Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Breakthrough Methods

"14 Ways to get Breakthrough Ideas"

The article “14 Ways to get Breakthrough Ideas” is about innovation and the importance of it and different ways to get innovative ideas. Mitch Ditkoff uses the article to show fourteen different ways that this can happen to a person. There were three suggestions that caught my eye; Follow Your Fascination, Fantasize, and Take a Break. Out of these three I find two to be very good suggestions and one not so helpful. Altogether the article does help with how to get innovative ideas.
            The idea to follow your fascination is a good idea because the more a person likes something the more likely they are to work hard on it. The article explains that fascination is the way to get a person’s attention for the first time and this is very true. When working on a homework paper about the history of the War of 1812 a person is less likely to be enthused and ready to right unlike if they are writing a paper about their favorite movie. By using this idea I would be able to pick out something such as maybe candy because it is something that excites me and when creating a new type of candy I may have some expertise because I know a lot about what flavors go well together. Fascination is also a way to keep your attention because fascination is what gets people involved in things. Without a fascination people do not get involved in the first place. So not only will fascination spark an interest and get the juices flowing but it will also keep a person satisfied and make them keep working on their innovation until it is the best it can be. Just by following your fascination a person has a beginning to the innovation process.
            When Ditkoff makes the suggestion to fantasize I have to disagree with him. As much as fantasizing is fun I know that whenever I start fantasizing not only do I not stay on the same topic for more then a minute and I almost never remember what I had been fantasizing. Fantasizing has been called a bad thing and not been encouraged for a reason. Usually when fantasizing occurs nothing actually happens because of it, it is really just a person’s brain going on a break and going on autopilot. Even if there are breakthrough ideas that are thought of while fantasizing I do not find it likely that the person will remember it when it is time to put the innovation down on paper or even if they did, it is most likely not going to be as a good of an idea as they thought it was at the time.
            Ditkoff did have a very good suggestion though, to take a break. I know that there have been many times that I have been working on a paper or studying for a test and just sat there staring at for what seemed like hours. Finally I would take a break and then it would happen I would be reenergized and have my creative juices flowing. Just as Ditkoff said the more obsessions and thinking the more likely you are to just keep coming up with the same ideas. Every time there is a standardized test given they don’t just give each test right after the other, they always give a break to stretch your legs, eat a snack, or just use the bathroom. All of these things help the students give their brains a break so they are fresh reenergized and ready to start a new test. The best thing to do is to take a break, stop obsessing, and return when ready to take a fresh look at the problem.
            At this time I have an idea to create a new candy. In a way I can maybe go out, get supplies to start trying to make candy. I could also start thinking of types of candy I want to make. I could decide if I want it to be chocolate or fruity, sweet or sour, and so many other decisions. If instead of telling myself this was a dumb idea and I actually went out and bought the supplies I would be much more likely to actually start working on my idea instead of just wanting to work on the idea.
            All of Ditkoff’s fourteen ways may be able to help someone become more innovative. They each have their own qualities that would be able to help each person has there own ways that they will come up with there own innovations. By using these tricks it will give people help when coming up with innovations, which is what the main point of the article was. 

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