There's still a lot of mystery as to why and when people have their biggest, most important creative insights. Some new research suggests that within individual careers, the muse's visits — although somewhat unpredictable — are not completely random.
The one part that does appear random is age, said Dashun Wang, a professor of management and organization at Northwestern University. A few years ago, he and colleagues analyzed records of the career achievements of more than 2,800 physicists, dipping back into the 19th century. The extremes get attention — it's hard not to marvel at what Albert Einstein achieved by the tender age of 26 — but looking at a large sample of scientists' life works, he said, creative peaks were just as likely to occur in the middle or later parts of a career. He published those results in Science in 2016.
Recently, Wang and colleagues announced results of a new study, published in Nature, demonstrating a nonrandom pattern as well: Creators tend to go through "hot streaks."