Where Good Ideas Come from

Where Good Ideas Come from

1. Over the past five years Steven Johnson has studied the question of " Where good ideas come from".

   • The collision between two smaller hunches can sometimes perform a: breakthrough.
   • He has observed that people in general what to be more original, come up with better ideas and want to be more innovative.
     • As part of his study he observed the environments "spaces" where good ideas are formed and found repeats of similar patterns.
       • He calls this the "slow hunch". This is when ideas take a long time to form, even years and will eventually be the combination of many ideas.
         • To illustrate this he uses the example of the creation of the World Wide Web.
           • These feelings need time to mature and thereby improve. They may also merge which other people's feelings or ideas.
             • For this to happen, places are needed where ideas can be swapped and shared. By far one of the biggest drivers of innovation this century is the increase in connectivity- the internet, cellular devices = Instant communication.
               • We can reach people faster ,share ideas, borrow ideas, combine ideas and form new innovative ideas. The internet may also distract us so we should not neglect the power of reading books as well.
                 • He concludes by saying "chance favours the connected the connected mind" i.e. You need to be associated with other people by whatever means to be successful.