Habits are a funny thing. We reach for them mindlessly, setting our brains on auto-pilot and relaxing into the unconscious comfort of familiar routine. "Not choice, but habit rules the unreflecting herd," William Wordsworth said in the 19th century. In the ever-changing 21st century, even the word "habit" carries a negative connotation.
So it seems paradoxical to talk about habits in the same context as creativity and innovation. But brain researchers have discovered that when we consciously develop new habits, we create parallel synaptic paths, and even entirely new brain cells, that can jump our trains of thought onto new, innovative tracks.
Rather than dismissing ourselves as unchangeable creatures of habit, we can instead direct our own change by consciously developing new habits. In fact, the more new things we try — the more we step outside our comfort zone — the more inherently creative we become, both in the workplace and in our personal lives.
But don't bother trying to kill off old habits; once those ruts of procedure are worn into the brain, they're there to stay. Instead, the new habits we deliberately ingrain into ourselves create parallel pathways that can bypass those old roads.
"The first thing needed for innovation is a fascination with wonder," says Dawna Markova, author of "The Open Mind". "But we are taught instead to 'decide,' just as our president calls himself 'the Decider.'" She adds, however, that "to decide is to kill off all possibilities but one. A good innovational thinker is always exploring the many other possibilities."
All of us work through problems in ways of which we're unaware, she says. Researchers in the late 1960s discovered that humans are born with the capacity to approach challenges in four primary ways: analytically, procedurally, relationally (or collaboratively) and innovatively. At the end of adolescence, however, the brain shuts down half of that capacity, preserving only those modes of thought that have seemed most valuable during the first decade or so of life.
The current emphasis on standardized testing highlights analysis and procedure, meaning that few of us inherently use our innovative and collaborative modes of thought. "This breaks the major rule in the American belief system — that anyone can do anything," explains M. J. Ryan, author of the 2006 book "This Year I Will..." and Ms. Markova's business partner. "That's a lie that we have perpetuated, and it fosters commonness. Knowing what you're good at and doing even more of it creates excellence." This is where developing new habits comes in.
习惯是件有趣的事。我们漫不经心地伸手去拿它们，让大脑进入"自动驾驶"状态，在熟悉的常规所带来的无意识舒适中放松下来。"不是选择，而是习惯支配着不思考的大众，"威廉·华兹华斯在19世纪如是说。在瞬息万变的21世纪，甚至连"习惯"这个词都带有负面含义。
因此，将习惯与创造力和创新放在同一语境下讨论似乎自相矛盾。但大脑研究人员发现，当我们有意识地培养新习惯时，我们会创建平行的突触路径，甚至是全新的脑细胞，这些路径和细胞能将我们的思维列车导向全新的、创新性的轨道。
与其把自己看作不可改变的习惯性动物，不如通过有意识地培养新习惯来主动引导自身的改变。事实上，我们尝试的新事物越多——越是走出舒适区——我们就变得越具有内在创造力，无论是在职场还是个人生活中。
但别费心去消灭旧习惯；一旦那些程序性的"车辙"被刻入大脑，它们就永远留在那里。相反，我们刻意植入自身的新习惯会创造出并行的通路，可以绕过那些旧的路径。
"创新所需的首要条件是对奇妙的着迷，"《开放思维》的作者道娜·马尔科娃说。"但我们却被教导要去'决定'，正如总统自称'决定者'一样。"然而她补充道，"决定就是扼杀所有可能性而只保留一个。一个优秀的创新思考者总是在探索众多其他的可能性。"
她说，我们所有人都在以自己未意识到的方式解决问题。20世纪60年代末的研究者发现，人类天生具备四种主要的应对挑战方式：分析型、程序型、关系型（或协作型）和创新型。然而，在青春期结束时，大脑会关闭其中一半的能力，只保留在人生最初十年左右看起来最有价值的思维模式。
当前对标准化考试的强调突出的是分析和程序能力，这意味着我们中很少有人固有地使用创新和协作的思维模式。"这打破了美国信仰体系中的核心信条——即任何人可以做任何事，"2006年《今年我要……》一书的作者、马尔科娃的商业伙伴 M. J. 赖安解释说。"那是一个我们长期维持的谎言，它助长了平庸。了解你擅长什么并在这方面做更多，才能创造卓越。"这正是培养新习惯的意义所在。