hi
creativity is contagious and in fact the
story I want to share with you today is
the solo on how I got infected with the
virus of creativity and what do I do
to infect other people with it the
reason why I’m so passionate about it is
because as an academic scientist I’m
frustrated that we publish thousands of
papers per year about our discoveries
but only a very few percentage of those
results in real scientific breakthrough
that have a real impact on our life are
we scientists creative enough
I will scientist innovative enough is
our creativity supported enough you know
when I started my PhD I had this
romantic idea that you know I’ll be a
scientist I’ll be one of the most
creative people on earth was i dead
stupid what was that just a romantic
idea of this young naive PhD student I
mean looking back now I probably was it
really looks like that
us scientists we should redefine our
creative process we should redefine our
way of thinking if we really want to
impact our society and we do some we
want to do something meaningful but what
is a creative process anyway I mean I
think that every time we start or try to
solve the problem we engage a creative
process I mean the problem can be as
simple as I’m thirsty and I need a glass
of water
I can either decide to walk to the bar
and have a glass of water or I can
decide to invent a new form of water
eatable water which I can basically have
it in my pocket
and eat it every time I’m thirsty now I
think we all agree that the first
solution is definitely the easier the
faster the most illogical there are the
smartest if you want but I think we also
all agree on the fact that the second
solution is definitely the more creative
now I like sometimes to think and
imagine how those different ideas are
conceived in our mind and I like to
think that the logic ideas are conceived
in a desk that looks more or less like
this
I call it the logic desk this desk is a
clean isnít it only contains the tool
that we need to make smart decisions
it’s filled with our knowledge not only
the knowledge that we have read on the
book but also the knowledge that we have
gained through our experiences the more
creative ideas are instead conceived in
a different part of our of our brain or
on a different desk if you want I call
it the messy desk the messy desk is
messy it contains all kind of tools or
kind of dreams all kind of ideas good
news is there are no rules in our messy
desk everything is possible your dog can
talk your car can fly power lies people
can walk cancer can be cured on your
messy desk you know I never thought
myself honestly that I would become a
scientist that was actually a proud
surfer and I wanted to actually open a
surf shop with my friends but one day I
met a person that changed my life he was
a very esteemed chemist but also one of
the best teacher in my university and I
remember that day very vividly because I
was waiting for his leg
to start was a big lecture was his first
lecture about 300 people are waiting for
him the big guy is there but he’s
waiting for the right time to start I’m
sitting on the first row and there are a
couple of chair empty close to me it
walks towards me and sit just besides me
doesn’t know me he look at the
blackboard and then he tells me you know
what this is the perspective I like to
look at life from it took me years to
understand what he really meant but what
he really meant was that we should stay
as curious as enthusiastic as open as a
students have I asked every day whether
or not I became too much professors and
if I asked that if my answer is yes I
will ask one of your student all my
students to teach me how to become
student again and I’m asking you did you
become too much professor and if you
answer if you if the answer is yes
ask one of your student to teach you on
how to become student again now as you
can see probably for my shape from my
shape I did not open a surf shop nor I
become a surfer I became scientist
instead and Here I am about ten years
later joining one of the most famous
genetic laboratories in the world this
is a picture with my supervisor is still
one of the most siding and the best
scientist in the world he is a full-time
physician but is also a full-time
scientist as you can imagine his life is
quite busy and he all only comes in the
lab very late in the evening I remember
one day was walking towards his office
and then he saw that I was in the lab so
I stopped by to tell me that it was late
and I should go home and then we started
chatting about life and philosophy and
science and then he told me something
that will inspired me he said you know
what means I think in this particular
problem we should be unfocused but in a
focused way
we had a great laugh out of it but
looking back from this stage now that
was the best lecture on creativity I’ve
ever had
let’s be focused on our problem but
let’s be unfocused on the possible
solutions because solutions can really
come from everywhere now those are just
two example of people that have
particularly inspired me that have left
something in my on my messy desk but I
promise you that I have never met
anybody in my life that has not left me
a big gift on my messy desk and I also
