The Secret Of Great Ideas
The Secret Of Great Ideas
Most believe the idea will come to them in a sudden instant of clarity that is often called the “Eureka Moment”.
The original Eureka Moment is said to have occurred when the ancient Greek mathematician and engineer Archimedes discovered his law of the displacement of water while sitting in the bath – basically, Archimedes in, water out.
He was so pleased by this that he immediately leapt out of the bath and ran into the street shouting “Eureka” – Greek for “I have found it”.
Or so the story goes. Even if it is true, the point is that the Eureka Moment was only part of a long process of study, research, and reflection. This is true of nearly all Eureka Moments.
This has not stopped scholars trying to find ways to replicate the Eureka Moment, to find short cuts to thinking up the One Big Idea.
The study of “creativity” pre-dates even Archimedes, beginning with his fellow Greek, the philosopher Plato, who believed the ability to imagine ideas was innate in every human being and could be unlocked by proper education.
Although few modern neuroscientists would go all the way with Plato on innate ideas, his belief that every human being has a potential that can be unlocked by proper education is attractive to many today.
In recent times, a lot of effort has gone in to trying to promote “idea generation tools” or “creativity techniques”. Among the most popular are “association” – using the subconscious to link different concepts – and “brainstorming” – a “group creativity technique” which performs similar functions.
Yet are all these clever schemes barking up the wrong tree?
For a start, in most cases, as Archimedes would be the first to point out, there is no substitute for long study and hard work.
More importantly, from the entrepreneur’s point of view, originality is not necessarily the way to go.
It is unfair but the Great Innovator or the Great Inventor is rarely the one who reaps the rewards of his discoveries. It is the Great Adaptor who usually gets rich.
There are exceptions – Edison being the most obvious – but original thinkers are usually viewed with suspicion by the less imaginative masses. They often die poor. It takes a more conventional thinker to see how the original idea is relevant to people like himself and to sell it to them in their own terms.
Bill Gates has never made an important discovery of his own, but he is brilliant at applying the discoveries of others to the problems of the masses. He is therefore a great entrepreneur but not a great original thinker.
Similarly, the ancient Greeks, who were great original thinkers, were eventually conquered by the Romans, who rarely had an original thought, but who were great at adapting the ideas of others – most notably of the Greeks.
With this in mind, the Roman Consul Marcellus, who conquered Archimedes’ city, gave orders that the great engineer was to be taken alive.
Alas, poor Archimedes was so wrapped up in solving a mathematical problem that he failed to identify himself when challenged by a Roman soldier and was promptly killed by mistake.
This is truly symbolic of the fate of Great Innovators at the hands of Great Adaptors.
The Secret Of Great Ideas - To learn more about this author, visit Guy Kingston's Website.
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Many entrepreneurs spend their lives looking for the One Big Idea that will make them rich.
Most believe the idea will come to them in a sudden instant of clarity that is often called the “Eureka Moment”.
The original Eureka Moment is said to have occurred when the ancient Greek mathematician and engineer Archimedes discovered his law of the displacement of water while sitting in the bath – basically, Archimedes in, water out.
He was so pleased by this that he immediately leapt out of the bath and ran into the street shouting “Eureka” – Greek for “I have found it”.
Or so the story goes. Even if it is true, the point is that the Eureka Moment was only part of a long process of study, research, and reflection. This is true of nearly all Eureka Moments.
This has not stopped scholars trying to find ways to replicate the Eureka Moment, to find short cuts to thinking up the One Big Idea.
The study of “creativity” pre-dates even Archimedes, beginning with his fellow Greek, the philosopher Plato, who believed the ability to imagine ideas was innate in every human being and could be unlocked by proper education.
Although few modern neuroscientists would go all the way with Plato on innate ideas, his belief that every human being has a potential that can be unlocked by proper education is attractive to many today.
In recent times, a lot of effort has gone in to trying to promote “idea generation tools” or “creativity techniques”. Among the most popular are “association” – using the subconscious to link different concepts – and “brainstorming” – a “group creativity technique” which performs similar functions.
Yet are all these clever schemes barking up the wrong tree?
For a start, in most cases, as Archimedes would be the first to point out, there is no substitute for long study and hard work.
More importantly, from the entrepreneur’s point of view, originality is not necessarily the way to go.
It is unfair but the Great Innovator or the Great Inventor is rarely the one who reaps the rewards of his discoveries. It is the Great Adaptor who usually gets rich.
There are exceptions – Edison being the most obvious – but original thinkers are usually viewed with suspicion by the less imaginative masses. They often die poor. It takes a more conventional thinker to see how the original idea is relevant to people like himself and to sell it to them in their own terms.
Bill Gates has never made an important discovery of his own, but he is brilliant at applying the discoveries of others to the problems of the masses. He is therefore a great entrepreneur but not a great original thinker.
Similarly, the ancient Greeks, who were great original thinkers, were eventually conquered by the Romans, who rarely had an original thought, but who were great at adapting the ideas of others – most notably of the Greeks.
With this in mind, the Roman Consul Marcellus, who conquered Archimedes’ city, gave orders that the great engineer was to be taken alive.
Alas, poor Archimedes was so wrapped up in solving a mathematical problem that he failed to identify himself when challenged by a Roman soldier and was promptly killed by mistake.
This is truly symbolic of the fate of Great Innovators at the hands of Great Adaptors.
The Secret Of Great Ideas - To learn more about this author, visit Guy Kingston's Website.
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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Michel NerayMichel Neray has over 25 years of experience as an award-winning copywriter, an Internet pioneer, a tradeshow pitchman and a senior sales and marketing executive. An online pioneer, he was one of the first marketing professionals to embrace the Internet by building websites as early as 1993. In 1994, Michel co-authored a book entitled "The Great Crossover: Personal Confidence in the Age of the Microchip", which made it to Jack Canfield's Achiever's Recommended Reading List. Michel founded Portfolios.com in 1995, the world's first online source directory for creative professionals and one of the first websites based on community generated content. Since creating The Essential Message in 2003, Michel has helped thousands of independent professionals and entrepreneurs as well as growing corporations find a better way to differentiate, position and brand themselves. In 2005, his chapter "Everything Starts With A Conversation" was selected as the lead for the book, "Sales Gurus Speak Out" and re-published in 2008 for 'Awakening The Workplace Volume 3'. He is also a co-author of "In the Company of Leaders" (2008) with 40 top North American leadership experts. - Visit Michel Neray's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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 Guy Kingston (Visit Guy's Website) Guy Kingston produces and presents the Mind Your Own Business podcast, offering free business advice to entrepreneurs and business owners. As well as audio podcasts there are more articles like this, compelling videos and a must-read blog. All at www.myobpod .com or you can network and join in discussions on the MYOB Facebook group (www.facebook.com/group.p hp?gid=12117784275). Articles posted by Empica (www.empica. com)
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