Ep. 40, What is an Idea?
I love ideas. Within ideas lives the potential of what we can become. The process of ideation is a wild chase of intangible notions, connections, emotions and possibility. Sitting with a cup of coffee and a sketchbook is still my favorite way of spending the morning. The following list is an overview of how I define ideas. Paid subscribers can read on from an excerpt from my Ideacraft course. Later this month, I’m launching a Kickstarter campaign in support of the Think Louder book that I’m currently editing. Stay tuned for updates…
What is an idea?
While this is the textbook definition of ideas, I think of ideas a bit differently. This list is not exhaustive, but it serves as a good reference point for the work we'll be doing.
O1. Ideas are the unseen connections between known things.
O2. Ideas are born of conflict.
O3. Ideas are not accidental.
O4. Ideas have no inherent value without action.
O5. Ideas are the beginning, not the end.
O6. Ideas are questions, not solutions.
O7. Ideas are an indication of potential.
O8. Ideas disrupt patterns.
O9. Ideas are associations.
O1. Ideas are the unseen connection between known things.
Ideas are rarely new or original. The genetic makeup of an idea is built from the elements from which it was formed. While an idea may be a novel solution to a new problem, it possesses traits passed on from its origins. Think of this as the DNA passed on from parents to a child. Words are powerful and it should come as no surprise that to create an idea is also known as conceiving an idea.
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