Recently I listened to a fascinating interview with astronaut Dave Wolf, who talked about the importance of “resources” when it comes to spacewalking. To the spacewalker, resources are a life and death matter. Without resources like oxygen and carbon dioxide filtering, the outcome is so grisly Wolf didn’t want to talk about it. With resources, spacewalking is as magical as it sounds.
The myth about ideas is that they come from out of nowhere. That’s just not true.
Ideas come from the stories and images and insights that we are able to draw upon to generate new ideas.
New ideas are all about mashing—taking a bit of this and a bit of that and making something new with it.
The problem is we are like astronauts who are running on low resources. We’re trying to do a spacewalk without enough oxygen.
Think about the projects in front of you. What resources can you engage that will give you a base from which to draw as you work on your project?
Resources come in a vast array of forms: podcasts, books, people to interview, places, trips, experiences, blogs, television programs, movies, magazine articles, pictures, art.
The trick is to be intentional, to have a plan about the resources you’re going to engage and then calendar space in which to do the engaging. Todd Henry (@toddhenry) recommends blocking out a half-hour a day for this.
I’m not perfect at this, of course, but I try to listen to a lot of audio books and podcasts when I’m driving or flying. I pick the books I read based on the work that’s in front of me. I ask myself, “What can I read that will give me an edge in this project?” I set aside time each week to review my RSS reader. (I use NetVibes.)
I’ve also picked up a few ways to avoid forgetting my ideas. The trick is to have some quick way of capturing an idea when it comes. So here are some ideas for how to capture your ideas:
- Call your voicemail and leave a message for yourself. (I sometimes use this one at the end of the day to remind myself of what I need to focus on first thing the next morning.)
- Text or email yourself
- Create an idea document that you’re constantly adding to. Delete ideas that you’ve acted upon, so the list doesn’t get too long and unwieldy.
- Use a notebook.
- Keep a pad on your nightstand. Before you nod off, ask, “Did I have any ideas today that I want to record?” This also comes in handy when an idea comes knocking at 3am!
Your turn. What do you do to generate ideas and not forget them?
P. S. My friend and colleague Erin Bartels published a post about how driving and mindless physical activity help her generate ideas. Check it out.
