James Webb Young

Over the coming weeks we plan to start posting our series on innovation and success. I hope you enjoy the first one called Eureka!

“An idea is nothing more nor less than a new combination of old elements

”

James Webb Young

Is there a formula that answers the question:

Where do ideas come from?
A professional “Idea Man” named James Webb Young wrote a book nearly seventy years ago that provides an answer.

Young’s book, A Technique for Producing Ideas (Advertising Publications, Inc., Chicago, 1949), drew on his career as an advertising agency executive. First published in 1940, it is no longer than most fairy tales. But it’s packed with the kind of wisdom that can make dreams come true.

According to Young, the formula for producing ideas is so simple that most people who hear it don’t believe it. And many of the people who do believe it never work at it hard enough to make it work for them.

He broke it down into five steps:

1. Foraging: The first step is to gather raw materials, general and specific. Research is the key.


2. Mastication: Chew on it. Look at individual facts and see how they might fit. Start putting the pieces of the puzzle together. In this stage, you start to sense a relationship between things that seemed totally unrelated in the first stage. When you get ideas, write them down before you lose them. I usually carry a little notebook and pen around with me, because I tend to forget about that great idea I thought about only a few hours ago.


3. Digestion: Let it cool. In this stage, it helps to do something totally unrelated to work. Go for a walk, jog, watch a movie, or listen to music. The conscious mind is not what fuels the process at this point. Larry Page, co-founder of Google, says he does his best thinking “anywhere but the office.” Get up and go do something you enjoy, it really helps to relax the mind.


4. Inspiration: The “Eureka” moment. Suddenly you receive the solution with a clear head. The idea seems to come out of nowhere. That’s because the subconscious mind does its best work after a period of relaxation or sleep. It's like a light bulb turning on in your head. Have you ever had that, "ohhh...that's how it can work" moment?


5. Development: This is the time to test, modify, and improve the idea. Many ideas fizzle out in this stage because people aren’t patient and persistent enough to put their ideas to the test. James Webb Young taught graduate students at the University of Chicago that a good idea takes on a life of its own: “It stimulates those who see it to add to it.” In this stage, the idea is shaped and developed into something that works.

“Maybe my learning is subliminal,” said Steve Wozniak, who designed the Apple and Apple II computers in the 1970s. “I’m sure many other inventors have gone through this before. You think it out in your sleep.”

When we’re searching for an idea, we want the “Eureka” moment to happen first. But remember: It does no good to sit around waiting for inspiration if you haven’t gone through the first three steps. The “flash-of-lightning” experience doesn’t come into play until Step 4.

Like all great innovators, “Woz” burned his share of midnight oil before settling into bed.

How do you keep track of those little gold nuggets which one day may turn into a golden stream of success?