Creative Success
“Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R&D. It’s not about money. It’s about the people you have, how you’re led, and how much you get it.”" –Steve Jobs
Upon the recent death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, I was reminded of a discussion I had with a friend in college. We were discussing the future of engineering 
and what sorts of things might be produced in the future. My friend said all the good ideas had been taken." That was in 1988 – twenty three years ago. Since that time there have been all sorts of new engineering marvels. Job's firm Apple alone has produced several products that have revolutionized everything from how we listen to music, to how we read books, to how we communicate, to how we deal with angry birds. In fact, you can look at many different industries and find examples of new ideas, new technologies and new ways of doing things. Similar opportunities exist for your industry - I guarantee it. Success tip number one: there are always good ideas out there.
Your challenge is to find these ideas. You may be thinking that you're not the sort of person who comes up with new ideas. Nonsense! Everyone has the ability to come up with ideas by altering their way of thinking a little bit. If you work or have worked with other people, you may notice that new employees often arrive with new ideas. The old hands may pooh-pooh this person's ideas with that certified idea killer, "We've always done it this way." Still, if the new person is tenacious and the boss open-minded, the new ideas will often take root. Success tip number two: creating new ideas often requires persistence and tenacity.
A key element in the last point was that the person with the idea was "a new hire." I can remember finishing my degree and starting to work for a large company as a software engineer. I had been working as an electrical engineer. At my previous job I had learned ways of doing things and tools for doing them. My new boss let me try some of these things. I implemented a faster and cheaper way to make cables and helped modify the way we documented software for future use. In the same way, you can take what works in one place and modify it so it can work in another. Success tip number three: you can find new ideas by taking something that worked somewhere else, adapting it, and applying it to your current situation.
You'll notice in the last example that I mentioned how my boss was willing to "let me try new things." This is another important facet to engendering new ideas; you must create an environment that allows trial-and-error. A key point in that last phrase is "error;" not every new idea is going to work. This is why an environment that supports errors as a part of the creation process is important. These can either be stone walls or stepping stones. As von Goethe put it, "Daring ideas are like chessmen moved forward. They may be beaten, but they may start a winning game." Success tip number four: be prepared for temporary failures, seeing them as a step, not a stop, along the way to successful new ideas.
Another method for developing new ideas is to discuss what you have so far with other open-minded people with a different perspective. While this exposes your idea, I have found that Howard Aiken is right when he said, "Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats." Several years ago, I was asked to design a fixture for testing rear projection television set mirrors. The position of the holding arms was critical to the tests. My solution was complex particularly in how those arms were positioned. Not sure it would work, I showed it to the man who would be building the fixture. He laughed and suggested the mirror be positioned first and the arms built around it. This saved him time trying to understand my drawings and saved me time in design work. Success tip number five: creativity is often boosted by working with others and getting another perspective.
When talking about creativity, the number of people who tell me they are not creative fascinates me. We are actually innately creative and have to unlearn creativity through the often thoughtless guidance of well-meaning adults. Anyone can learn to be creative again. How this is done depends on what you need to learn. Some people think too rigidly, losing their open-mindedness. If this sounds like you, learn to let yourself go a bit though simple exercises. Take a different route home from work, change parts of your daily routine or just wander through a place without purpose noticing the details that surround you. Other people have little structural framework for their ideas often getting lost in possibilities without focusing on a project to complete. If you tend to lack structure, try writing down your many ideas. Then rate them for potential, ease of execution and the amount of satisfaction you will get by completing them. Success tip number 6: work to find the right balance of open-mindedness and structure required to improve your creative output.
Have a great month!
