Notes on Generating Good Ideas

I'm giving a talk today at Think Big Baltimore called "Generating Good Ideas". Here are the links I refer to in the talk:

• Where Good Ideas Come From (book)
• Ideas Are a Multiplier of Execution
• FreeMind
• The Pink Line Project
• The Pink Line "Big Ideas, Big Action" video explaining how the project came about
• Twitter's "overnight success" as a series of small bets
• Gabriel Weinberg's History of Failed Projects

Below are the slides I'll be using. My main point is that I've never had luck sitting down trying to have ideas. They always occur to me incidentally while doing something else. I recommend some specific things that have worked for me or that I've read have worked for others to help that process occur more regularly. The most effective technique for me personally has been to write every little idea down, no matter how frivolous or unlikely it is that I'll ever do it. I feel like when I do that I'm "honoring my muse" and taking my creative impulses seriously. I can't prove it but I think doing this has helped me increase the number of ideas I get.

Generating Good Ideas