Where do ideas come from?

There's actually a lot of avenues and angles I've been considering to start my posts here in dabelklik..

from nurin to maurinho, the trials of Ramadhan to the tribulations at work..but then, decided to write something about closer to mind.. After all, we are in the business of CREATIVITY.

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Where do ideas come from? In actual truth, I’ve been having questioning thoughts about this for quite a while. The never ending gestation of questions from why some ideas work and others fail. These thoughts on ‘how can I produce great ideas’ usually ends with even more questions, sleepless nights and indigestion. Do ideas drop from the skies? No. Are they innate in the mind? No.

The way I see it, IDEAS comes from the NEED to solve PROBLEMS.

Just think about it for a minute. Have you ever needed ideas/solutions for the nearest/easiest/most exciting/least tiring/more beneficial/less awkward way to solve the problems Life had flung in your way? I’m pretty sure you would. In the CREATIVE (sic) line of work such as ours, we are required, no, expected to come up with ideas day in and day out. Hence the eternal pursuit to sell more with less/to work less for more/to convey more with less or just the bugging need to just do it the correct way.

So here’s pretty much my take on where ideas come from. Ideas are basically solutions to the so called problems we encounter daily in our lives. Ideas can come from pretty much anywhere, anyone including, friends, work, failure, fear, frustration, siblings, friends or a complete stranger. From magazines, newspapers, blogs, journals, letters, pictures and videos to other mundane things such as brochures, newsletters and such.

Marketeers watches the market trends, technogeeks scour the world wide web, artists roam the galleries or the world, writers read, cooks eat, mechanics fix, so on and so forth. All the things we do, adds up to our general consciousness about how things run in this world. So, for CREATIVES, where to get ideas for that eluding problem solution of yours? Do everything. Read, watch, hear, taste, feel, argue, digest or basically absorb anything and everything that you encounter or ever wanted to know.

After breathing in all this infos, the next logical step would be for you connect the knowledge you’ve acquired. What comes to mind is a blurb of something I read a while back. He said (the writer) “Creativity comes from the ability to connect ideas that are derived from experiences and knowledge.” So, after learning all that there is to know about your subject matter, try to connect the knowledge to form solutions for the predetermined problem. (Refer Para3.)

So, if you ask me where IDEAS come from, well, I would say that they come from a place only the diligent & disciplined are willing to pursue with the desire to solve and work out solutions for challenges in life or career.