Think About It

"Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably why so few engage in it."

                                                                                                - Henry Ford

A while ago I finished reading Thinking for a Living: Creating Ideas That Revitalize Your Business, Career, and Life  by Joey Reiman (Longstreet Publishing, 1998).

In this short and somewhat self-inflating memoir turned futuristic business guide, Reiman tells how he rose through the ranks in advertising, made millions for his clients, then went on to build his own company called BrightHouse, known for its work “in the areas of ideation, purpose-inspired leadership, innovation and marketing.” In other words, the man is, and always has been, big on ideas.

Well, who isn’t? I mean, really, who doesn’t like the idea of coming up with a good idea once in a while? Whether it concerns business or pleasure, whether it’s big or small, a good idea goes a long way in making one’s life a little better. But how do we get them? Do we dare call it a process? Or does it all come down to some sort of spontaneous combustion?

One major premise of the book is that ideas are the currency of the future. Following that thread Reiman gives his take on the concept of creativity and ideas – what it takes to get them and make them happen. He says there are four stages of creativity – what he calls the four I's:

1) Investigation

            “Do your research. Learn as much as you can about what interests you.”

2) Incubation

            "The best way to create a high-quality idea is to create a high quantity of ideas.            And the best way to do this is to think. Thinking takes time, so the longest stage   of the idea process is incubation."

3) Illumination

            "Illuminations are the Aha's! Nothing [else] feels like them, but you can't have a full illumination until you've taken the time to investigate and incubate…that is             why the greatest repository of ideas are graveyards. Here ideas remain buried with       the people who had them but did nothing with them."

4) Illustration

            Take action. Make it happen.

Whatever is involved, big thinking does take time. And if you take the time, the ideas will come.

"Big ideas don't appear, they evolve."

                                                - Joey Reiman