promise you that you have never met
anybody in your life that has not left
you a big lift on your messy desk so the
point is not how great them potential
and beautiful your messy desk looks like
the point is do we use it enough do we
have free access to it are we encouraged
to use it and I’m afraid that again I
have to say probably not to use your
messy desk in your daily work to
conceive a project on your messy desk
you need the courage the courage to fail
you need the passion the passion to
persevere even when life gets tough and
you need the motivation the motivation
that makes you work where nobody has
worked before I found all these three
things in my personal life and in a
story that I’ve never shared in public
before and that’s the story of my son
who got diagnosed with a deadly cancer
when he was one year old
can’t really say how a parent feels like
when you hear that but I remember
walking towards the pediatric oncology
department I mean I always thought that
this world is hell unhurt
I never probably don’t really remember
whether I said it out loud but I do
remember the doctor turns towards me I’m
with my wife and with my son and doctor
just putting her hands on my shoulder
saying you know what this is the
Paradise unhurt because this is the only
place where miracles can still happen
victor is now healthy and happy boy but
during that time I really gained the
passion to unlock the key to my messy
desk and I gained the motivation to
follow my dream which was to start a
laboratory whose main focus was to help
people with cancer the way we want to do
it is to looking at problem from a
completely completely different
perspectives to find solution where
nobody has ever looked if you want
extraordinary project you first need
extraordinary people so when we hire
people we don’t really look and how much
do they know but we really look to the
ever dream are they ready to be infected
with the virus of creativity or are they
Backson aided against it second thing we
do is we never never talk about projects
we always talk about dreams and we never
talk about projects in an environment
that is work environment the reason why
we do it because we want from the start
to stimulate them thinking about the
messy desk the only way you can
it the moment you start with a student
saying oh we should talk about your
project he’s coming there with this
logic desk everything he knows
everything he has learned the moment you
say what is really your dream over a
coffee and over a beer what would be
great if you could do it they are
immediately switching to their messages
well my dream is to do this and that and
then we use our logic test to see not if
that dream is possible but only how that
dream is possible and then I make sure
that a project is their dream and their
dream is part of mine one example of
this is peptic rod peptic Lodi is simply
a buyers into Moore’s clothing it’s
actually virus covered with tumor pieces
we can we conceived this project just by
looking at tumor from a completely
different perspective I mean we all know
that our immune system is not really
able to spot tumors and this is the
reason why tumors usually grow but on
the other end think about it our immune
system is so well in spotting viruses
and in fact every time that we have a
viral infection our immune system is
grabbing the virus and is destroying it
the way it does it chop it is very small
pieces it presents these small pieces to
what I call the effector cells the
effector police of our body this
effector police creates identity card
that can be used to spot other viruses
in the body and kill those viruses
here’s our idea why don’t we take the
tomb on ourselves and which of the two
more our self is more pieces and then we
load these small pieces on the surface
of a virus when now this virus covered
with tumors is given to a patient the
immune system of the patient spots the
virus gets alerted chop the virus in
small pieces but because the virus is
covered with tumor
it presents pieces of tumors now to the
effector police who now that can create
different identity card that can now go
off
the tumor and kill it by using this
technology we are not only able to
simply reduce the size of the tumor but
what can we really do we can create an
immune reaction that is so strong so
that the tumor is completely disappeared
from the animals that can live happy
long life afterwards
so finally who are we we are our logic
our intelligence our capability and
possibility to make the smart decision
to make the right decision and this is
how we have evolved this is how we run
if there is a lion following us
there is not really creativity involved
there but we are also our emotions our
dream the possibility of conceiving
projects in the blurriness because it’s
there in your imperfection when
everything gets blurry that is
creativity is kicking in so to my
colleague and to all my friends
scientists do not be afraid to surf the
wave of your emotion of your dreams
that’s the only way we can do to go from
this situation where we are now to this
situation so let’s do it
and change the word together thank you
very much
you
creativity is contagious and in fact the
