Eight Ideas for Coming Up with New Ideas. Imitating Einstein,
Churchill and Other Great Thinkers.
The one thing that matters most in marketing communications for
the Internet is coming up with new ideas. Yet so few of us are
prolific at it. Oh sure, there are the lucky ones who were born
with right-hemisphere brains and spew creativity like sheets off
a printing press. But the rest of us, the 8 out of 10 who are
left-brain dominant (fewer than 20% of all people, throughout
history, have been right-brain dominant), don't have to be
completely without luck. We just have to learn to mimic some of
the thought patterns and techniques of those born to be
inventive thinkers. Here's how...
1. SIMPLIFY. Boil the problem down to its bone. Toss out all the
details that aren't germane. Tseng Tsao, a 12th century
philosopher said, "The nice thing about simplicity is its useful
wisdom. It's wisdom you can get at." And Albert Einstein who was
at least as smart as any Chinese philosopher said, "Everything
should be as simple as possible but not simpler.
2. ESCHEW PERFECTION. Winston Churchill said that "perfection is
paralysis." Looking for perfection and executional detail while
you're still looking for an idea is like counting the chickens
before the eggs have hatched. Incidentally, Churchill could have
become the greatest of all British copywriters. He had a
portfolio full of great lines like "I have nothing to offer but
blood, toil, tears and sweat " and "The action of Russia is a
riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma."
3. STAY OUT OF JAIL. Edward DeBono, the Cambridge educator and
thinker, talks about the "concept prison." That's where you get
locked up when you believe you have to do things the way they
always been done. Try attacking the problem obliquely. Allow
yourself to color outside the lines. Try to think more
playfully, less seriously. Be more serendipitous.
4. THINK RIGHT ABOUT "THE RIGHT ANSWER." No two ways about it,
there's always more than one way to solve a problem. And as
DeBono will tell you, "The purpose of thinking is not to be
right but to be effective. Being right means being right all the
time. Being effective means being right only at the end."
5. FURNISH THE UPSTAIRS ROOM. The legendary ad man, James Webb
Young, believed that in advertising, "an idea results from a new
combination of specific knowledge about products, and people
with general knowledge about life and events." That requires
more than reading business memos, trade journals and The New
York Times. It means doing things like getting out to the movies
and theater often. Visiting museums. Reading books on odd
subjects just for the fun of it. Re-reading classic novels.
Listening to music, from classical to country to hip-hop. Do all
of it or as much as you can. David Ogilvy encouraged his
employees to be "relentlessly curious" about all knowledge that
crossed their paths, so that they might "possess a
well-furnished mind."
6. COLLECT WORDS. Words are ideas, too. The semanticist, S.I.
Hayakawa, in his Language in Thought and Action referred to
words as being symbols of ideas and, thus, "we can collect ideas
by collecting words." James Webb Young, writing on this subject
said, "The fellow who said he tried reading the dictionary, but
couldn't get the hang of the story, simply missed the point:
namely, that it is a collection of short stories."
7. SAY NO TO "YES, BUT..." Coming up with a new idea is almost
always only half the battle. Because just as sure as you are
that your idea is different and unexpected, you can count on
somebody being there to offer the comfort and safety of "yes,
but-land." Don't go there. Resist. Build a strategy and fight.
And keep fighting. Remember the words of wise, old Anonymous:
"Every great oak was once a nut that stood its ground."
8. HAVE FUN. Even though, at one time or another, you have
probably blamed it for everything from your bad habits and
insomnia to your kid's need for braces, you still have to admit
that marketing communications is the toy department of the
business world. Enjoy.