How to have better, more creative ideas

A thread of wisdom from:
@TheSchoolOfLife
@david_perell
@anthilemoon
@joulee
@stephsmithio
& more

🧵👇

First, recognize that there are no new ideas.

Innovation is just rearranging existing concepts in a revolutionary way.

To get better at that, learn to combine your unique interests.

I wrote about this here:
https://t.co/sEwo0UXSLP
@david_perell offers a five step process for generating inspiration:

1. Gather raw material.

2. Work over them in your mind.

3. Let your subconscious mind process them.

4. Have a “Eureka" moment.

5. Shape and develop your idea — make it useful.

https://t.co/XNwci9CDwK
@anthilemoon suggests increasing your creativity by being prolific

Generate as many ideas as you can, as often as you can

Have a daily routine that primes your mind for creativity

https://t.co/OXhabGnGQY
@stephsmithio looks for a specific combination of traits in order to determine if an idea is worth pursuing

The criteria are:
- interesting
- doesn't exist in that exact form
- something she can uniquely contribute to

https://t.co/YkZHunlzen
@schooloflife warns us not to neglect the importance of doing nothing, of staring out the window for a while

Idle time gives your mind space to make connections

https://t.co/ihDECARO8J
The physicist Freeman Dyson echoes this advice:

"I am fooling around not doing anything, which probably means that this is a creative period, although of course you don’t know until afterward.

I think that it is very important to be idle."
Follow your curiosity.

As psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi writes in his book Creativity:

"The first step toward a more creative life is the cultivation of curiosity and interest, that is, the allocation of attention to things for their own sake."

https://t.co/LnruT0IApy
The "cultivation of curiosity" means pursuing anything that intrigues you.

Follow an idea and see where it leads

It may be a dead end, or it may be life changing.
@joulee captures this experimental approach to creativity in two diagrams

The first is how we imagine the process of making something new

The second is what it's actually like
Lastly, remember Steve's jobs warning that ideas are fragile

Treat them with care:

https://t.co/GGpEqaCxnH
If you liked this thread, check out the one I did on great writing:

https://t.co/zSh04aNnj1

More from Ideas

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Startups succeed when they solve


Choose your customers


Resist the lure of new ideas when the real work begins:


Consider all paths and points of

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https://t.co/6cRR2B3jBE
Viruses and other pathogens are often studied as stand-alone entities, despite that, in nature, they mostly live in multispecies associations called biofilms—both externally and within the host.

https://t.co/FBfXhUrH5d


Microorganisms in biofilms are enclosed by an extracellular matrix that confers protection and improves survival. Previous studies have shown that viruses can secondarily colonize preexisting biofilms, and viral biofilms have also been described.


...we raise the perspective that CoVs can persistently infect bats due to their association with biofilm structures. This phenomenon potentially provides an optimal environment for nonpathogenic & well-adapted viruses to interact with the host, as well as for viral recombination.


Biofilms can also enhance virion viability in extracellular environments, such as on fomites and in aquatic sediments, allowing viral persistence and dissemination.
1/“What would need to be true for you to….X”

Why is this the most powerful question you can ask when attempting to reach an agreement with another human being or organization?

A thread, co-written by @deanmbrody:


2/ First, “X” could be lots of things. Examples: What would need to be true for you to

- “Feel it's in our best interest for me to be CMO"
- “Feel that we’re in a good place as a company”
- “Feel that we’re on the same page”
- “Feel that we both got what we wanted from this deal

3/ Normally, we aren’t that direct. Example from startup/VC land:

Founders leave VC meetings thinking that every VC will invest, but they rarely do.

Worse over, the founders don’t know what they need to do in order to be fundable.

4/ So why should you ask the magic Q?

To get clarity.

You want to know where you stand, and what it takes to get what you want in a way that also gets them what they want.

It also holds them (mentally) accountable once the thing they need becomes true.

5/ Staying in the context of soliciting investors, the question is “what would need to be true for you to want to invest (or partner with us on this journey, etc)?”

Multiple responses to this question are likely to deliver a positive result.