and alienated, we lose motivation.

Fairness. We enjoy an innate sense of fairness. When we see injustice, we feel frustrated and hopeless.

Need your team to be more inventive?

Make sure you’re not threatening one of the dimensions of the SCARF model.

Inspiration

BiteSize Learning. (n.d.). “The SCARF Model of social threat and reward.”