James Webb Young
Tecnica per Produrre Idee

LA RECENSIONE

One of the most recurring nightmares for writers, engineers, artists, or even simple managers is the fear of "running out of ideas."

So it was that in 1940, James Webb Young, a renowned American advertising creative, compiled a short guide that explains in a few pages (about 35 if we exclude the introduction and various bla bla) a precise process for "producing ideas". A cult book, which has become a kind of Bible for those dealing with creativity in general (now in its 22nd edition and translated into 40 countries worldwide!!).

Young's insight is that ideas are never 100% "original" by themselves but are nothing more than a multi-level elaboration of ideas already developed by others and sedimented in our brain. Ideas are thus elaborated through analogy, paradoxes, metaphors, aphorisms, symbolisms, until they are formulated through contradictions, exaggerations, hyperboles, all easily connectable to each other according to the schemes presented here and easily applicable.

The secret, therefore, is to turn on the right switch at the right time.

But what is the most important characteristic to define an IDEA as such? An idea, first and foremost, must be "relevant" to the problem at hand; it must have characteristics of simplicity, immediacy, impact, and... memorability. And it doesn't necessarily mean that an idea arises from hours and hours of elaboration and application in front of a blank screen. Quite the opposite!

Most of the time, it takes just a micro-connection, a sort of short-circuit between a thought and the observation of something seemingly insignificant to... open a breakthrough of intuitions and allow the brain to formulate a new and original concept.

Going from the idea to its commercialization and sale is another story. One must admit that without a valid marketing structure and someone to handle the promotion and sale, even today, the likes of Steve Jobs, Oliviero Toscani, Maurizio Cattelan, Renzo Piano, Stefano Benni, Giorgio Armani, and the like might not have ever come to the fore with just the power of their ideas...