Financial Times

Bankrupt for ideas?
By Nilooka Dissanayake
Bankrupt for ideas? I would rather be dead than bankrupt for ideas. However, many people believe they are incapable of finding ideas; new ideas; good ideas; profitable business ideas.

This so called bankruptcy is more a belief than a reality. They have built barriers within their own minds. Ideas are a result of your thinking, learning and association. They are born as a response to the stimuli you are subject to. You get ideas when you see, hear, feel, smell, taste or remember something and associate it with something else. A little light goes on in your brain and an idea is born.

But, ideas can be forced. For this, you do not need to face the wall and sit quietly. But, you need to unleash your imagination. You are the only person (unless you are brainwashed or hypnotized) who can define the limits of your inward journey in search of ideas. New ideas are born when you start playing around with a concept in your head, and trying to associate things with that concept. "Seek and you shall find" applies here as well.

"Ideas are like rabbits" says John Steinbeck, the writer. "You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen." Walt Disney believes that the route to success lies in getting a good idea and staying with it. He advises that we "dog it, and work at it until it's done right."

As Linus Pauling says,' the thing to do to arrive at good ideas is to get lots of ideas and throw the bad ones away'. So how do you get lots of ideas?

I was fortunate to attend a presentation by Jim Aitchison, the author of "Cutting Edge Advertising: How to Create the World's Best for Brands in the 21st Century" when he launched his book in Sri Lanka. Here was his recipe for great ideas, which he gave as advice to advertising professionals: generate fifty ideas before you settle with one idea. He justified himself by saying that, by being lazy and limited, and by not stretching our imagination to their limits, we are cheating ourselves the opportunity of generating brilliant ideas. Generate fifty ideas and a few of them - hopefully - will be good. His recipe in three words: Sheer hard work.

The root to generating ideas - good or bad - is in looking at things creatively; looking at things differently; questioning rules and conventions; suspending judgment; forgetting how things have been done before and literally and metaphorically turning things upside down and inside out. Sounds too radical, you say? It is. That is what all different creativity gurus teach you; to think out of the box.

We are not telling you to go and implement crazy ideas, although they generally have their merits. Didn't Mark Twain say that "The man with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds." Light bulbs, airplanes, walking on the moon and computers, all were considered crazy ideas at some point in time. So, in our quest for ideas, we need to consider the timing.

Those who believe they can't find ideas are simply being lazy or conventional or close minded. (Ah, very strong statement, but of course you know that it is true.) The human mind is an "inexhaustible fountain of ideas" says Brenda Ueland. So "you do not know what is in you" unless you try.

If you do not believe in digging for ideas, as Ernest Dimnet did because they are "the roots of creation" nor feel that ideas offer "salvation by imagination" as Frank Lloyd Wright did, then how do you search for business ideas? Here's a tip from Konosuke Matsushita, a man who reached international business success: "A person who can create ideas worthy of note is a person who has learned much from others." So you see, you do not have to always re-invent the wheel. Why not follow Matsushita?

If you decide to do that, see how many options you have when generating a business idea: You can copy; adapt; change; eliminate; merge; substitute; dissect; or expand upon what is already there. You have an earth-encompassing field to pick from if you look at it this way: The needs of man have not changed so much over time. They need to eat, drink, sleep, dress, travel, socialize, learn, entertain themselves, communicate, feel safe and so on.

The list of basic needs is relatively short. The list of wants, however, is inexhaustible and changes over time. From these two lists spring forth all the business ideas.
They cover everything (except Heaven or Nirvana or whatever you choose to believe in) that you need to keep earthlings happy and content.

Will it be hard? It should not be. In creativity you are your own teacher and student; you yourself define the limits and boundaries. So, there really is no need to be bankrupt for ideas. As the last resort, you can always pay someone else to generate ideas for you! We welcome your comments. You can reach us on ft@sundaytimes.wnl.lk or call on 075-552524.

The writer is the Managing Editor of Athwela Vyaparika Sangarawa (Athwela Business Journal), the only Sinhala management monthly targeting the small and medium sized business operators and its English version, Small Business International magazine.

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