Contributed by Katja Marquart

Harnessing creativity, innovation, and problem-solving techniques in a fast-paced environment is a highly valued skill in today’s world. Although each of us possesses the ability to be creative and innovative, we each access these skills differently. Factors such as the environment in which we work, the amount of time available, and our personal state of being, greatly affect our overall productivity and problem-solving process. Often, we rely upon tools and various practices to facilitate this process. Around the world, many people are turning to labyrinths as a unique tool for enhancing creativity and problem-solving processes.

Labyrinths are often confused with mazes. Without a visual reference, this confusion is understood, as the terms maze and labyrinth are often used interchangeably. However, following a maze involves navigating through a series of paths, dead-ends, and multiple turns eventually leading to a goal that solves the maze. Contrary to this, labyrinths consist of one very clear path winding around a central area. This same path is then followed back out from the center to complete the labyrinth journey. Many people who experience labyrinths find that navigating this single path creates a right-brain experience that differs from the left-brain, decision based experience of solving a maze. There is nothing to solve in following a labyrinth, you simply experience the journey.

Labyrinths have a long and rich history. As ancient patterns, labyrinths have evolved into modern tools with numerous uses. They have been found in cultures around the world and throughout time, with earliest documentation found in the Minoan culture, second or third millennium BC. In most contemporary applications labyrinths are created as walking paths or finger-tracing patterns. The labyrinth pattern defines a unique space, offering individuals a focused place for personal reflection and centering, as they physically experience walking or tracing the labyrinth’s winding path.

As creative problem-solving tools labyrinths may be used in a variety of ways. Many people find the experience of walking or tracing a labyrinth to be quite relaxing, allowing them to feel centered. This inner-calm encourages a flow of ideas emerging from subconscious levels of thought. The steady winding of the labyrinth’s path also reflects the divergent and convergent nature of thoughts during creative problem solving. Following the labyrinth’s path, draws one tantalizingly close to the center, when suddenly making a turn guides you towards the outer edges of the labyrinth and far away from the center. As this journey unfolds, the path maintains this rhythm until the center is finally reached.

“Relating labyrinths to creativity is not new”, notes Janice Francisco, a facilitator in the field of Creativity and Change Leadership. Francisco states that labyrinths have often been fixtures at international creativity conferences. However, she became interested in how and why labyrinths were related to creativity when she observed that, “a specific link between labyrinths and creativity was never explained at these conferences.” This observation launched Francisco into a deeper examination of labyrinths related to creativity, resulting in authoring the useful text, “A Creative Walker’s Guide to the Labyrinth”.

Francisco also opts to use finger labyrinths over larger labyrinths made for walking, a decision based upon the nature of her work. Francisco often has limited time in which to facilitate a productive session. Finger labyrinths pique curiosity and provide a tool for her clients to use as a grounding exercise and to facilitate certain types of the creative problem solving process. Specifically, Francisco finds that labyrinths are best used to help clients incubate ideas, or generate questions or information in response to a question that she may pose. She describes her use of the labyrinth as, “a vehicle by which we get to an outcome.”

Using small-scale labyrinths isn’t the only way to achieve effective results when working with corporate groups. Tricia Pierce, another labyrinth facilitator, believes the physical experience of walking a labyrinth with the entire body enhances the creative process in a different way than with finger labyrinths. Pierce often works with an artist who creates the labyrinth pattern on-site before the facilitation process begins. She believes using site-constructed labyrinths provides an experience that is more authentic, connecting the walker’s feet directly with the floor or earth.

Pierce describes her facilitated walks as very, “process driven”, where she “creates opportunities for awareness and presents task-driven challenges evolving into a defined plan by the end of the walk.” Pierce also integrates team process theories, team building exercises, and community building activities with her sessions. Pierce has also developed a game utilizing the labyrinth as a means of brainstorming. Her goal with this game is aimed at getting participants to experience and see things differently so they might approach their problem-solving task from a different perspective. Utilizing the labyrinth as a game produces successful group results, and the game has since been adopted by other labyrinth facilitators for use with brainstorming.

Labyrinths exist in a variety of shapes and sizes, some of which are thought to be more conducive for specific types of brainstorming, problem-solving, and creative ideation. Perhaps one of the most significant design elements affecting all three of these processes is the overall length of the labyrinth itself, which directly impacts the amount of time it takes to complete the journey. Labyrinth patterns (and their resulting size) are frequently differentiated by the number of “circuits”, meaning the number of paths counted from one edge to the center (or center to one edge). An eleven-circuit labyrinth takes more time to complete than a seven-circuit labyrinth. One of the most popular labyrinths in use today is an eleven-circuit design called the Chartres Labyrinth. This labyrinth was originally installed in the floor of Chartres Cathedral, France, around 1200 AD. This path offers a longer journey that some facilitators prefer to use when leading groups through problem-solving exercises.

On the other hand, the shorter experience offered with a variety of different seven-circuit labyrinth patterns is preferred by others. Francisco uses the seven-circuit Santa Rosa Labyrinth, designed by Lea Goode-Harris. Using this pattern has helped Francisco introduce the labyrinth as a tool for brainstorming and problem-solving, without discussing the full history of labyrinths, because she is able to focus more on the labyrinth as “a vehicle by which the group achieves an outcome.”

About the Author:
Katja Marquart is the Publications Chair for The Labyrinth Society, and works as an Assistant Professor of Interior Architecture at the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point, with a research emphasis on labyrinths and their applications in the built environment.

| Creativity & Brainstorming, Generating Ideas & Ideation Techniques, Managing Ideas, Innovation Techniques, New Concepts & Ideas, Corporate Innovation, Innovation Training, BrainWaves Emagazine | Email Article | Share on Facebook | del.icio.us | digg this

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