A Technique for Producing Ideas

I'm quite busy recently but I'd really like to share with you this tiny book made of golden advices.

The knowledge I'll share with you know is easy to find for nearly five decades or if you prefer so, half a century.
Written by James Webb Young this book (A Technique for Producing Ideas) gives a simple method to find and use good ideas.

As I like to do it, let's go for a small personal summary of this technique.

The basis :

• Ideas are new combination of material.
• In order to help the birth of new combination, you need to build relationships between materials.

The technique :

1. Gathering and sorting raw materials
   First there is two different kind of material; general and specific. The general material is directly related to your personal interests; who you are and what you like. But the specific material is specifically matching with the subject you are searching an idea for.
   Then don't hesitate to classify and order your materials using any storage you prefer like notebook, computer... You can even try to sort them in different ways until you find the best organisation for your current subject. 
2. Focus your mind on your materials
   Now you can start to think hard about your materials and push your brain to the limit. Write down any piece of idea coming from this step.
   Also J. Webb Young advices us to do this step twice. In fact from his experience, the brain has a second wind so push harder when you think your done. Who knows what could came to your mind !?
3. Let your subconscious works for you
   That's as easy as doing anything you like : reading, watching a movie... or sleep. Above all you must stop thinking about your idea.
4. Eureka !
   Yes it should be as simple as that. The idea will brilliantly come to your mind when you're the less ready for it. Write it down as fast as you can !
5. Shape, grow and use your idea
   That the final stage; the stage during the one your idea will fought for life in this world; fighting through requested innovation, feasibility, budget, etc.

That's all, just five tiny steps.

Truly these points look like something everybody already know but don't really do.

An that's why this book is great since 1965. It remember you what to do, what you usually do; it prevents you from forgetting any steps in your process.

So which is the most important step of this method which most of us forget way too often ?

• Part 1 of course ! Gathering and sorting raw materials, is in fact the most overlooked part of the process.
  Knowing your subject and having other knowledges to mix it with is really important because ideas are new combinations !
  The less material you have, the less combinations you'll find, the less ideas you'll have.
• Part 5 is also a good answer. In fact a lot of ideas will never be revealed to the world. So don't be shy and give a try to your ideas !

Well I hope you'll try this method and give me some feedback.

Personally this technique helped me improving my way of finding ideas by rationalizing steps I did instinctively. Moreover I totally agree with the author, the first step is the toughest step and the most likely to be skipped.

Change by Design

One more book, and this one is written by Tim Brown, CEO and president of IDEO a global design consultancy as they describe themselves.

The central subject of Change by Design is Design Thinking. But what is this ?
Put in a very understandable way : Design Thinking is applying Design methods to any subject.

What I liked while reading this book was the many examples I was given. This way I could understand how widely Design Thinking could be applied : entertainment, medicine, marketing, services...
And ultimately Design Thinking is what IDEO sells to his customers.

It could be a bit overwhelming but I'm sure you knew it before I wrote it here. Anyway this book gives you some tools and more importantly the excuses to try Design Thinking in your work and everyday life.

And now some lines about three things I will remember about it  :

• Desirability, Feasibility, Viability : This three words could help you get an insight on your product, service, or anything else you want to design. If one of these words is excluded from your design, there is a problem. Desirability : Anyone want what you are designing ? Feasibility : Can you do it, make it, set it up ? Viability : Can you produce it as you want to and earning money ?
• Inspiration, Ideation, Implementation : Three more words, for one problem solving process. Inspiration : Find the problem. Ideation : Find the solutions. Implementation : Apply the solutions. And if anything goes wrong in this process, iterate !
• Empathy, Prototype, Story : Three last words, not quiet related, but grouping them helps to remember. This three words can also be put together because they could be forget in the middle of the designing process. Empathy : Design with your customer in mind, live with them, understand their needs, think as they think. Prototype : I'm sure you're convinced you're prototyping enough but as I understood i,t enough is not enough. Start early and dirty ! Story : Human being is driven by storytelling, to share knowledge, experiences, etc. So don't be shy and use story to design your product, your marketing strategy... and through story build experience.

Well I'm not sure how to conclude but let's say something true. I did not design this reading experience following the advices this book gave me. And I'm quite sure you'd have enjoy it a lot more If I had take the time to design this experience using Design Thinking approach.