You have thousands of ideas every day.
So many, and so often, that you take it completely for granted. Some of them are ideas that no mind has ever had before. How many of those could make you money? How many valuable ideas do you lose forever because you don’t write them down? Whether you can answer those questions or not, the fact is this: you need a fast and easy way to record your brain's most valuable thoughts. |
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And here it is.
MY DISCLAIMER: You can record ideas using any model at all. I developed this model to maximise the effort to reward ratio of producing the idea record. I use this model every day, and it's been instrumental in capturing a large enough volume of ideas that I am able to pick the ones I like most to create fun and revenue-generating side projects from them. This is something anyone can do, and banking ideas is a key part of it.
Now onto the model. It's got 3 parts.
MY DISCLAIMER: You can record ideas using any model at all. I developed this model to maximise the effort to reward ratio of producing the idea record. I use this model every day, and it's been instrumental in capturing a large enough volume of ideas that I am able to pick the ones I like most to create fun and revenue-generating side projects from them. This is something anyone can do, and banking ideas is a key part of it.
Now onto the model. It's got 3 parts.
1. Observation |
Example Observations |
This is where you describe the key observation you made. It might be a problem or an inefficiency or something non-existent that would be more useful if it existed.
For this one you think critically! You must be clear what the point of the issue is. If someone asked “What’s the benefit of this idea?” you point to the Observation and say “Because it changes this.” |
A problem
Observation: The only chewing gum products available to me are too soft. I want to work my jaw muscles properly when I chew gum. An inefficiency Observation: Writing a full grocery list manually every week is time consuming. It should be more automated. Something new Observation: There’s no online quiz that asks you “What do you like more?” a bunch of times to help me identify the colours, shapes, corners, drop shadows, fonts, and other stuff that it outputs into a comprehensive CSS file you can plug straight into your website without having to learn CSS. |
2. Opportunity |
Example Opportunities |
This is where you describe what could happen to solve the problem, make the improvement, or do something that’s never been done.
For this one you think imaginatively! You need to honestly describe an effective solution. This is the exciting part of the idea! If someone asked “What can we do about the problem?” you point to the Opportunity and say “This is the solution.” |
A problem
Opportunity: I should learn how gum is made and what it’s made from, and make a firmer gum of my own that will properly exercise my jaw muscles. I could then produce and sell, or license the recipe commercially for other people to benefit from. An inefficiency Opportunity: I could set up sensors into my fridge that update an online list when particular foods and liquids are depleted by a certain amount. In doing so, my grocery list becomes automated for every food and drink I have a sensor and dedicated place for. Something new Opportunity: Someone with the capability to code should make that online quiz. I could design it and pay someone to code it. |
3. Objective |
Example Objectives |
This is where you specify what you want to get out of this idea. How can it create value for you?
For this one you think selfishly! If someone asked “What’s in it for you?” you point to the Observation. And maybe smirk a little bit. Why is this step important? Because it's what brings you back to the idea. It's what motivates you to act. If you desire something: recognition, a feeling of having accomplished something, pride at having created something new, or just plain old money, then you're likely to do something to achieve it. If there's not a very clear reward for you, the idea will never be realised through effort. |
A problem
Objective: Get a life supply of quality gum that I can make in my kitchen easily. Sell my recipe to a major manufacturer. An inefficiency Objective: Have a fully automated grocery list in my phone that I don’t even have to spend time thinking about. Fully document my system spec and license the technology to “smart appliance” manufacturers. Something new Objective: Create a widely useful “software as a service” CSS generator for non coders. Charge for use, give it away free, or monetise it some other way. |
And that's it!
That’s your new system for recording your ideas. These records aren’t going to be big, until you flesh them out and write in the details: crossing the threshold from an IDEA to a DESIGN.
You can create a Google Drive document for each idea. Very useful if you want to create an Idea Bank you can browse any time you’re inspired to work on something you find interesting! Also gives you space to add details to develop the idea into a design, and write up the development plan.
Or just jot them into a note-taking app on your phone, or a notebook, and keep them there.
The beauty of this system is that it’s so concise that you can even write an idea on the back of your hand if you just need to get it down fast! Memory is fickle -- don’t ever believe your brain when it tells you “this idea is so good I’ll never forget it!” The fact is, without regular thought-cycling, your brain can and will forget anything... even a million dollar idea!
Feel like giving an idea away? Write an idea on public bathroom wall, and you might just create the most high-value graffiti ever published. Or you can Tweet it with the tag #FreeIdea and maybe someone else will benefit from your genius!
Whatever you do with your ideas, record them with Observation, Opportunity, and Objective. When you come back to them after 12 years they will still be perfectly intelligible and unambiguous in their context, their benefit, and their value to you.
This idea recording model is really just condensed common sense: All ideas are based on a key observation, like a personal problem, or a market gap, or an inefficiency. All new ideas have an opportunity to do something different and new. And all ideas can be assigned (by you) an objective so you can use the opportunity to gain value (i.e. get what you want).
Or create value for others (i.e. give someone else what they want).
Or both (i.e. everyone gets what they want).
You have that power. So use it! No more wasting ideas.
Thanks for learning!
Michael
You can create a Google Drive document for each idea. Very useful if you want to create an Idea Bank you can browse any time you’re inspired to work on something you find interesting! Also gives you space to add details to develop the idea into a design, and write up the development plan.
Or just jot them into a note-taking app on your phone, or a notebook, and keep them there.
The beauty of this system is that it’s so concise that you can even write an idea on the back of your hand if you just need to get it down fast! Memory is fickle -- don’t ever believe your brain when it tells you “this idea is so good I’ll never forget it!” The fact is, without regular thought-cycling, your brain can and will forget anything... even a million dollar idea!
Feel like giving an idea away? Write an idea on public bathroom wall, and you might just create the most high-value graffiti ever published. Or you can Tweet it with the tag #FreeIdea and maybe someone else will benefit from your genius!
Whatever you do with your ideas, record them with Observation, Opportunity, and Objective. When you come back to them after 12 years they will still be perfectly intelligible and unambiguous in their context, their benefit, and their value to you.
This idea recording model is really just condensed common sense: All ideas are based on a key observation, like a personal problem, or a market gap, or an inefficiency. All new ideas have an opportunity to do something different and new. And all ideas can be assigned (by you) an objective so you can use the opportunity to gain value (i.e. get what you want).
Or create value for others (i.e. give someone else what they want).
Or both (i.e. everyone gets what they want).
You have that power. So use it! No more wasting ideas.
Thanks for learning!
Michael