Written by: James ramsden, ECD
A book I have read many times and shared with many fellow creatives over the years is ‘A Technique for Producing Ideas’ by James Webb Young.
This book was handed to me by Neil Svensen, the then part-founder, CEO and CCO of a previous agency I shared almost 15 years with, Rufus Leonard, and it’s stayed with me right through my years with Coley Porter Bell too.
Neil loved this book, and he said something like, “It’ll take one journey on the Tube to read it.”
And he was right. I read it, and I loved it.
In fact, over the years I’ve used the structure as the basis for talks, adapting ways of working processes and encouraging people to understand their approach to idea creation more deliberately.
What’s different about this book is that it doesn’t really define ideation tools and techniques, it helps people understand more clearly how to provide the best conditions for themselves and for others to have, well, great ideas.
So, this leaves me wondering…
• What tools do you use to create ideas?
• Do you have ‘an idea person’ you go to?
• Do you just like to take a walk?
• Do you have a trusted technique?
• Or, do you believe workshops are still the key?
So share with us your techniques for producing great ideas…
We’d love to hear.
