“Creativity is the unexpected collision of two apparently unrelated frames of reference.”
- Arthur Koestler, author of the magnum opus, The Act of Creation

Because an idea is simply a connection between areas of your brain, it’s worth considering: what are the possible constituent elements? What is the nature of the component parts? Sometimes, they are two ideas themselves. Rocket + Stroller = Rocket-Powered Stroller. But other times, the connection is between a problem, and an apparently unrelated field (case in point, Bette Nesmith Graham’s invention of Liquid Paper!).

The search for unexpected frames of reference is the basis of analogous exploration as a valuable tool in the innovator’s tool kit. But whereas analogous exploration is a means of searching for unrelated frames of reference to a known problem, a method like keeping a bug list is more fundamental: it’s a collection of problems. And problems, as we see above, are every bit as legitimate a source material for new connections (ideas) as any other.

In fact, becoming aware of problems is a fantastic consciousness to cultivate.

As TOMS founder Blake Mycoskie described his first entrepreneurial endeavor Tim Ferriss (transcript here), I couldn’t help but note his description of where good ideas come from: “The best ideas in the best companies start always come from an entrepreneur who wants a service that he can’t get, a product that doesn’t exist. It’s a frustration. And the solution is not a business actually. It’s like a crusade to get rid of that frustration.”

Mind your frustrations! In fact, if you want to do something new, you should cultivate them! Whether you’re Jerry Seinfeld, writing a stand-up sketch, or you’re Lorraine Sarayeldin looking to reinvent your career, noting your frustrations is a source of entrepreneurial gold!

(Sometimes connections and collisions are hard to come by — join the Try Ten™ Program to get exclusive tools and sessions dedicated to practicing problem finding and solving in a community of like-minded innovators)

Related: What Stinks?
Related: Keep A Bug List
Related: Explore Analogies

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