It is sometimes said that to get the next big idea it is best to come up with it yourself. In Mitch Ditkoff’s 14 Ways to Get Breakthrough Ideas he talks about how people want innovation because they feel it gives them a competitive edge. He then goes on to talk about how innovation is inspired by people and that people get their inspiration from ideas that meet a certain need. Ditkoff then talks about how ideas come from two schools of thought. The first would be that ideas come from a hard process of figuring and calculating that will create the best idea. The second would be that ideas already exist in people and they are not created and to get them you need to be tuned in with yourself. He then goes on to say that most innovators think in both schools of thought. Ditkoff then gives you 14 ways to get the next big idea.
Ditkoff’s 14 ways to get a Breakthrough idea
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
After reading Ditkoff’s 14 tips on how get a breakthrough idea a few of his tips stood out to me. The first tip that stood out to me would be tip number Three. Tip number three says to Tolerate Ambiguity. At first glance some people might not know what this means. It means that you should be comfortable with being uncomfortable. I feel that this is a very very very good tip because it almost impossible to have an idea or vision that succeeds on the first take at it. This tip tells you to keep trying and to not give up. I would implement this tip by Ditkoff into my life and own creative process by using as a way to not feel discouraged if I ever fail.
The second tip that Ditkoff gives and that stood out to me would be tip SIX. Tip six said to Define the Right Challenge. This tip is pretty much saying that to have a breakthrough idea you need to have a breakthrough question that tells you what it is your idea will be trying to answer. The reason why I liked this tip so much is because I always feel that the ideas and inventions people come up with don’t really have a purpose. The matter of the fact is that people are trying to come up with great ideas but the people who are trying to create theses ideas don’t really have a purpose for the idea other then they want to get it out into the world as fast as they can. I feel the same way Ditkoff feels with this tip. The best way to have a good and solid idea is to try to come up with an idea that solves a problem in the world that this idea will help benefit. The way I would use this tip is pretty self-explanatory, if I have a creative idea I would make sure that the idea I am trying to come up with will have a purpose and could help solve things.
The third and final tip from Ditkoff’s original fourteen that stood out to me would have to be suggestion number Twelve. Tip twelve said to Look for Happy Accidents. When I first read this I was confused because it said happy accidents witch are two things that kind of contradict themselves. A “Happy Accident” is something you discover that is a breakthrough that happened on accident. Ditkoff gives an example of “Happy Accidents” such as when Alexander Fleming discovered Penicillin on accident. I am very much in support of this tip because most people don’t think twice about accidents. I feel that almost 25% of the best and greatest discoveries, inventions, and ideas happen on accident. This tip by Ditkoff is a very very very good suggestion in my eyes. The main way I would use this tip suggestion would be to just use it in life on an everyday basis. The way I would use it by being creative would be to look at the small mistakes and see if I have any “Happy Accidents” that could come about.
At the end of every tip Ditkoff gives you suggestions on how to use this tip to help with your breakthrough idea making. For instance, tip Four said to make new connections. First he said to make three parallel lists of ten words. One column will be for nouns; the second for verbs, and the last one will be for adjectives. After you do this look at the list to see what interesting connections you can come up with.
| Nouns | Verbs | Adjectives |
| Trombone | Run | Hard |
| TV | Swim | Soft |
| Computer | Eat | Red |
| Sword | Drink | Shinny |
| Movie | Dream | Loud |
| Basketball | Play | Annoying |
| Door | Jump | Gold |
| Cup | Read | Purple |
| Jacket | Swing | Hairy |
| Band | Tap | Bare |
Some Connections I came up with.
- The basketball was tapping the floor and it was very annoying.
- When I play the trombone the shinny gold instrument is very loud.
- The band ran so much it made the ground bare.
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