Mitch Ditkoff presents this article as a list of ways to get inspired and innovative ideas quicker. To most people who work in creative fields, this seems ridiculous that this would even be proposed. Inspiration can not be forced, it can not be harnessed. The most influential ideas are from truly influential individuals who seem to reside on a higher plane than the rest of the lowly mortals on earth. With this skepticism already in place, Ditkoff does make very good points. They are not, however, incredibly useful on their own, but within conjunction with one another they can generate the right attitude and environment for the production of powerful ideas.
2. Immerse
One of Ditkoff’s early suggestions is to immerse yourself in your work, or to be “completely involved or absorbed in something - engrossed, enthralled, or preoccupied.” Many people do have a tendency to focus on many things at once, to the point where you can barely say that they are focused at all. Spending all of your time and energy on the project at hand is almost always a surefire way to make serious progress. However this step does create an interesting contrast with Ditkoff’s 8th step, which is “take a break”. While both could certainly aid the idea producing process, immersion definitely appears to be the more important one to me. It is so easy to get distracted and get off track when you are always taking breaks from projects. Ideas are much more likely to be spawned in situations when you give yourself the opportunity to get on a roll.
3. Tolerate Ambiguity
This could be translated most simply as “accept failure”. Essentially, Ditkoff is letting us know that we’re not alway going to get our breakthroughs right away, but we should not get discouraged. Rather than abandoning our failed experiments, we should instead continue to try to work on our projects until we achieve our goals. However, I do not necessarily think that this is an idea that can be applied universally. In many creative situations, it is important to stick with it and finish what you have started, but there are also some situations where its better to cut your losses and recognize when something is not going anywhere. Sometimes failure can be a sign telling you that you should try something else. Tolerating ambiguity is not an awful suggestion, but I think Ditkoff should have taken into consideration that sometimes you need to consider taking an entirely different route.
10. Hang Out with Diverse Group of People
This seems to be the most obvious of Ditkoff’s suggestions, and yet it is the best tip for people who really want to be innovative. Who comes up with the great products that appeal to the mass public? The mass public. Seems like a no-brainer, since these people should know what they want better than any corporate head secluded on the 27th floor of his industrial skyscraper. And yet, many businesses arrange “think-tanks” of innovators that are trying to innovate for a group they do not even know. If you want to appeal to the business sector, then you need to know businessmen. If you want to appeal to the agricultural sector, then you need to know farmers. So if you want to make products that appeal to everyone, the logical response is to know everyone. Being around different people will make you see things different, will place you in an entirely different world, and will give you ideas different than what you’d normally come up with.
Execute a Final Prompt
I chose to exercise the final prompt for number 9, which is “notice and challenge existing patterns and trends”. One of the most common American pastime is TV watching, but recently how Americans watch TV is changing. The current trend seems to be that standard TV watching is decreasing as more and more people have been watching TV streaming to their mobile devices or to their computers through the internet. Experts have predicted that eventually the Television set will become like the radio or newspaper, and its usage will be mostly limited to older demographics. As wifi becomes available all throughout the country, and as phones begin to become a standard in TV viewing, I sense that another trend will arise. TV programs will become shorter and shorter, as many people are not going to be willing to sit around for 22 minutes of a television show to load. More and more “mini-series” or “web-isodes” will be unveiled, since shorter video files are easier to download for phones.
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