We are always looking to be creative, stand out and be ahead of the game. Mitch Ditkoff’s “14 Ways to Get Breakthrough Ideas” is an article that illustrates how someone can have a better chance of being successful if they implement these ideas into their daily lives. Ditkoff starts off his article by stating that innovation is the true “competitive edge” in business nowadays and that everyone wants to find out how to utilize this fact. He goes on to say that there are generally two schools of thought on obtaining new and exciting ideas; giving examples with the difference between the thought behind “I think therefore I am” and “I am, therefore I think.” Before he goes on to give his 14 ways he concludes in his introduction that this article is worthy because both schools of thought are effective and useful and that if we are willing that these ideas can be helpful to anyone that reads them.
The second idea that Ditkoff explains in his article is the idea of “Immerse.” While he provides evidence that supports the theory that immersing oneself in something will result in better and quicker ideas I have not always had positive experiences when it comes to immersing myself in something. I acknowledge the fact that often times when someone is completely engaged in something that they are likely to come up with new ideas about that subject because they know the most about it, but I also feel the need to point out that sometimes when completely immersed in something it can limit your mind and possibilities. Having a wide variety of interests and knowledge about other subjects and ideas helps leads to creating new things that have never been thought of before and not just stuck focusing on what a person already know about that topic.
A topic that resonated with me in this article was idea number six “Define the Right Challenge.” This idea explains that we do not spend enough time focusing on what we want to come out the situation, they are not capable of finding the problem because they are to busy focusing on the fact that they have no solution. This idea describes that when trying to create something new that “Coming up with the right question is at least half of getting the right answer.” The example of people forgoing a GPS on a trip because they were focused on getting out of town and not to their destination is something that resonated with me. In my own life I can use this example to show me that I may be able to make more trips possible if I actually focus on making it happen then just dwelling on the fact that going on a trip is a challenge.
Another idea that I think is simple and yet effective from this article is number eight, “Take A Break.” At some point in brainstorming you are bound to hit a wall and become stuck. Taking a break is the best way to clear your mind in most cases. Days felt so long in high school because students rarely got breaks. It was no wonder that students are burnt out at the end of the day and sit in a daze the last part of the day. When presented with a problem it is a smart decision to step away from the situation and let new fresh ideas come about in due time. I have found that taking breaks from homework and having time in between classes in college allows me to develop better ideas.
| Chicago | Daughter | Puppy | Music | Strawberry | Airplane | OU | IPod | Window | Couch |
| Eat | Sleep | Drive | Work | Fall | Dance | Yell | Draw | Walk | Call |
| Fast | Cold | Scared | Smart | Little | Young | Fat | Full | Strong | Old |
There are many things in this list that go together such as IPod and music and dance and drive and Chicago and airplane automatically go together in my mind. New connections I found are how a puppy can be strong, young and that you can call a puppy and they will know their name. When I was thinking of these words I would focus on one topic, which would then take me an experience, and then I thought of another word that I could also use, so in my mind lots of these words already go together. Putting together a noun, verb and adjective I thought of “ a daughter can eat and then she will become full,” or “IPods that work now may be considered old soon.” Thinking out of the box and drifting from my personal experiences led to different ideas and thoughts when I was executing this prompt.
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