Where Ideas Come From



One of the reasons for being accepted on the Kauffman Global Scholar program was for a business idea I had. Recently I have found that this idea may not be possible because it may have already been done before. Which puts me under a little pressure to have another great idea.

But where do they come from and what makes great ideas truly great?
I don't know if I have quite the ability to answer those 'profound' questions but I'll try to explain what I think is the best process to go about having ideas.

1. There's no pressure
2. Ideas don't (generally) come in a flash
3. Capture it
   
4. Sometimes ignorance is bliss
   
5. Let it grow
6. Constraints enhance creativity
   

There's no pressure
There is no situation I know of where people perform better under stress. I can remember plenty of times when I certainly performed worse because of stress. It's exactly the same with ideas. Let your mind wander around onto whatever it chooses.

Ideas don't come in a flash
The best idea I have had was conceived over a few years, piecing together different parts of it sporadically when my mind came back to it. Often just one idea by itself won't solve the whole problem and may be pointless.

Capture it
When an idea, or a piece of an idea arrives in my mind, its best to capture it. How many odd thoughts do you have over the course of a day? Can you remember any of them now? How many have you forgotten? It's the same with ideas, your brain is good at generating them but not retaining them. Find some sort of capture device: paper by the bed, a notebook in the back pocket, a mental association to remember it later or try a mindmap. Later write up your idea in an 'Inventor's Logbook'.

Sometimes Ignorance Is Bliss
Often what are perceived as the 'really hard problems' are left unsolved because an expert has decided that its too hard to solve. This expert has essentially denied anyone the ability to solve the problem. However looking at the problem without being trapped in the expert's mind frame allows creativity which would not otherwise be possible. The bottom line is have a healthy disregard for the impossible, but don't be detached from reality.

Let it Grow
This relates to my second point: ideas don't come in a flash. Don't let an idea escape you just because you currently think it has no use, doesn't quite work or is stupid. Capture it, and then carry on. Sometimes what you write down and capture will be stupid, not quite work or have no use, and thats okay. However other ideas with a little time may turn out to be brilliant. The same idea may solve a totally different application perfectly, or with an extra tweak may provide a factor of 10 improvement on whats available today.

Constraints Enhance Creativity
Maybe somewhat opposite to the first point: 'There's no pressure'. In the right, stress free, environment constraints will multiply creativity exponentially. It forces the brain to examine many different alternatives, often improving elements of the idea which were overlooked and had nothing to do with the constraint.

Hopefully you can offer some great examples of any of these points, or more tips.

The purpose of this blog

When posting to this blog I hope to accomplish the following:

• Let people know where I'm up to
• Describe the Entrepreneurial journey for a student
• Post useful information for other Entrepreneurs

To this end I will be building up a search which only indexes the sites I've found most useful, using Google Coop. Click here to goto the search page or use the box which appears on the top right of this blog.

Now when you search for 'grant', only links related to entrepreneurs will appear. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Kauffman Global Scholars Program, how it began

On 22 March 2006, in UK Chancellor Gordon Brown's Budget speech he mentioned that Enterprise and Entrepreneurship would be given a new focus by the government. One way this would happened is a partnership between the NCGE and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation in America. The partnership would allow 20 of the UK's top University minds the opportunity to find out about Entrepreneurship in America, with the intention of starting their own business' when they arrive back in the UK. This program was being called the NCGE-Kauffman Entrepreneurship Fellowship (quite a mouthful!)
For more info see this document

At the time I was totally oblivious to the goings on of Parliament and the NCGE. I was studying Electronics with Management in the 3rd year of a 4 year degree at York University. However around the beginning of May York University had been given the opportunity to nominate 2 candidates for the NCGE Kauffman year. Tony Ward, the head of Enterprise at York University, had asked for nominations of potential candidates from Supervisors around the University.

Out the the blue I was sent an email telling me that I had been nominated, by a lecturer I didnt know. I then recieved a second email from that lecturer to say that he hadn't nominated me but all the best with the application. This unexpected (and possibly unintended) nomination for a course I had never heard about proved to be the best opportunity I had ever recieved. I wasn't going to let it go.

Students can only apply to this program if they have a technological based business idea and a background in the Sciences or Engineering. Places are awarded to students who have this background and business idea, but they also need to have energy and drive and the desire to want to promote Enterprise back in the UK. Having gone through an intensive application and interview stage I am now one of 17 students from universities around the UK to be accepted onto the program as a Fellow.

The program is divided into two sections: 3 months in the UK and 6 months in America. The time in the UK is spent preparing for America; the time in America is spent taking intensive training courses in business, developing contacts, and an internship in a business which is in the same field as the business plan the Fellow has.

In the UK Fellows meet each other and share experiences. Each Fellow has a mentor and access, through the NCGE, to many contacts and resources which would not ordinarily be available. Each Fellow is at a different point in their business creation, and so each Fellow has different targets for when they reach America. I found myself to be the least progressed out of all the Fellows, which puts me in an incredible position to learn from everyone.

America is filled with opportunities for making contacts, learning from the most prestigious institutes and developing the business closer to reality. The time in America is broken down as follows:

• 5 weeks in Kansas City, Missouri, intensive course in business at the Kauffman Foundation.
• 1 week in Silicon Valley, learning at Stanford University and speaking to people throughout the valley
• 2 weeks in Boston, learning at the Harvard Business School.
• 12 weeeks placement with a company in the field of my business idea.
• 1 week reunion in Kansas City where Fellows share their experiences then go back to the UK.

This is the first time a program like this has been run by the Kauffman Foundation (not even students in America have had this opportunity). The Kauffman Foundation plan to run the same scheme for many different countries and because of this have decided to call it the 'Kauffman Global Scholars Program'.

What an opportunity! My only aim is to make the most of it.