“14 Ways to get Breakthrough Ideas” – Mitch Ditkoff
The main point Ditkoff is trying to make in this article is that there are many valid and effective ways of creating innovative ideas. He talks about how everyone wants innovation and new, exciting ideas, but no one can come up with them. Because of this, he gives 14 ways that will help people come up with new ideas, and since everyone works differently from someone else, there are multiple ways of approaching each idea. I think that most of Ditkoff’s suggestions are valid, because they teach you to look at something in a different perspective, which is often all a person needs to come up with a great new idea.
Suggestion 2: Immerse
I think this is a great suggestion, and I think it is something that everyone should be given time to do; not something you have to struggle to find time for. I know if I set my mind to it I could make time and work around other things to make time for other projects, but its so much easier to get lost in mounds of school work hoping I’ll be able to sleep at some point during the week. I still think about all the other projects I have that I would like to work on, but just can’t seem to find the time to sit down and do it. I think it’s great that companies like Google and 3M give their employees time to immerse in projects that might not seem “related” to the job. The employees can spend time focusing on something they really enjoy, and when they get back to work will most likely be much more productive because of the time they were given, instead of daydreaming about how they wished they had time to immerse themselves in the fantasy birdhouse they’ve always wanted. This would really help me in my creative life because I feel that if I set aside time for me to work on something else I would feel less tempted to half-ass the other work I was doing just so I could get it done and move on to the next thing.
Suggestion 5: Fantasize
Even though this is a great way to come up with an idea, most people just shrug it off as unworthy and a silly thing to waste your time on. However, I think there is real value in someone who can fantasize a goal about something, then really use those ideas and put them in motion. Without people like that we would have a stifling low number of great innovations in the world. I think it’s so unfortunate that children feel like they have to give up their imagination when they grow up, because it gets in the way of things like standardized testing and schoolwork. I can definitely admit that I envy other kid’s abilities to imagine crazy things and believe in them. I remember those times when I was a kid, and how easy it was to come up with anything, and how hard it is for me to do that now without people thinking I’m crazy. This would also be helpful because it gives you a chance to really do what you want and not care about the outcome. I would be more likely to think of more diverse ideas and create things that I’ve never seen before.
Suggestion 10: Hang out with diverse groups of people
Again, this is another one of Ditkoff’s ideas I really enjoy. I feel like in my subconscious it’s an obvious answer, but something I would always look past when given the opportunity. Being the socially awkward person I believe myself to be, I think my struggle with this suggestion is that I would be too nervous telling people I don’t know very well ideas that I was seriously considering. My first worry would be that I would just be ridiculed and would lose all confidence in my thoughts. However, in all reality, I think the opposite would probably happen. Because these new people don’t know how I think, they are more likely to give me ideas of their own that I would have never thought of and therefore give me new opportunities to create good ideas.
Do it – Suggestion 4: Make new connections
Nouns:
Computer
Cell phone
Pencil
Coffee mug
Flower
Amusement park
Shoe
Book
Apartment
Chair
Verbs:
Run
Sit
Climb
Make
Twist
Jump
Grow
Search
Type
Swim
Adjectives:
Tall
Short
Blue
Long
Dry
Hairy
Clean
Fuzzy
Red
Entertaining
A fuzzy coffee cup that stays clean.
A chair that twists covered in fuzz.
An entertaining apartment you can swim in.
A chair that can climb red walls is entertaining.
It is rare to see a clean growing amusement park.
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