Great ideas
 Part 1
General Approach
to great ideas
 An idea is a form (such as a thought) formed by
consciousness (including mind) through the process
of ideation.
 In a popular sense, an idea arises in a reflex,
spontaneous manner, even without thinking or
serious reflection , for example, when we talk about
the idea of a person or a place
No one way is going to work best for all ideas, but here's a general
scheme to frame your efforts:
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Look at your idea. Observe it from different
perspectives and angles.
Take your idea apart. Use different approaches.
Try looking at each part as a separate idea.
Add to/remove from your idea. Your idea
should be complete, but not overdone
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Modify/Substitute parts. Find out which
works best.
Put the parts together. Use different
designs and orderings.
Combine ideas together. In different ways.
 Use your idea. Adapt it for a special purpose.
Maybe some new ideas will occur to you
Machiavelli make much the same
point:
 “There is nothing more difficult to carry out,
nor more doubtful of success, nor more
dangerous to handle, than to initiate a new
order of things. For the reformer has enemies
in all who profit by the old order, and only
lukewarm defenders in all who profit by the
new order.
What were the great ideas of the last
century?
 A random list might include abstract art,
behaviourism, corporate identity, automation,
digital theory, futurism, the uncertainty
principle, Gestalt psychology, industrial
design, jet engines, fast food, television, the
marginal productivity theory of wages, the hit
parade, best-sellers, miniskirts, consumerism,
modernism, cassette tapes, nudism, VAT, pop
and linguistics.
 These ideas grew in a world with fundamental
economic convictions, namely the massproduction and mass-consumption of goods.
But these assumptions are fast changing.
Those goods are now coming from China and
the great legacy manufacturing corporations
of the West are mostly in a parlous state. In
manufacturing, the rates of change are
themselves changing.
 Anything can be made anywhere; the world is
flat. Instead, the ability to generate ideas has
replaced manufacturing as the engine of the
economy.
 People with new ideas tend to be both
illogical and contradictory. Explaining his
discovery of relativity, Einstein said: "I just
ignored an axiom." Nothing defines creativity
better than the ability to defeat habit by
originality. There seems to be a physiological
source for new ideas.
 We have 10 billion brain cells, each one
capable of making 5,000 connections, but it is
making unusual connections that's a basis for
new ideas. But mostly we are very
conservative: as far as food is concerned, we
eat only about 600 of the planet's hundreds of
thousands of edible plants.
 Cultures which encourage ideas must learn to
tolerate error. Mistakes, James Joyce said,
are the " portals of discovery". According to
IBM's Thomas Watson, "If you want to
succeed, double your failure rate." Soichiro
Honda believed, "Success represents the one
per cent of your work which results from the
99 per cent that is called failure." Henry Ford
said, "Failure is the opportunity to begin again
more intelligently."
Part 2: One good idea for successful
business is corporate venturing:
 It is the process of two companies entering
into a partnership
 Usually a larger company invests money or
goods into the smaller company in return for
access to technology or skills
 Corporate venturing is a good solution for
companies in crisis (uniting makes them
stronger)
Another good idea for business is to
introduce innovations:
 It is the introduction of new ideas, goods, services
and practices which are intended to be useful
 The main source of innovation is often the courage
and energy to better the world
 An essential element for innovation is its application
in a commercial way
 A number of innovations have changed human
history
A great idea is also called a
breakthrough:
 It is usually an important discovery which
changes the history of something
 Very often a single innovative breakthrough is
not enough: there has to be continuous
improvement
 For example: the producers of mountain bike
have eliminated something form the original
model by providing comfort, easy gear
changes, a “fun” ride etc.
The initial idea for a product is first
made as a prototype:
 It is a model of a future product and every
successive product is based on it
 It is a physical model of the new product
concept
 It includes designs, software and devices
 It is used for making observations and for
some necessary adjustments
The final prototype is called the “beta
version”:
 It is a product in its final stage of testing
 A beta version of a product (beta product) is
often available to the public for general use
and real life testing. It allows people to start
using new tools as soon as possible
Here are some ways in which the ideas
are generated:
 Sometimes a company exploits an
opportunity to offer more to its customers by
extending the product range.
 Another good idea can allow a company to
enter the market which was closed to it
before.
 If a company spends a lot on R&D they might
make a breaktrhough with an original idea.
 On the other hand, some products come from
customer ideas. These products meet a real
need, they are exactley what the customers
demand.
 A product can also enhance the status, i.e.
represent something that makes people feel
important.
 Some people buy a “green” product just to
reduce waste and protect the environment