How to Get Ideas

Most people would agree that to get an idea you must first gather all the necessary information; second, work at finding an idea; and third, forget about it and wait for inspiration to hit. The third part’s easy, but hardly anybody tells you how to do the first two. Worse, nobody tells you how to condition your mind before you set out on your journey. And if your mind isn’t idea-conditioned it doesn’t make any difference if you know the steps; you’ll never reach the ideas you’re capable of creating. For, telling a person who isn’t idea-conditioned how to generate ideas is like telling a person with weak legs how to high jump. How to Get Ideas starts by defining an idea as “nothing more nor less than a new combination of old elements.” Then it uses that definition as a springboard to discuss how to get them. The first seven chapters deal with the things you must do to condition your mind to be ripe and ready for idea creation. These fun but effective methods range from “Be more like a child” to “Screw up your courage.” Chapters 8 through 11 explain, in more specific detail, the actions that you make in order to get an idea, looking at, defining the problem, gathering information, and purposefully “forgetting about it.” Lastly, after developing a methodology for creativity and idea generation, the book goes on to explain how to put your ideas into action. This new edition will additionally include 2 new concepts. One that focuses on how to “rejoice in failure” — showing how one can reframe apparent defeat to be a major generative source for powerful new ideas. The other will explain the importance and the details behind the construction an environment that is ripe for idea creation. 
About the Author Jack Foster spent 35 years working in the creative department of major advertising agencies; the first ten as a writer, the last 25 as a creative director. During the 15 years Foster spent as the executive director of Foote, Cone & Belding in Los Angeles, it grew to be the largest advertising agency on the West Coast. Foster had helped create advertising for over a hundred companies including Carnation, Mazda, Sunkist, Mattel, ARCO, First Interstate Bank, Albertson’s, Oreida, Suzuki, Denny’s, Universal Studios, Rand McNally, and Smokey Bear. He won dozens of advertising awards including being named “Creative Person of the Year” by the Los Angeles Creative Club. For seven years he helped teach an advanced class at USC that was sponsored by the American Association of Advertising Agencies, and for three years he helped teach an extension class at UCLA on creating advertising. He earned a BS in business administration from Northwestern University. He currently lives in Santa Barbara, CA