Great Ideas - How to Have Them
How do you have fantastic new ideas? You could wait and see
if they pop into your head someday, and they honestly might.
If, however, you want a more immediate and systematic method,
here it is in three steps:
1. Gather knowledge.
2. Apply idea-generating techniques.
3. Pick out and refine the best ideas from the results.
Ideas Come from Knowledge
Really, you wouldn't expect to come up with a new theory of
relativity if you had no knowledge in physics or mathematics,
would you? Of course not. You have to have some knowledge in
the area in which you want new ideas. If you want great ideas,
you should probably have a great deal of knowledge.
If, for example you want to create a new transportation device,
you would want general knowledge in that field. The more specific
things that would be helpful, would be a listing of all the current
modes of transportation. Add to that a list of things that have
been tried and failed, and a list of all the things that people
want in their transportation.
Idea Generating Techniques
Inventions start in the mind, and the mind follows certain
patterns and rules. This is where tools such as problem solving
techniques and other idea generating techniques come in. Take
the "concept combination" technique, for example. If
you tell your mind that you need a useful combination of a plane
and a motorcycle, it will search for it until it finds it. It
took this mind twenty seconds to imagine wings that expand out
at high speed from a motorcycle, allowing it to be used as a
glider.
The technique of redefining problems can open whole new areas
to explore. Redefining "inexpensive homes" as "ways
to help people afford homes" lead to all sorts of new financing
that has made it easier to buy a home even as prices have risen.
When "better job" becomes "better way to make
money" you have opened a whole range of possibilities. There
are dozens of these great idea generating techniques to choose
from, each with it's own advantage.
Have Many Ideas to Choose From
The more ideas you produce, the more likely you are to have
a good ones. This is why you need to learn the systematic ways
to produce new concepts. You want many to choose from. Finally,
if great ideas means important ideas to you, you obviously need
to work in important areas. There is nothing wrong with inventing
a better mousetrap, but if you want to really change the world,
start working on new ways to save the environment, end hunger,
new political processes that avert wars and other big ideas.
A step in the right direction is to go to the home page right
now and sign up for the free course on "How
to Have New Ideas."
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