Need a creativity boost? Try a change of scenery

Creativity can flourish when you leave your comfort zone. A new study shows that relocating – or splitting time between different places – can help people start their most creative projects years earlier than those who stay put.

In fact, scientists from The Ohio State University, New York University in Abu Dhabi, and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis found that Nobel Prize winners who moved more often started their prize-winning research significantly earlier than those who didn’t.

The research, which analyzed Nobel laureates in chemistry, medicine, and physics from 1901 to 2003, was published in the journal International Economic Review.

Creativity needs fresh air

The study found that Nobel laureates who relocated frequently began their groundbreaking work about two years earlier than those who never moved.

Those who split their time between multiple institutions started even earlier – by as much as 2.6 years.

“They’re hearing interesting ideas at one place and different ideas at another location. They are putting these things together in novel, important ways,” said Bruce Weinberg, one of the study’s authors.

Why changing scenery matters

According to the researchers, switching locations helps scientists meet others with different perspectives. That mix of ideas can be powerful fuel for creative breakthroughs.

“If they stayed in one place, it would take much longer to happen or may not happen at all,” Weinberg said.

Previous research has often focused on how clusters of scientists in one location – like Silicon Valley or Cambridge – drive innovation. But this new study highlights something different: the power of exposure to new ideas through movement.

“You can be in one place with lots of brilliant people, but after a while, you’ve talked to all of them and you develop a common understanding of how things work,” Weinberg said.

“You’re less likely to come up with this great breakthrough unless you are exposed to a new set of ideas you haven’t heard before. You can do that by moving or working in several locations.”

Mobility and innovation

The researchers built a detailed dataset tracking the yearly locations of Nobel Prize winners and the year they began the work that led to their awards. They discovered patterns that connect mobility with earlier innovation.

Moving every two years shaved off about two years from the time it took to begin Nobel-winning work. Relocating every five years led to a reduction of 0.7 years.

Working in multiple places – like balancing time between a university and a large facility such as CERN – reduced the time to innovation by 2.6 years.

A head start on greatness

The data also revealed that about 5 to 10% of the Nobel laureates began their prize-winning work in the very first year of their careers. But others took 10, 20, or even up to 40 years.

“It’s not easy for a scientist to move their lab and work to a new location, but it can substantially boost their research,” Weinberg said.

Interestingly, the average time it took for laureates to start their Nobel work stayed consistent over the years, regardless of the scientific field.

What this means for the rest of us

Academic sabbaticals might offer similar benefits by allowing scholars to work in new or multiple places, providing a potential boost to creativity. While the study didn’t measure sabbaticals directly, the authors noted that examining their effects on creative output would be a valuable next step.

“For someone who might have taken 10 years to begin their prize-winning research if they stayed in one place, moving every two years could reduce that time by nearly a quarter. That is substantially accelerating their innovations,” Weinberg said.

Though the study focused on a specific group of scientists, Weinberg believes the findings have broader implications for anyone whose work relies on creativity.

“Many scientists work the same way as our study’s chemistry, medicine, and physics researchers. They can benefit by moving to new places and being exposed to new ideas,” he said.

“I think the same might even be true of great painters and artists and anyone in a creative domain – their genius is coming up with novel ideas and expressing them in novel ways. And it helps to move and meet others with different ideas.”

Creativity thrives outside the comfort zone

Weinberg also mentioned that there might be an added boost to creativity simply from being in a new setting, even beyond the benefits of meeting new people.

“Going off into a completely different environment, a new context, might help creative people think in new ways,” he said.

“You’re more likely to come up with that great new idea if you move around, meet new people, have new experiences, encounter new ways of thinking.”

The full study was published in the journal International Economic Review.

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