Ideas To Give Away
Springwise recently ran an article about a fantastic site called ‘Ideas To Steal. Today’. The guys from who developed this site were stimulated by the thought that a lot great ideas never get up.
It can be timing, it can be poor communication, it can be the right idea, but the wrong context, or a host of other reasons. In agency land, creatives really do experience an emotional roller coaster when they pitch the best of their thinking. If the client rejects the idea, why should the thinking necessarily be assigned to the big idea rubbish bin in the sky?
Hence Ideas To Steal. Today was created. A website where advertising creatives can post their unwanted but nevertheless brilliant ideas and allow fellow creatives (or clients for that matter) to steal them for a chance to actually make them happen. All ideas on this website are free to use, as long as their new co-owners credit the creative(s) who posted the idea. It is the space ideas get a second chance.
What I love about the concept is that it is counter intuitive. We all work at protecting our ideas, rather than giving them away. In creative thinking posing counter intuitive ideas to whatever is the norm is a powerful tool for generating new ideas. It increases the probability of generating impactful lateral thinking.
In fact one of the ideas on the site, is also a great example of intuitive thinking. In a world where everyone is seemingly seeking to maintain a sense of routine and organisation, individuals are turning to scheduling apps that encourage, and help keep track of, various activities and impending tasks. Mobile organisation tactics combine convenient management with a desire for more integrated, yet practical sources of technological engagement. But so often it is all about doing your personal best time, or achieving goals and more and more.
However, how about an app that slows you down to smell the roses. Counter intuitive. This app connects to your Nike Fuel band, but instead of pushing you to move the app urges you to slow down. Take it easy, slow down and relax. There’s so much out there to enjoy. Using the Google API it gives people notifications of things to do nearby. Good food, drinks, art, or just a park to chill out with your friends. The people behind this idea are Kalle Everland and Timo Klaarenbeek – a nice piece of counter intuitive thinking.
Before the end of the day, have a crack at applying counter intuitive thinking to one problem or opportunity in your world and see where it takes you.
Peter Singline
Brand Scientist & Founder