Creativity Loves Difference

In this episode of The Inclusion Bites Podcast, Joanne Lockwood speaks with Fredrik Härén about how difference fuels creativity, innovation and better problem-solving. The conversation ranges from cross-cultural travel and multicultural parenting to the value of questioning inherited assumptions and making up your own rules.

Fredrik shares stories from living across Asia, returning to Sweden, and noticing how being outside his own cultural defaults helped him see more possibilities. He argues that curiosity comes before knowledge, that openness to other ways of doing things expands thinking, and that creativity is often less about self-expression in the abstract and more about understanding who you are at a deeper level.

The discussion also explores how communities of interest connect people across borders, why administrative systems can stifle creativity, and how technology and AI can remove low-value work. The episode closes with a call to look beyond local habits, learn from other cultures and remain open to better ideas wherever they come from.