14 Ways

For my MDIA 203 Class, the assignment was to read “14 Ways to get Breakthrough Ideas”, by Mitch Ditkoff.

The link to download this file can be found here: http://changethis.com/manifesto/show/49.06.14Ways

You are so totally welcome.

This was actually a very fascinating read. It put a lot of focus on the creative aspects of discovery, things that the fields of science and mathematics have apparently been keeping under wraps. 

The article has, shockingly enough, 14 suggestions for how to begin thinking and get on your way to discovering:

1. Follow Your Fascination
2. Immerse
3. Tolerate Ambiguity
4. Make New Connections
5. Fantasize
6. Define the Right Challenge
7. Listen to Your Subconscious
8. Take a Break
9. Notice and Challenge Existing Patterns and Trends
10. Hang out With Diverse Groups of People
11. Brainstorm
12. Look for Happy Accidents
13. Use Creative Thinking Techniques
14. Suspend Logic

I have chosen three of these tips to talk about in detail.

Follow your Fascination

This tip says to take whatever new idea you have and run with it. “Don’t dismiss it as trivial. Give it room. Give it time to breathe.” Mitch Ditkoff explains that when you are fascinated by something, it is supposed to be that way. There is a reason why you are drawn to a particular idea, and that this is reason enough to delve into the idea. He remarks that the origins of the word fascination should also lead us to this conclusion, with the core “fascinus” meaning “enchanted or delighted”, and that anything that enchants or delights us is sacred, similar to immaculate conception. While I find that comparison to be a little bit over the top, I do think that this tip is a good one.

I think that, since I have gotten to college, I’ve had a hard time following my own personal fascinations. From now on, I’m going to make a point to go out and do things when I am drawn to it. One of those ideas that has been nagging at me since I started school is the idea of going and tagging the wall at Seigfred, under the building, by the stairs. Before the end of this quarter, I’m going to do it. I’m going to create a design and then make it come to life on that wall. It doesn’t need to be big, just there!

Fantasize

For this tip, Ditkoff shuns the idea of fantasizing as only being for “perverts or children” (quite the opposites...), but also as being used master chess players, for people in the business and corporate world, and for dreamers of all types. He makes another point about the roots of words, this time between “fantastic” and “fantasize”. They share to common root of meaning “use the imagination”.

This is, I believe, another good tip. Honestly, it’s one I already actively participate in. After watching a movie, after a particularly good book, enacting conversations and fights with people in my head, “She would say that, and then I would say this! Yeah that would get her!”. It gives me the chance to develop my own ideas and put myself in situations, helping me decide what the best course of action would be to accomplish a certain goal.

Look for Happy Accidents

This is the final tip I would like to talk about. In this tip, Ditkoff explains that we need to wait around and keep an eye out for things that happen accidentally. Saying that sometimes, it isn’t about the idea, but what can happen without even thinking, when you just notice something is different or new or unexpected. He also talks about how some of the most world-altering inventions and discoveries happened by accident. 

Honestly, in comparison to some of the other tips included on this list, this one is a little bit disappointing. It just seems to say to me, “Sit around and wait for something to happen,” which is the lazy route. I don’t want to be relying on the fact that eventually something will give me an idea or the fame and fortune or whatever will just come to me. That’s just silly. 

Activity! Yeah!

At the end of each tip, there is a prompt, a little activity, to get the wheels in your head turning. I decided to use the prompt from Tip #4: Make New Connections. It prompts you to Make three lists, parallel to each other, one with nouns, one with verbs, and one with adjectives. It then says to find new and intriguing connections between those words. Here are the words I chose:

Nouns:

Puppy

Sorority Girl

Planner

Movie

Blanket

Paris

T-Shirt

Fence

A bouquet of flowers

Laptop

Verbs:

Run

Dance

Sing

Paint

Read

Activate

Destroy

Push

Slash

Smash

Adjectives:

(For these, I needed a little help from the good old internet! Random Adjectives, oh yeah!) 

Clumsy

Jilted

Belligerent

Fantastical

Deranged

Defensive

Exceptional

Fuzzy

Wonderful

Sloppy

I started seeing connections almost immediately, and it was all I could do to try putting down adjectives that I was already connecting with between the nouns and verbs. Even after finding the most random of adjectives, I found connections. I’m going to try to outline a story, or maybe a short film,from some of these words in a few sentences:

Open on a girl with her laptop, outside, on a sunny day. She is engrossed in her work, checking her planner. She looks defensive. A boy and a puppy on a leash walk up to her. The puppy is clumsily stumbling over it’s paws, which are too big for it’s puppy legs. This is where the relationship begins, the puppy noticing, going over to the girl, sniffing her. She looks down, smiles, and tries to go back to her work. But the puppy is belligerent. The boy apologizes and tries to lead the puppy away, although he himself doesn’t want to. After a little more Badgering by the puppy, the girl puts her things down, begins to melt, playing with the puppy, and a conversation between the boy and the girl starts. Flashes of picnics on blankets, dancing, a bouquet of flowers on a table, Paris, the girl in the boy’s T-Shirt, a wedding all exceptionally lovely moments, memories.

I thought of making it a love-lost story, with verbs like smashed, slashed, and destroy, and with adjectives like deranged and jilted, I certainly could have done that, but I decided to keep it nice. 

Bottom Line: Anything with puppies in it has to be nice.

I really liked doing this. I didn’t think it would be very fun, but now I have a few ideas for a short film, or a short story, or whatever! These tips really did end up being helpful.