Duh ideaOne of the biggest challenges of any creative type of person, either professional or amateur, is finding really good ideas. Today’s digital world is increasingly dependent upon the generation of good ideas that other people will like and find useful. While it’s true that we all have our own personal likes and dislikes, ideas allow us to find common ground with other people. Ideas are a source of conversation, enjoyment, and bonding between people. We don’t always have to share the same opinion about the ideas themselves, but an interesting idea gives us a chance to discuss something and, through the course of the conversation, reveal and share other things about each other.

Ideas are also the drivers of things like:

  • entertainment
  • businesses, products and services
  • government
  • society, social norms, and social change
  • education

Ideas are very powerful. Ideas led to the creation of all of the goods and services that we use daily. Ideas shape how we live our lives. Ideas shape how we talk to each other. Ideas shape how we perceive the world.

Ideas are an important reason to read blogs.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could pick up a catalog, select the great idea you want, and just get it without any more fuss and without having to compete with anyone else?

If that were the case, I probably wouldn’t be writing this post.

I don’t claim to be an expert at generating ideas, although I use a number of the common techniques that people suggest, like brainstorming; mind mapping; and trial ballooning. However, there are probably a number of idea-generation, um, ideas, that I could share with you. They’re all out there in the marketplace.

One source that I’d like to share with you in this post comes from a book called Advantage Play: The Manager’s Guide To Creative Problem Solving (you might be able to get it in Canada at this source if still available) by David Ben. David is a professional magician, entertainer, and speaker who has written about magic (slight-of-hand and illusion, that sort of thing.) He’s described some of his experiences with other magicians, including some of the techniques that he’s learned from them to create new magic tricks, stunts, or experiences. There’s a chapter or two in his book that I highly recommend reading if you are interested in ways to spark creativity and idea-generation. Many of these ideas revolve around the concept of putting two or more things together to see if they generate further ideas, but the book describes some very creative ways to do this through the use of imagery.

Advantage Play is just one example of the materials out there that you can use to be creative and generate new ideas. As I come across new and interesting methods for creativity, I’ll try to pass them along.

Thus ends this brain broadcast. Here’s hoping we all find a little more spark and magic in our lives.

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