story I want to share with you today is
the solo on how I got infected with the
virus of creativity and what do I do
to infect other people with it the
reason why I’m so passionate about it is
because as an academic scientist I’m
frustrated that we publish thousands of
papers per year about our discoveries
but only a very few percentage of those
results in real scientific breakthrough
that have a real impact on our life are
we scientists creative enough
I will scientist innovative enough is
our creativity supported enough you know
when I started my PhD I had this
romantic idea that you know I’ll be a
scientist I’ll be one of the most
creative people on earth was i dead
stupid what was that just a romantic
idea of this young naive PhD student I
mean looking back now I probably was it
really looks like that
us scientists we should redefine our
creative process we should redefine our
way of thinking if we really want to
impact our society and we do some we
want to do something meaningful but what
is a creative process anyway I mean I
think that every time we start or try to
solve the problem we engage a creative
process I mean the problem can be as
simple as I’m thirsty and I need a glass
of water
I can either decide to walk to the bar
and have a glass of water or I can
decide to invent a new form of water
eatable water which I can basically have
it in my pocket
and eat it every time I’m thirsty now I
think we all agree that the first
solution is definitely the easier the
faster the most illogical there are the
smartest if you want but I think we also
all agree on the fact that the second
solution is definitely the more creative
now I like sometimes to think and
imagine how those different ideas are
conceived in our mind and I like to
think that the logic ideas are conceived
in a desk that looks more or less like
this
I call it the logic desk this desk is a
clean isnít it only contains the tool
that we need to make smart decisions
it’s filled with our knowledge not only
the knowledge that we have read on the
book but also the knowledge that we have
gained through our experiences the more
creative ideas are instead conceived in
a different part of our of our brain or
on a different desk if you want I call
it the messy desk the messy desk is
messy it contains all kind of tools or
kind of dreams all kind of ideas good
news is there are no rules in our messy
desk everything is possible your dog can
talk your car can fly power lies people
can walk cancer can be cured on your
messy desk you know I never thought
myself honestly that I would become a
scientist that was actually a proud
surfer and I wanted to actually open a
surf shop with my friends but one day I
met a person that changed my life he was
a very esteemed chemist but also one of
the best teacher in my university and I
remember that day very vividly because I
was waiting for his leg
to start was a big lecture was his first
lecture about 300 people are waiting for
him the big guy is there but he’s
waiting for the right time to start I’m
sitting on the first row and there are a
couple of chair empty close to me it
walks towards me and sit just besides me
doesn’t know me he look at the
blackboard and then he tells me you know
what this is the perspective I like to
look at life from it took me years to
understand what he really meant but what
he really meant was that we should stay
as curious as enthusiastic as open as a
students have I asked every day whether
or not I became too much professors and
if I asked that if my answer is yes I
will ask one of your student all my
students to teach me how to become
student again and I’m asking you did you
become too much professor and if you
answer if you if the answer is yes
ask one of your student to teach you on
how to become student again now as you
can see probably for my shape from my
shape I did not open a surf shop nor I
become a surfer I became scientist
instead and Here I am about ten years
later joining one of the most famous
genetic laboratories in the world this
is a picture with my supervisor is still
one of the most siding and the best
scientist in the world he is a full-time
physician but is also a full-time
scientist as you can imagine his life is
quite busy and he all only comes in the
lab very late in the evening I remember
one day was walking towards his office
and then he saw that I was in the lab so
I stopped by to tell me that it was late
and I should go home and then we started
chatting about life and philosophy and
science and then he told me something
that will inspired me he said you know
what means I think in this particular
problem we should be unfocused but in a
focused way
we had a great laugh out of it but
looking back from this stage now that
was the best lecture on creativity I’ve
ever had
let’s be focused on our problem but
let’s be unfocused on the possible
solutions because solutions can really
come from everywhere now those are just
two example of people that have
particularly inspired me that have left
something in my on my messy desk but I
promise you that I have never met
anybody in my life that has not left me
a big gift on my messy desk and I also
