If you have been following along with my inventing goals, you already know that I am currently working on generating a list of potential invention ideas. This begs the question, how do great inventors come up with their brilliant ideas? I’ve compiled a list and a prerequisite of seven ways to come up with your own huge idea.

Prerequisite: Get a dedicated notebook or designate an area on your computer to document your ideas. I cannot stress this part enough; there is not a single great inventor that has not single-handedly created a library of notebooks. Da Vinci and Edison wrote thousands of notebooks, meticulously detailing every thought they had and everything they did. For them it was an essential part in developing ideas and turning them into reality.

You must document your ideas before they become forgotten memories. Plus the documentation will help solidify abstract concepts and even generate more ideas. I gave two options for writing your ideas, I surprisingly prefer the old physical notebook. It is easier for me to quickly draw diagrams on, and make notations with pen and paper rather than on the computer. Plus it helps me to achieve the first method on my list.

1. Find some quiet time: This is by far the most difficult thing on the list for me to do, it seems that I am always multitasking unable to take a break from television, internet, other computer programs, and everything else going on in the world. How many times have we heard people say “I do my best thinking in the bathroom.” Unfortunately for many of us this is the only time we give ourselves to think without distractions. Turn everything off, use your imagination and start writing your ideas down in your notebook. This may take some practice before it comes naturally, but in no time you will amaze yourself with the ideas that wind up in that notebook.

2. Look to the future: One of the things that you will see a lot of here at the Invention Pub are invention ideas that are not yet realities. The ideas are not going to invent themselves, someone like you needs to take them and figure out how to make them work. There are tons of places to find inspiration from the future, most news sources have science and technology news that is full of ideas. Science Fiction has also been a huge motivation for inventors, in fact the History Channel often airs specials on Star Wars and Star Trek technology documenting how these SciFi’s inspired various inventions.

3. Look to the past: Remember the thousands of da Vinci and Edison notebooks that I mentioned earlier. Neither of them were able to develop every single idea they documented. In fact, there are millions of well documented ideas from great thinkers that were never realized for all sorts of reasons. There is a good chance that you will have an advantage that these inventors did not have when they were alive to turn their ideas into reality. Often times their ideas can even spark your own brilliant idea.

4. Keep learning: This might as well be a prerequisite as well, and is also an extension of methods 2 and 3. Find something you enjoy and learn as much about it as possible, make yourself an expert and you will know exactly what needs to be invented in that field. Don’t be left behind, keep up with what’s happening in your field, there is a good chance it will help you solve a problem you are working on.

5. Find a problem: There are tons of problems out there ranging from global issues, to little annoyances around your home. A popular one these days is finding an alternative energy source, it is driving inventors to develop efficient wind turbines, solar energy systems, and vehicles running on all sorts of fuels. Find a problem and start brainstorming different ways to fix it.

6. Improve something: This was Thomas Edison’s greatest skill, he used to say “I never pick up an item without thinking of how I might improve it.” So many inventions are accredited to famous inventors, not because these people were the first to build them, but because these inventors did it better. Remember this one other quote from Edison, “There’s a way to do it better - find it.”

7. Watch cartoons: Get yourself thinking out of the box. Cartoons are created by some of the most creative people on Earth, and have lots of ingenious ideas that may not be as far out as the first appear. Maybe cartoons aren’t your thing; find something else to get yourself thinking beyond reality. Get that imagination working!

Still having trouble finding the creativity to come up with great ideas? Check out 7 Habits of Highly Innovative People at Think Simple Now. Or if you have a method that I missed, please share it with us in the comments.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 11th, 2008 at 8:32 pm and is filed under Inspired Hops. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.