shoes (surely Converse Chucks, before they became cool for the third time): He recognized the growth and infinite potential of the Internet and decided to sell things online. He created a framework, an interface that could carry and transmit his idea, at a time when the playing field for his idea (the “glass”) was still not overfilled with players. But consider: How did Jeff Bezos deal with this new e-commerce opportunity?
Where would Amazon be today if Jeff Bezos had decided to use this “new Internet” to sell fresh fruit? Nowhere. (Nothing against the currently numerous startups in the fresh fruit/food delivery niche.) But books were an exciting product for his new idea. Why? Because you don’t have to physically touch a book to make a purchase decision. Considering the opposite market, I prefer to know the condition of a banana before I buy it. I want to touch it—is it mushy or not? You don’t necessarily have to touch a new book. Another killer attribute that Bezos found: books have an abundant variety. They are innumerably different, and Amazon can offer them all because the company doesn’t have to physically own them, which instantly made Amazon the biggest bookstore in the world. And the kicker: it can sell cheaper because the fixed costs are lower, and the target group much larger. So, Bezos traded the in-store customer’s ability to handle the product and immediately take possession for the minimized transaction costs (no one has to go to the bookstore anymore), a broader choice, and (in many countries) a better price. At the present, Shopify and other tools are helping players from all over the world “drip” into the e-commerce market, and the excess water has been building up in the “glass” of e-commerce, but when it collapses, Bezos is better positioned than the others—he’s ready to ride the wash-out, and survive.
So, find existing opportunities, rearrange them and improve them! The competition will follow, drop by drop. The only important thing is to be one of the drops that survive!
3. Can You Learn or Inherit Creativity?
Creativity is an attitude, much more than it is a skill. In most cases, the product of creativity (the idea) results from numerous experiments and effective evaluations. My grandmother always said: “Throw 100 things in the air; something will eventually stick!” No mystery about the creative genius of billionaire James Dyson. He built 5,126 vacuum cleaner prototypes over the span of fifteen years before his cyclone technology became a global phenomenon. Teresa Amabile of Harvard Business School writes that creativity is too often confused with expertise. We usually don’t see the years of work and the incessant trial-and-error that’s often required to create a masterpiece.
Creativity is neither inherited, nor is it learned by rote, like the ABCs. There are other models and exercises, besides “Matthew’s Ten Favorite Idea-Finding Tools,” that can stimulate or guide you in finding creative ideas, but these are like the handrail in a stairwell: you still have to climb the stairs yourself. Creativity is not the wine, but the vine that connects the rain and the storm with the sun and the soil. The vine variety is selected by the vintner, and its growth is influenced by where it is planted. Give the vine what it needs. Encourage it!
When you experience something unfamiliar, your brain works at unimaginable speed, and a huge network of neurons seek to interpret the experience. If that experience repeats itself, the memory needs to activate significantly fewer neurons. But also remember to break away from relying on old experiences and on linear thinking!
First Step: Sell Your TV!
When watching television, the brain operates primarily in a passive state, kind of an “awake sleep.” Your brain must be active and stimulated before it can begin the complex thought processes that require an elevated level of alpha waves (reading/writing/movement).
Second Step: No Phones!
Switch to “airplane mode,” and your productivity, creativity and general focus will increase significantly. I lost my mobile phone in a taxi in Amsterdam and was surprised at how good life felt without it. Ask yourself how many of your calls are actually productive, enjoyable and indispensable! Texting and playing also rob us of focus. While my phone was lost, I made my important calls over Skype (you can also use it to call phones and mobiles) and was faster and more productive than with a mobile phone. Lose your phone and suddenly your actions become more purposeful: You don’t simply react to external stimuli (your cellphone’s ringtone tearing you away from everything else). You become more committed to the present and you think ahead much better. You are more likely to arrive on time for meetings and you are more aware of the relevance of each conversation. Try it!
Let yourself be surprised! You don’t always need to know what will happen next; you don’t always need to be fully prepared and qualified. Let your brain work with more imagination, commitment and creativity.
Not everyone is born creative, but every person you encounter, every setting or situation you experience, can set in motion creative thinking. Expose yourself to unfamiliar situations—the crazier, newer, sharper, and more drastic the experience, the more innovative the ideas will result in being. Don’t be afraid to astound yourself and everyone around you. Watch what happens!
4. Must You Always Be An Expert?
Repetition creates experience, and over many years, becomes the basis of true expertise. But expertise comes with a price: a potentially rigid understanding. Could it be that a high expertise correlates with decreased flexibility and imagination? When do experience, knowledge, and biased perception begin to hinder truly innovative approaches?
In his book, The Myths of Creativity, David Burkus tells the story of prosthesis manufacturer Martin Bionics. Its founder, Jay Martin, fired an entire staff of the most experienced, best-paid doctors and physicians because they declared that a real time responsive ankle prosthesis was technically impossible. In their place, he created a research team of mere students—students who were already experienced enough to understand complex relationships, but fresh enough not to rule out the seemingly impossible. He expected these students to see his vision through to the end. And after just a few months, Jay Martin and his team of students successfully completed the project and developed the unthinkable: an ankle replacement that revolutionized the prosthetic market.
Creativity does not result from an expert performing a miracle, but from a design “ecosystem” based on the right team and on a mix of perspectives, new and old. Not knowing that something is impossible makes it once again possible!
5. The Flash of Genius—Does It Actually Exist?
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a winning idea! Stories about the “flash of genius”—of accidental inspiration and sudden ingenuity—are widespread. Everybody is familiar with the cartoon symbolism of the light bulb, flashing above a person’s head like lightning. The idea seemingly arrives at the speed of light. Apparently a million-dollar moment—but what is missing? All the considerations that led to the “aha!” moment.
The efforts that preceded the insight are often overlooked. Why? Because they are often invisible—nobody sees, hears, feels, or understands the toils and the subconscious incubation of an idea. The subconscious part of our mind processes thoughts millions of times faster than the conscious part, and the subconscious creation of ideas occurs in a sphere that is completely different than the one used for everyday actions. It functions while sleeping, showering, and when going for a walk. People do not notice the internal mental interplay of impressions and inspirations that allows the idea to take shape. They only see what emerges: the success story,
