A | Technique For Producing Ideas By James Webb Young Pdf

Most people skip this step. They want the idea now. Young divides raw materials into two types:

Action Step: Carry a notebook. Clip articles. Save images. For a specific project, spend days (or weeks) collecting every possible fact. Do not judge the facts yet; just gather.

Young starts with a bold, unromantic definition: a technique for producing ideas by james webb young pdf

"An idea is nothing more nor less than a new combination of old elements."

This is the cornerstone of his technique. Nothing is truly "original" in the sense of being created from a vacuum. The Wright Brothers combined bicycles (gears/ chains) with kites (aerodynamics) to create an airplane. Shakespeare combined existing historical plots with poetic language. Most people skip this step

If an idea is just a combination, then the skill of producing ideas is simply the skill of discovering new relationships between existing facts, concepts, and experiences.

Take the facts you have gathered and turn them around in your mind. Look at them from every angle. Connect fact A to fact B. Write lists. Feel the frustration. Young calls this the "sweating" stage. You will feel a sense of exhaustion and emptiness. That is a sign you are doing it right. Action Step: Carry a notebook

First published: 1939 (still in print)
Pages: ~48 (short read)
Genre: Creativity / Advertising / Problem-solving

Before diving into the steps, Young establishes two fundamental truths about ideas:

With these principles in mind, the process begins.