"Most of us think great ideas are conjured from within-some mysterious well of genius possessed by a special few. But if you listen closely to history's most celebrated creators, you'll hear something completely different. They describe their greatest work not as something they conjured or invented, but as something they found. Not creation, but discovery. Listen to the audio version of this Book Bite-read by George himself-below, or in the Next Big Idea App."
"In 1968, a chemist named Spencer Silver was trying to create a super-strong adhesive that could be used to make airplanes. Instead, he wound up discovering pretty much the exact opposite: a glue that was barely strong enough to hold paper together-though it could be used again and again without losing its stickiness. For years, Silver brainstormed different products. His first big idea was a sticky bulletin board."
Great ideas often emerge as discoveries rather than wholly original inventions, appearing when familiar elements recombine with a modest amount of novelty. Small, targeted novelty—about five percent different from existing components—can produce breakthroughs that remain useful and recognizable. Iteration, experimentation, and persistent variation generate adjacent possibilities that increase the chance of finding a valuable recombination. Exposure to diverse perspectives and environments fosters the cross-pollination needed for such recombination. Failures and false starts contribute useful constraints and information that guide subsequent pivots toward successful, near-novel solutions.
Read at Fast Company
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