How to be Creative
Learn the secret formula that will help you generate genius ideas
Gannett, A. (2011). Cite right: The Creative Curve. City, Publisher
Legend has it that Paul McCartney came up with the famous song “Yesterday” in his dreams; Christopher Nolan also came up with “Inception” from his lucid dreams; even Google came from one of Larry Page’s nightmares.
So is it true that genius ideas are a god given talent, exclusive to only the select few, while the rest of us mortals are inevitably “dumb” and will never be able to come up with creative, genius ideas?
In this article I’ll share with you the exact formula that I’ve learned studying these “Creative Geniuses”, and together we will decode formula to their success so that we mortals too can have creative ideas just “come to us”.
2 concepts I want to share:
- How Creative Geniuses seemingly just “come up with” genius ideas out of the blue.
- How to become a Creative Genius and the actual formula for genius ideas
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1. How Creative Geniuses seemingly just “come up with” genius ideas out of the blue
Paul McCartney, Christopher Nolan, Larry Page, even Mozart and Steve Jobs; these are all iconic figures across different domains that are equated with the term “genius”. Somehow they are able to produce idea after idea that nobody else can come up with or even think of. How do they do it? Are they the really the chosen ones? Does god favor them more than others?
Fortunately the answer is a resounding: No.
And no it’s not because they just worked really hard or that genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration, rather what it really comes down to is that these “creative genius ideas” came out of a mixture of deep expertise plus new knowledge.
Creative genius ideas come from a mixture of deep expertise plus new knowledge.
Creative ideas are usually made up of years of experience and possessing a deep understanding of the subject matter and combining it with something novel that gives it a spark.
Whether it’s a song, or a product, or just a new way of doing things, if you dig a little deeper you’ll see that usually whoever came up with the idea was already a subject matter expert in their respective field. Because they have become so good at what they do, they know what exists in this field and what doesn’t. Then, they took something that wasn’t in that field before, and bringing it together created a brand new idea.
Take Steve Jobs for example, the truth is, the idea for the iPhone didn’t come out of nowhere, it starts with with deep expertise in computing and portable devices (iPod), accelerated by a spark from a totally new technology (Fingerworks iGesture Pad, invented by a man with hand injuries who couldn’t use a conventional mouse) to create the iPhone.
Look again at Mark Zuckerberg, the idea for Facebook came from a deep expertise in computing, dosed with fresh ideas of using real names and exclusivity that sparked a brand new age in social networks.
Even Joy Mangano, who famously came up with the self-wringing Miracle Mop, came from a deep expertise in doing house hold chores and knowing the pain of having the wring mops by hand, came up with a new idea by combining a new element into an ordinary house hold item.
The bottom line is, ideas aren’t just epiphanies, and they certainly don’t just come out of the blue, there’s actually a very reasonable and repeatable formula that each one of us can follow to come up with new ideas.
However, just like the saying: “ideas are a dime a dozen”, what makes an idea go from just an idea to becoming a “genius idea”?
2. How to become a Creative Genius and the actual formula for genius ideas
First let’s get something straight, a pure combination of 2 different things may produce something new, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s “good”. If you mix cumin with butter you might have just created a new flavor of butter, however by definition that would just be an “idea”, but it wouldn’t be a “genius idea”.
So how do you do it? How can you be just like Paul McCartney and Steve Jobs and come up with not just ideas, but genius ideas?
Let’s start by breaking down “genius” and “idea” into 2 separate words and look at the definition:
- Genius — a person that can do or think of what other people can’t and that thing is considered to be remarkable.
- Idea — describing something that is new in a familiar subject.
We’ve described “idea” in the previous section so let’s write that down in a more scientific format:
To have a new idea means to introduce novelty in a subject matter that is familiar. For example putting a new twist in a familiar drink or dish; adding a new twist in a familiar genre of songs; introducing a new feature in a familiar product.
Now let’s breakdown and abstract the key ingredients of “genius”. By definition a genius is a person that is widely accepted as a talented individual that can do or think remarkable things. Let’s also put that into scientific formula:
So a genius is a “widely acclaimed” “talented individual”, but how do you become widely acclaimed? And what does it take to be a talented individual? Let’s take this a little further:
- Widely acclaimed — critically acclaimed not only by one’s peers, but by the gatekeepers of one’s field.
- Talented individual — capability + purposeful practice.
To become widely acclaimed, not only do you have to be considered great by your peers, but by the gatekeepers of the field. Think being considered great at singing not only by your family and friends but also by record label managers and/or judges in a singing competition show.
E.g. Steve Jobs was considered great not just by his coworkers but also by the business world and the tech world. Or Einstein’s work has to be approved by the brightest minds in the Physics world in order for it to be considered genius.
As for talented individual, the elements are capability and purposeful practice. Purposeful practice means practicing with a meaning, with an end goal, with an achievement in mind.
Think Steph Curry practicing shooting three-pointers from every where on the court with the purpose of knocking them down in-game, with a defender in his face. It starts with being able to shoot from long range, but gets to perfection with purposeful practice.
Let’s add it to our existing definition:
Great! Now let’s put it all together, and we get the following formula:
Wow! In other words, genius idea means “a talented individual that comes up with a new method of doing something familiar that is widely acclaimed”.
A talented individual that comes up with a new method of doing something familiar that is widely acclaimed.
In conclusion
I hope by now you’re convinced that genius ideas are not the results of epiphanies from the selected few. By breaking down the key elements and formula it is my belief that everyone can come up with not just ideas, but genius ideas.
So go out there, start practicing, with a purpose, and surprise the world.
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