Good Ideas

January 2011

With a nod to Steven Johnson whose lecture I went to at the RSA and whose book (Where good ideas come from) I read again recently. We live in a culture of brainstorming and on the spot analysis – we all want instant creativity, on tap, right now.

What I found profoundly reassuring in Stevens’ book was his confirmation of the ‘slow hunch’ view of good ideas. In our work life (and workshops) we often generate lots of ideas, very quickly, and work back through them, separating the wheat from the chaff.

But often, the really powerful ideas are those that sit in the back of our minds and nag at us. The ones we run past colleagues for their input. The ideas that we keep pulling out, dusting off, looking at from different angles and adding to before filing again for future reference. Many flashes of genius through history have actually emerged from slow hunches that grew and gained momentum before emerging on the scene as something really revolutionary.

This highlights the importance of observation and perspective, the ability to make connections between sometimes disparate facts or events, the willingness to share these ideas with peers and take on board their comments or suggestions. Good ideas emerge from the development of a longer term culture which encourages the process of idea formation rather than expecting instant genius. We can all have good ideas given the right encouragement. Worth thinking about.