IDEATION: Where do good ideas come from?

People exceptionally talented in the Ideation theme are fascinated by ideas. The are able to find connections between seemingly disparate phenomena.

People with dynamic ideation talents are spontaneously creative & bring new & fresh perspectives. They have a natural sense of innovation that defies conventional thinking. Their innovative approach to problems and projects can be a source of new and valuable ideas.

In our Satori Tribe, we have Georgia Keighery, See-Eng Lam & Danny Dawson with Ideation theme in their top 5. They are my sounding board when it comes to new ideas – each with their own unique ad-ons to bring the idea to life.  What I love about the process of bringing any ideas to life – is that it is a team effort. I may have started it, but we work together building on the idea.

If I asked you – who invented the light bulb? Majority of you would have said Thomas Edison.

Thomas Edison did not invent the light bulb. There was at least 50 patients before him. What Thomas Edison did was experimented, developed, and pushed forward on the previous failures of other inventors in the hope to find a way to make the light bulb last for a longer period of time. Thomas Edison & his team’s greatest contribution to this invention was the discovery and creation of the very first successful, commercially practical, incandescent (electric) light bulb.

From the author of Emergence and The Ghost Map, Steven Johnson’s Where Good Ideas Come From: The Seven Patterns of Innovation identifies key principles that are the driving force of creativity.

I first heard of Steven Johnson watching a 4 part documentary on “How We Got To Now.” He took us on a journey back in time to when the first ideas of light, sound, glass & time all began. (There is a section on Thomas Edison in the “Light” documentary where I got to learn Thomas Edison as a true business entrepreneur – he created the 1st every franchise model.

This video and also Steven’s book Where Good Ideas Come From, you will learn that:

• A slow hunch can be much more valuable than a Eureka moment
• The connected ‘hive mind’ is smarter than the lone thinker
• Where you think matters just as much as what you’re thinking
• The best ideas come from building on the ideas and inventions of others

From the Renaissance to satellites, medical breakthroughs to social media, Charles Darwin to Marconi, Steven Johnson shows how, by recognising where and how patterns of creativity occur, we can all discover the secrets of inspiration.