How To Come Up With Good Ideas | Mark Rober | TEDxYouth@ColumbiaSC

Summary

The speaker candidly discusses the common query about generating creative ideas, debunking the myth that creativity is an innate gift. Drawing from personal experiences, including a viral Halloween costume and a YouTube channel, the speaker outlines three steps to foster creativity: cultivating curiosity, embracing the iterative process of hard work and prototyping, and acknowledging the role of luck in the creative journey. The talk encourages viewers to be persistent, observe keenly, and trust the process to unlock their own creative potential.

Takeaways

• 🤔 The importance of curiosity in fostering creativity: The speaker emphasizes the need to be curious and observe the world around us, much like children do, to generate creative ideas.
• 🎭 The myth of innate creativity: Creativity is not a fixed trait but a skill that can be developed, similar to a muscle that can be strengthened with practice.
• 📚 Learning from history: The speaker draws a parallel to the ancient city of Alexandria, highlighting the value of accumulating knowledge as a foundation for creativity.
• 👶 Embracing a childlike approach: The speaker admires the creativity of children and suggests that maintaining this perspective can lead to innovative thinking.
• 🏗️ Building and testing: The 'marshmallow challenge' example illustrates the value of constructing and experimenting early and often to achieve a successful outcome.
• 💡 Observing the unexpected: The story of the microwave oven's invention shows how observing unusual occurrences can lead to significant discoveries.
• 🛠️ The necessity of hard work: Creativity involves a lot of trial and error, and the willingness to work hard and persevere through failures.
• 🎨 The iterative process of creation: Great designs, like those from Apple, are the result of numerous prototypes and refinements.
• 🦄 The role of luck in creativity: While skill is important, there is an element of luck or serendipity in the creative process that should be acknowledged.
• 🌟 Trusting the process: The speaker encourages trusting the creative process, even when it involves many failures, as it increases the chances of success.
• 📈 The power of persistence: The speaker concludes by asserting that everyone has more creativity than they might think, and that persistence is key to unlocking it.

Q & A

What is the main question the speaker attempts to address in the script?

The speaker attempts to address the question of how to come up with creative ideas, which they often find difficult to answer.

What was the speaker's Halloween costume three and a half years ago that went viral?

The speaker's Halloween costume was an iPad attached to the front and back, making it look like they had a hole in their body when using FaceTime.

What was the concept the speaker developed while working as a NASA engineer?

The concept was a product from a company called Digital Duds, where a video played on a phone could be slid into a shirt to create a cheap and simple augmented reality experience.

What did the speaker learn from their experience with Digital Duds?

The speaker learned that they enjoyed the feeling of putting something creative out into the world and receiving feedback, which led to the idea of sharing a creative idea on YouTube every month.

How many views and subscribers did the speaker's YouTube channel have at the time of the script?

The YouTube channel had over 42 million views and around 100,000 subscribers.

What is the 'marshmallow challenge' mentioned in the script?

The marshmallow challenge is an activity where participants are given spaghetti, tape, string, and a marshmallow, and are tasked with building the tallest tower with the marshmallow on top within 18 minutes.

Why do kindergartners often outperform adults in the marshmallow challenge?

Kindergartners often outperform adults because they start building immediately, without a power struggle for leadership, and they test their structures with the marshmallow early and often, allowing them to iterate and improve their design.

What is the speaker's view on the nature of creativity?

The speaker believes that creativity is not an innate gift, but rather a muscle that can be developed through curiosity, hard work, and the willingness to get lucky.

What historical example does the speaker use to illustrate the importance of curiosity in creativity?

The speaker uses the example of the ancient city of Alexandria, where soldiers would forcibly copy books from incoming ships, leading to a vast accumulation of knowledge and fostering an environment of curiosity and innovation.

What advice does the speaker give for increasing one's creativity?

The speaker advises being curious, working hard by building and testing ideas early and often, and understanding that there is an element of luck involved in the creative process.

What is the significance of the speaker's experiment with rubber snakes and turtles by the roadside?

The experiment demonstrates the speaker's curiosity and the importance of testing hypotheses, as well as the unpredictable nature of people's reactions, which can be a source of creative inspiration.

Outlines

00:00

🎭 Embracing Creativity: From Viral Video to Invention

The speaker shares their journey of creativity, starting with a humorous Halloween costume that went viral, leading to the realization of the joy of creation and public appreciation. They recount their experience as a NASA engineer and the side project that became Digital Duds, a cost-effective way to play videos on clothing. This endeavor sparked the beginning of a YouTube channel, which has since garnered significant attention. The speaker also briefly introduces several creative ideas featured on the channel, emphasizing the importance of curiosity and creativity in their process.

05:01

🔍 The Curiosity Catalyst: Observing for Innovation

This section delves into the importance of curiosity as a foundational element of creativity. The speaker references the ancient city of Alexandria's voracious appetite for knowledge, which led to significant advancements by scholars like Euclid and Archimedes. The narrative continues with the story of Percy Spencer's accidental invention of the microwave oven, illustrating how observation can lead to innovation. The speaker encourages maintaining a childlike sense of wonder and questions the common belief that creativity is an innate gift, suggesting instead that it is a skill that can be developed.

10:01

🏗️ Building Through Failure: The Marshmallow Challenge

The speaker discusses the 'Marshmallow Challenge,' a creative exercise that highlights the benefits of early and frequent testing. They contrast the approach of adults, who often delay testing until late in the process, with that of kindergartners, who test continuously, leading to more successful outcomes. The speaker emphasizes the value of hard work, iteration, and learning from failure, using examples from successful inventors like Thomas Edison and James Dyson, who had numerous failed prototypes before achieving success.

