Where Do Great Ideas Come From?

From Drucker, who I met a few times.

ACM CAREERS

Where Do Great Ideas Come From?   By The Generalist, May 22, 2023

Scientists motivated by independence or the desire for intellectual challenge had more creative output.

The great business theorist Peter Drucker didn't think all that much of ideas. "Ideas are cheap and abundant," the management expert said. "What is of value is the effective placement of those ideas into situations that develop into action." 

Drucker's position is a common one, but is wrong in the assessment of ideas. Ideas are not cheap, nor valueless. Certainly, ideas cannot impact society without "effective placement," but there would be nothing to "place" without them. They are the seed of all progress, the beginning of every great invention.

Researchers surveyed more than 30 academic studies which they distilled into seven actionable insights on finding great ideas.

From The Generalis

How to Come up with Great Ideas

Broadly useful thoughts.  Still think there is use for a 'startup' inside a company.

How to Come Up with Great Ideas
Think like an entrepreneur.   By Kate Matsudaira in Queue
"I would love to do a startup, but I don't have any ideas."

I started my career working in big companies but always dreamed of starting my own. I would read online forums and articles about successful entrepreneurs. I was enamored with the idea of doing a startup. The problem was I didn't have any ideas.

Fast forward 10 years and I have so many ideas that choosing the right one is the challenge. I am constantly coming up with ideas and opportunities that could turn into a product, or a whole company. There is no shortage of things that I could do.

The key is you have to learn to think like an entrepreneur.

Why You Should Want to Be More Entrepreneurial

At this point, you might be thinking, "But I am a software engineer and happy in my role; why do I need to think like an entrepreneur?" Even if you don't see yourself doing a startup with one idea, being able to come up with new ideas (especially good ones!) will make you even better at your current job.

As a programmer, most of your time is probably spent understanding the technical nuances of what you are creating. As you grow in your career and experience, however, you are expected to contribute more than just code.

For example, if you work on a product, you may have the chance to collaborate with its designers to create a new customer experience. When there are bugs or issues, your time is spent diagnosing the symptoms to find root problems and exploring options that may serve as possible solutions. As you build your expertise, you may even create your own modules, systems, or libraries to help solve problems.  ...."

Respecting Absurd Ideas

Always liked the idea of exploring the edge of possibilities.  Here a look at how to exploit absurd suggestions.   Which break down into Respect the idea, and Play with it.   I would add,  always use the promoter of the idea as the 'expert' in its application .... they can school you in its application, or even why it won't work in context.   Stretch it.  Explore with analogies.   Absurdity can be good.

strategy+business: Corporate Strategies and News Articles on Global Business, Management, Competition and Marketing
 Two Simple Concepts for Getting the Most from Absurd Ideas ... " 

Discovering a Million Dollar Idea

Reminded of the use of the term:

IKEA's Idea Man Reveals How to Discover Your Own Million Dollar Idea
The process is called vu jàdé. That's déjà vu backwards, and anyone can do it.    By Chad Perry in Inc.

Little Ideas for Innovation

Like to see thoughts coming out of someone who is thinking about decisions and operations, rather than just magical neural-inspired mappings.

How ‘Little Ideas’ Can Lead to Powerful Innovations
When most people hear the word innovation, they think about Uber, Airbnb and Amazon — disruptive companies that upended entire industries with a radical new way to do business. But Wharton operations, information and decisions practice professor David Robertson argues that this view is too narrow a definition of innovation, and one that is not useful to most companies.

In his book, The Power of Little Ideas: A Low-Risk, High-Reward Approach to Innovation, Robertson talks about a more practical way companies can innovate: by focusing on complementary actions around a key product. He teaches innovation and product development at Wharton and is the host of Innovation Navigation, a Wharton Business Radio program. Robertson recently spoke to Knowledge@Wharton about his book.  ... 

An edited transcript of the conversation follows. ...  "

Conflicting Demands and Creativity

In MIT/Sloan:

Conflicting demands within a business can be a source of creativity and opportunity — if they are handled well.
  
The writer F. Scott Fitzgerald once observed, “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.”

But within a business, opposing ideas typically lead to conflict, and in the face of conflicting demands, managers will feel anxiety, stress, and frustration. However, our research at Aeon Co. Ltd., one of Japan’s largest retailers, suggests that a positive approach to handling conflicts between opposing ideas can create new value for a company.

Like many retailers, Aeon faces a built-in conflict in its operations. On the one hand, managers in local stores want to adapt their stock to meet local communities’ preferences and needs. On the other hand, the executive team at Aeon’s national headquarters in Chiba, Japan, strives for greater economies of scale. .... " 

Sifting Your Big Ideas

Colleague Bob Herbold from his blog:   " ..... Is Your Big Idea Really Big? Really?  ....  Beware, when searching for the big idea and finding that to be difficult, it is very easy to convince yourself that a very modest idea will certainly do the job. ..... This very trait is built into humans and it’s the job of leaders to recognize that and to be stubborn enough to demand the really big idea, not a weak substitute!  ... "