How to generate ideas in five steps
If you haven’t yet read ‘A Technique for Producing Ideas’, I suggest you buy it today. At 48 short pages, it’ll take less than an hour to read - and it’ll be worth every minute. Written more than 60 years ago, the book is a step-by-step guide to generating ideas by legendary advertising man James Webb Young. The beauty of the concept is it’s simplicity, so here goes:
1. Gather the information
2. Work the information over in your mind to give it structure
3. Incubation - do something else for a while
4. Eureka
5. Shape the idea into something that works
Obviously, the book explains each step, but that’s the basic concept. Oddly, after reading it, I realised that both the good ideas I’d ever had in life followed that same structure. The key is to apply to your everyday life and work.
October 3rd, 2008 at 1:23 pm
What were your two ideas?
October 3rd, 2008 at 1:56 pm
1. A movie set on a desert island starring Madonna
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1116774-swept_away/#
2. A snow export business
(Note: the book doesn’t guarantee that the ideas will be good.)
October 8th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Stop bullying him, Fiona!
Seriously, I can fully understand these steps, especially 2 and 3. This also explains why great writing takes time, even though the end result can seem so simple and crystal clear. The same goes for coming up with effective strategies.