Turning on the idea faucet.

What is the idea faucet?

I’m sitting here in just my boxers, I may have just taken a shower.  Next to me is my ideabook, opened to a page that I have just scribbled on.  Most importantly, I’ve just had an idea.

But that is wrong, I have not just had an idea, I have had multiple ideas, each slightly different than its predecessor.  This is my idea faucet, something that I have for years tapped unconsciously and can now turn on consciously.  Again, this is wrong, I simply provide the optimal environment for the flow of ideas and just subtly direct things from there.  Like a conductor.  Think Michael Tilson Thomas.  But ideas.

How do you turn your idea faucet on?

It’s simple – really.  Find somewhere you are comfortable sitting, or standing or leaning for a couple minutes.  I know my personal faves are the shower, driving or tilted back in my chair.  Now look at something, like a bottle, or a cell phone, or a desk – something with some character, and just subtly prompt yourself, “You know what would be cool…”  The first ideas will drip out, and they will be that stale, dirty old stuff that has been sitting in the pipes since ’95.

Switch focus, again prompt yourself, “You know what would be cool…?”  Feel that cool water cruising through your mind as you consider the intricacies of installing computer chips in water bottles.  Whatever you do, do not force it, these things take time.

Now iterate.  Ruthlessly.

95% of your ideas suck. Mine too.  Nobody produces perfect ideas all the time.  The people who seem to have lots of good ideas actually do, for the most part, but not because of luck.  What sets them apart is the speed at which that can mentally iterate and prune their ideas.

I used to go down longs paths of ideation before realizing, “Wow, that might work, but only in the strangest of contexts.”  Sound familiar?  Be ruthless, start pruning and directing your ideas.  Contextualize them.  Ask yourself what the business model would be, what the market would look like, why someone would want it.  See how it evolves.

Glad you have your faucet running, but you are not done yet.

Write it down, make it live.

So you have a pretty good idea, and your faucet is flowing.  DO.  NOT.  STOP.  Ideas follow the path of least resistance, and if they are flowing you have a duty to yourself to write them down.  By committing your ideas to paper, or text you are creating art and potentially a better future for yourself and others.  Once you have something tangible you can make adjustments, get advice, create projections – all steps on the path to making your idea(s) a reality.

Now I just need to find someone who knows how to make Vitamin Water bottles that can measure the amount of fluid left in it and the corresponding number of calories.

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