We reviewed all of the readings, including Gladwell’s article on the history of television, as well as the “They all laughed” chapters on Microwaves, Light-bulbs and Electricity.
Key points:
- Ideas are messy. We discussed how reading about how ideas were actually developed is much different than we’re generally taught to believe – it’s never simple, straighforward, or easy.
- Ideas take time to develop into products. The timelines for light bulbs, airplanes, the television and the post it note were years, and it involved many different kind of ideas and problem solving at different levels of thinking.
We also watched a segment from the HBO special, “From the earth to the moon” (Episode 5: Spider) which highlighted how ideas are developed in organizations – showing how fluid and collaborative engineering complex things (like spaceships or software) can be.
Next week: We’ll cover critiquing, good pitchwork and more stories of idea history.
October 18, 2006 at 10:01 pm
One take-away I got from the HBO special was how the model they built added another dimension to their idea generation process. They were able to move parts and visualize problems, ideas and solutions better. It’s good to remember that people generate ideas in different ways – some verbally, some written and some through visual expression – and build brainstorming sessions that accommodate/encourage them all.