💡 What's sapping your creativity

Plus: Vet shortage | Thursday, April 28, 2022

Open in app View in browser     Axios What's Next By Jennifer A. Kingson and Joann Muller · Apr 28, 2022 Staring at a computer screen isn't good for creativity, researchers have discovered. (Anyone surprised? But now there's real data to prove it.) Speaking of 💡, say goodbye to the incandescent light bulb, which is finally flickering out based on new rules this week that set stricter energy efficiency standards for light bulbs. Email us at whatsnext@axios.com. Today's Smart Brevity count: 1,209 words ... 4½ minutes.     1 big thing: How video calls squash ideas Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios   All those Zoom meetings could be stunting innovation at work, Alison Snyder and Erica Pandey write. Why it matters: A new study offers data for employers grappling with how to balance the benefits of in-person work with its costs. Details: In-person meetings generate more ideas — and more creative ones — compared to videoconferencing, according to new research published this week. But choosing which idea to then pursue — a key subsequent step in brainstorming — wasn't stymied by videoconferencing, Melanie Brucks of Columbia Business School and Jonathan Levav of the Stanford Graduate School of Business report in the journal Nature. People may even be more effective at selecting ideas in virtual meetings, the researchers suggest, based on preliminary data in the study. Zoom in: In a laboratory study that started before the pandemic, more than 600 people worked in pairs in person or virtually for five minutes to come up with ideas for how to creatively use bubble wrap or a Frisbee. Then they had a minute to pick their best idea. Judges scored the creativity of their ideas, based on novelty and value. They found pairs working on Zoom came up with fewer ideas. What's happening: An often overlooked ingredient in the secret sauce of collaboration is that, in person, team members typically share visual cues from their environment — and each other — that can spur ideas. In a virtual meeting, all eyes are focused on screens and ignore the environment, which "constrains the associative process underlying idea generation," say Brucks and Levav. People also move less when they meet virtually: "Staying still hinders creativity," says Jeremy Bailenson, a professor at Stanford who studies virtual human interaction. During in-person meetings or even phone calls, we can look around, walk around, multitask and use our hands. All of the movement stimulates creativity, he says. But, but, but: The study only looks at the cognitive costs of collaborating virtually, and the authors note that there are "concrete and immediate economic advantages to virtual interaction," including reduced travel time and expenses, less overhead and other factors, to be balanced. Some meetings — like a team update — might require video so a manager can see everyone's faces. But others — like brainstorming sessions — might be better as audio-only calls, or even in-person retreats. The bottom line: "Bosses need to be smarter about how we schedule meetings," Bailenson says. Share this story.     2. Not enough vets for those pandemic puppies Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios   Veterinary appointments are getting harder to come by, with clinics facing labor shortages stemming from pandemic disruption, Axios' Nathan Bomey writes. Why it matters: Veterinarians say they're suffering from burnout and offering fewer appointments per hour than pre-pandemic times due to new safety protocols. Vet shortages are "everywhere right now," Susan Sholtis, president of treatment provider PetIQ, told investors in March. The big picture: Nearly 1 in 3 Americans adopted a pet during the first several months of the pandemic — and vets are getting overwhelmed dealing with the resulting demand. The number of monthly appointments per clinic was 1,012 in 2021, up 11% from 2019, according to VetSuccess, an analytics company. In the early months of the pandemic, vets offered only essential services, leading to a backlog of wellness visits. Since then, they've been playing catchup. Threat level: About 1 in 4 vets are quitting annually industrywide, Sholtis said. What's next: The nation is expected to face a shortage of nearly 15,000 vets by 2030, according to Mars Veterinary Health, a network of clinics, hospitals and labs.     3. Buying a house is out of reach in some cities Data: Redfin; Note: Assumes 5% down and mortgage payments of 30% of income; Chart: Sara Wise/Axios An influx of remote workers from coastal cities is driving up home prices across the Sunbelt, Axios' Emily Peck writes. Case in point: Homebuyers in Tampa need to earn 48% more now than they did a year ago in order to afford a median-priced home, according to a Redfin analysis. Why it matters: This is an obvious hit to affordability for buyers. While wages are up in the U.S. since last year — around 6% higher — they're certainly not rising this fast. The intrigue: Many of the folks buying homes in these markets aren't necessarily getting big raises — they're pulling off a remote worker arbitrage. Sunbelt cities like Tampa, Phoenix and Las Vegas are seeing a surge in home prices, in part because of these newcomers from pricier cities. "They're coming in with cash from selling their home or just from higher incomes," said Taylor Marr, deputy chief economist at Redfin who did the analysis. Folks moving in from out of state have budgets that are 20%-30% higher than locals, he said, based on the price range they're searching for on the real estate site. Plus: It's not just individual homeowners. Investors are also flocking to these metro areas, further driving up prices.     A message from Axios The future of internal comms     A difficult truth: You could have the smartest people, strongest strategy, endless capital — but your team is set up to fail without clear communication. That's why we built HQ, a powerful tool that untangles uncertainty and streamlines internal comms. See how we use it at Axios     4. Why clean power is crucial for EV rollout Adapted from ICF Climate Center; Chart: Sara Wise An ambitious scaling-up of electric vehicle deployment in the U.S. would slash transportation sector emissions, but could paradoxically boost emissions from the electricity sector unless paired with more clean power, a new report warns. Why it matters: How governments balance policies to increase EV adoption and the transition to renewable energy will help determine whether the U.S. can meet its climate goals, Axios' Andrew Freedman writes. The report, from the ICF Climate Center, uses five increasingly aggressive decarbonization policy scenarios at the state and national levels to map out potential futures for on-road transportation and the electric power sector. Zoom in: It finds the current pace of EV adoption fails to put the U.S. on track to meet a net-zero transportation sector by 2050. Existing state policies would yield only a 27% decline in on-road transportation greenhouse gas emissions, relative to 2020, the report found. Transitioning to 100% EV sales by 2050 could cut emissions from on-road transportation by two-thirds, compared to 2020. If such high EV adoption rates are paired with a large-scale reworking of the electricity grid, the emissions cuts could be up to 82%. Context: The transportation sector has the biggest greenhouse gas footprint of any in the U.S., and any increase in EVs would help reduce those emissions even without a clean grid, the report emphasizes.     5. One last thing, about aging Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios   Older adults feel better prepared to "age in place" than those who are younger and still working, according to a new poll by The Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Why it matters: Aging at home, or with family or a close friend, is the goal for most adults in the U.S., and almost 80% of adults 65 or older say they're confident they'll be able to stay where they are. In contrast, 63% of adults ages 50-64 say they feel extremely or very prepared to age in place. The younger cohort worries that their financial situation will prevent them from remaining in their homes and that they may not be able to get the care they need from medical providers or help from family and friends. The poll also concluded that older Black and Latino Americans are more insecure than white people about being able to stay in their homes and get the assistance they need as they age. The disparity between races is likely a result of the wealth gap that favors white people, researchers said. The bottom line: While most people want to spend their twilight years at home, many have doubts about their ability to do so.     A message from Axios The future of internal comms     A difficult truth: You could have the smartest people, strongest strategy, endless capital — but your team is set up to fail without clear communication. That's why we built HQ, a powerful tool that untangles uncertainty and streamlines internal comms. See how we use it at Axios   Was this email forwarded to you? Get your daily dose of What's Next magic by signing up for our free newsletter here. Like this email style and format? It's called Smart Brevity®. Over 200 orgs use it — in a tool called Axios HQ — to drive productivity with clearer workplace communications.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here. 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