promise you that you have never met
anybody in your life that has not left
you a big lift on your messy desk so the
point is not how great them potential
and beautiful your messy desk looks like
the point is do we use it enough do we
have free access to it are we encouraged
to use it and I’m afraid that again I
have to say probably not to use your
messy desk in your daily work to
conceive a project on your messy desk
you need the courage the courage to fail
you need the passion the passion to
persevere even when life gets tough and
you need the motivation the motivation
that makes you work where nobody has
worked before I found all these three
things in my personal life and in a
story that I’ve never shared in public
before and that’s the story of my son
who got diagnosed with a deadly cancer
when he was one year old
can’t really say how a parent feels like
when you hear that but I remember
walking towards the pediatric oncology
department I mean I always thought that
this world is hell unhurt
I never probably don’t really remember
whether I said it out loud but I do
remember the doctor turns towards me I’m
with my wife and with my son and doctor
just putting her hands on my shoulder
saying you know what this is the
Paradise unhurt because this is the only
place where miracles can still happen
victor is now healthy and happy boy but
during that time I really gained the
passion to unlock the key to my messy
desk and I gained the motivation to
follow my dream which was to start a
laboratory whose main focus was to help
people with cancer the way we want to do
it is to looking at problem from a
completely completely different
perspectives to find solution where
nobody has ever looked if you want
extraordinary project you first need
extraordinary people so when we hire
people we don’t really look and how much
do they know but we really look to the
ever dream are they ready to be infected
with the virus of creativity or are they
Backson aided against it second thing we
do is we never never talk about projects
we always talk about dreams and we never
talk about projects in an environment
that is work environment the reason why
we do it because we want from the start
to stimulate them thinking about the
messy desk the only way you can
it the moment you start with a student
saying oh we should talk about your
project he’s coming there with this
logic desk everything he knows
everything he has learned the moment you
say what is really your dream over a
coffee and over a beer what would be
great if you could do it they are
immediately switching to their messages
well my dream is to do this and that and
then we use our logic test to see not if
that dream is possible but only how that
dream is possible and then I make sure
that a project is their dream and their
dream is part of mine one example of
this is peptic rod peptic Lodi is simply
a buyers into Moore’s clothing it’s
actually virus covered with tumor pieces
we can we conceived this project just by
looking at tumor from a completely
different perspective I mean we all know
that our immune system is not really
able to spot tumors and this is the
reason why tumors usually grow but on
the other end think about it our immune
system is so well in spotting viruses
and in fact every time that we have a
viral infection our immune system is
grabbing the virus and is destroying it
the way it does it chop it is very small
pieces it presents these small pieces to
what I call the effector cells the
effector police of our body this
effector police creates identity card
that can be used to spot other viruses
in the body and kill those viruses
here’s our idea why don’t we take the
tomb on ourselves and which of the two
more our self is more pieces and then we
load these small pieces on the surface
of a virus when now this virus covered
with tumors is given to a patient the
immune system of the patient spots the
virus gets alerted chop the virus in
small pieces but because the virus is
covered with tumor
it presents pieces of tumors now to the
effector police who now that can create
different identity card that can now go
off
the tumor and kill it by using this
technology we are not only able to
simply reduce the size of the tumor but
what can we really do we can create an
immune reaction that is so strong so
that the tumor is completely disappeared
from the animals that can live happy
long life afterwards
so finally who are we we are our logic
our intelligence our capability and
possibility to make the smart decision
to make the right decision and this is
how we have evolved this is how we run
if there is a lion following us
there is not really creativity involved
there but we are also our emotions our
dream the possibility of conceiving
projects in the blurriness because it’s
there in your imperfection when
everything gets blurry that is
creativity is kicking in so to my
colleague and to all my friends
scientists do not be afraid to surf the
wave of your emotion of your dreams
that’s the only way we can do to go from
this situation where we are now to this
situation so let’s do it
and change the word together thank you
very much
you
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