When Do You Get Your Ideas?

The 25th Anniversary Edition (completely revised and updated) of the book "A Whack on the Side of the Head: How You Can Be More Creative" will be published by Business Plus on May 5, 2008. It is  appearing in stores this week, and is currently shipping from Amazon. The retail price is $16.99 ($11.55 at Amazon).

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Exercise: When do you get your ideas? During what kinds of activities and situations do you get your ideas? For example, doing routine work, as a response to questions, during physical exercise, late at night, driving, in the company of others, under stress, etc.

I have asked this question to probably a million people. The answers I've received can be grouped into two categories. The first is necessity, and is represented by replies such as:

• "When I'm faced with a problem."
• "When things break down, and I have to fix them."
• "When there's a need to be filled."
• "When the deadline is near . . . that's the ultimate inspiration."

These responses bear out the old adage that "necessity is the mother of invention."

But interestingly enough, an equal if not greater number of people get their ideas in the opposite situation, and they respond along these lines:

• "When I'm just playing around."
• "When I'm doing something else."
• "When I'm not taking myself too seriously."
• "After my second beer."

From this I conclude that: "Necessity may be the mother of invention, but play is certainly the father."

Indeed, I sincerely believe that a playful attitude is fundamental to creative thinking. I'll bet that you generate most of your new ideas when you're playing around in your mental playground. That's because your defenses are down, and there is little concern with the rules, practicality, or being wrong. When you play, you give yourself a license to try different approaches without fear of penalty.

How can you play with your problem?

Comments

[Valeria Maltoni]

Thank you for the ever stimulating posts, Roger. 25 years, congratulations - these lessons are still timeless. Yes, I am most creative when not trying to be creative.

Playing with the problem to me helps in making the connection. I observed that when we are stressed, we tend to default to one mode. Instead, when we feel expansive, we are more flexible in our thinking and open up to new possibilities. Curious to read what others have to say.

[Alex von Oech]

What's that star shaped figure you have pictured? Looks awesome!

To go along with your notion of "being up against a wall vs. having fields to run loose in and 'play'"... I find I do some of my best thinking when I am either very fresh and ready (new to a situation/problem) or conversely, fatigued (physically and psychologically) almost to the point of delirium.

[Roger von Oech]

Valeria: "I am most creative when not trying to be creative." Tangent: I've also found (in blogging) that some of my most popular posts (in terms of comments) were those I just dashed off in a four or five minutes, while those I labored over for a long time didn't get much response.

"I observed that when we are stressed, we tend to default to one mode. Instead, when we feel expansive, we are more flexible in our thinking and open up to new possibilities." I couldn't agree with you more.

Alex: "What's that star?" Special future surprise!

"When I'm fatigued (physically and psychologically) almost to the point of delirium." Me too. That's when the boundaries that keep my ideas apart are lowered.

[Ranen Carmel]

I usually take my problem out: go out of the office, walk on the beach / park / streets. I don't force any thinking - but usually it comes easily - as long as I don't "try" to solve it.

[terry grant]

Driving, especially on the freeway and in the shower. Those are the times I come up with my best ideas.

[Tristan Bethe]

nice post!

Valeria: i thought i was the only one but i too noticed that when i cycle home late after after an deadline/exhausting day i come up with the best ideas.

What also works wonders is not having to come up with something at all. especially when i am in transit i zone out and start thinking of features of my site or other ideas. Lot of those ideas seem brilliant at first but after a few weeks it just fizzles out. but some ideas that didn't seem that great at first but seem to become better with time. I am pretty sure i could not produce very good ideas with a thight deadline. sure there will be some ideas to solve it and they will be adequate but not special.

[Jorge Castillo]

For me to face the problem not so seriously helps me to find a serious solution.

Although not a very simple technique, I like to program myself before sleep to have and remember a dream that will have the information to solve the problem that I have in mind.

Congrats for 25th Whack anniversary Roger!

[Shakespeare's Fool]

Roger,
Most of my ideas come when I'm staring off into nothing while sitting at the computer or with a pad of paper. But that may be because that's when I'm working at it.
Ideas come at any time, so I should be -- but rarely am -- ready to make note of them so they don't disappear.
John