Grant Baldwin’s Blog

Have you ever wondered that? Have you ever wondered why some of your best ideas hit you at the most random moments?

Taking a shower. Driving down the road. Falling asleep. Going to the bathroom. (The bathroom inspires me I guess…)

I read a book last night called A Technique for Producing Ideas by James Webb Young. It’s a very short, simple read but has some great content. The book gives a great definition of an idea:

An idea is nothing more nor less than a new combination of old elements.

Let that sink in for a second. Ideas come when you connect the dots in a way that you didn’t see before.

Think of it like cooking. Let’s say you had five ingredients out on the table to work with. There may be one obvious recipe that jumps out at you based on those five ingredients, but if you stop to think it through, you will probably find hundreds of combinations of menu items you could produce.

You’re taking old elements (what you already know – in this case, the ingredients) and finding new combinations for those ingredients.

Interesting stuff…

As I mentioned in a previous blog, I recently finished reading a book called The Spark. Here are a few of the thoughts I underlined or marked throughout the book:

• “The better we get along, the more free we are to let loose and express our ideas and emotions. It’s hard to be creative in isolation. True creativity requires collaboration…and yes, even conflict and confrontation.”
• “Never lose sight of the reason for your work”
• “Passion is key to everything we do, and those without it don’t last long.”
• “Constraints on time, money, and resources can be incredible motivators.”
• “You have to learn to take the right risks – risks that will allow you to fulfill your vision.”
• “If a person is courageous and generous enough, we can teach them the rest. To me, creative is, first and foremost, all about courage – a willingness to take risks, to try new things, and to share the experience with others.”
• “Most people hate deadlines. It hadn’t occurred to me that limitations could be a good thing. What sorts of things hold you back?”
• “If there are too many restrictions, you stop thinking about what you can do and start thinking about what you cannot do.”
• “If you don’t understand the role you play, how can you be excited about what you’re doing?”
• “The perfect job should be a melding of our talents and our passions.”
• “There are no limits; anything is possible. Believe that, live that way, and you can accomplish extraordinary things.”
• “You have to be confident enough to let your imagination spin off in all kinds of directions. And if you really want to make things happen, you have to be willing to crash.”
• The fact is, we WANT to scare ourselves some – to reach our limits and then go beyond them. We have to shove ourselves off the cliff before we start flying. The greatest danger is not failing but getting comfortable, of reaching a certain altitude and putting the show on autopilot.”
• “Everyone is creative and everybody is talented. I just don’t think everybody is disciplined.”