15:02

🎰 The Role of Luck in Creativity: Trusting the Process

In the final paragraph, the speaker addresses the concept of luck in the creative process, drawing on the Roman interpretation of 'genius' and the modern understanding of creativity. They argue that while skill and hard work are essential, there is an element of fortune that cannot be controlled. Citing examples from 'Good to Great' and personal anecdotes, the speaker encourages trusting the creative process and persevering through failure, as it increases the chances of encountering luck and achieving breakthrough ideas.

Keywords

💡Creativity

Creativity in the video is portrayed as a skill that can be developed rather than an innate talent. It is central to the speaker's message that anyone can cultivate creativity through curiosity and effort. The video uses personal anecdotes and historical references to illustrate how creativity has been perceived and developed over time, emphasizing that it is not a fixed trait but a 'muscle' that can be strengthened.

💡Curiosity

Curiosity is defined as an eagerness to learn or know something, which is presented as the first step to fostering creativity. The speaker highlights its importance by referencing ancient practices in Alexandria and modern examples like the invention of the microwave oven. Curiosity is shown as a driving force behind discovery and innovation, with the video suggesting that maintaining a childlike sense of wonder can enhance one's creative potential.

💡Innovation

Innovation is the process of translating an idea or invention into a good or service that creates value. The video discusses innovation through the lens of Apple's design philosophy and the speaker's own experiences with creating new products. It suggests that innovation often involves challenging the status quo and finding novel solutions to existing problems, as exemplified by the idea of a microwave with an infrared lens.

💡Prototype

A prototype in the video represents an early sample or model of a product built to test a concept or process. The speaker uses the marshmallow challenge and examples from inventors like Thomas Edison and James Dyson to illustrate the iterative nature of innovation, emphasizing the importance of building and testing multiple versions to refine an idea.

💡Iteration

Iteration refers to the process of repeating a process with the aim of improving upon it. The video uses the concept of building prototypes to explain how iteration is crucial in the creative process. It suggests that through continuous testing and refining, one can achieve a successful outcome, as demonstrated by the success of the kindergartners in the marshmallow challenge.

💡Luck

Luck is presented as an element of the creative process that is often overlooked but plays a significant role in success. The speaker discusses the idea that while skill and hard work are important, there is also an element of chance involved in creative endeavors. The video encourages the audience to 'trust the process' and persist despite setbacks, as luck may eventually favor the prepared mind.

💡Observation

Observation is the act of watching or monitoring a situation or phenomenon. In the context of the video, observation is the first step in the scientific method and a key component of creativity. The speaker uses historical examples and personal stories to show how paying attention to the world around us can lead to new insights and ideas, such as the accidental discovery of the microwave oven.

💡Experimentation

Experimentation is the practice of conducting scientific tests or trials to discover something or test a hypothesis. The video script includes the speaker's own experiment with rubber animals to study drivers' reactions, illustrating how experimentation can lead to new understandings and creative insights, even if the results are not as expected.

💡Feedback

Feedback in the video is depicted as the responses or reactions received from others when sharing creative work. The speaker discusses the importance of feedback in the creative process, as it provides validation and a sense of appreciation for one's creative efforts. The video suggests that feedback can be a powerful motivator to continue creating and improving.

💡Patent

A patent is a form of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period. The video mentions the speaker's experience of getting a patent for a creative idea involving a microwave, which underscores the value of formalizing and protecting creative ideas.

💡YouTube Channel

A YouTube channel in the video serves as a platform for the speaker to share creative ideas with a wider audience. The channel's growth in views and subscribers exemplifies the impact of sharing creativity and the potential for ideas to resonate with many people. It also demonstrates the power of digital platforms in amplifying creative work.

Highlights

Started a YouTube channel after a viral Halloween costume video.

Created a $20 shirt with a phone video to simulate a digital effect for Halloween costumes.

Discussed the value of receiving feedback and appreciation for creative efforts.

Gained over 42 million views and 100,000 subscribers on the YouTube channel.

Demonstrated innovative ideas such as ghetto bullet time using a GoPro on a ceiling fan.

Showcased a thermal signature trick using an infrared camera to see keypad inputs.

Explained a no-mess watermelon smoothie idea using a coat hanger and drill.

Used the front-facing camera on a phone to capture monkey reactions at the zoo.

Highlighted the importance of curiosity and observing the world to generate ideas.

Mentioned historical practices like the Library of Alexandria copying books for knowledge.

Referenced the invention of the microwave by Percy Spencer as a result of observation.

Emphasized the importance of maintaining a child-like curiosity.

Quoted Johnny Ive on always questioning design and looking at objects differently.

Described how Apple steps back to find new solutions and innovate.

Shared a personal invention of a microwave with an infrared lens for visual cooking.

Described the Marshmallow Challenge and how kindergarteners consistently outperform adults.

Emphasized the importance of early and frequent testing in the creative process.

Mentioned the iterative process of successful inventors like Thomas Edison and James Dyson.

Shared an experiment testing driver behavior towards snakes and turtles on the road.

Highlighted the randomness and luck involved in the creative process.

Discussed hindsight bias and how humans create narratives from random events.

Encouraged trusting the process and persistence in creative endeavors.

Concluded that everyone is more creative than they believe, with emphasis on curiosity, hard work, and luck.

Transcripts

so I'm going to attempt today to answer

a question I get asked a lot and I

always just sort of have a sucky

response to it and the question is this

how do you come up with your ideas so

disclaimer I'm not claiming to be some

amazing creative genius right I am one

data point but maybe something I can say

from my experience can maybe help you in

something you do in your life and the

reason I could ask this as mentioned was

three and a half years ago this was my

Halloween costume and I had an iPad on

the front and back if you do a FaceTime

chat it looks like you have a hole in

your body which is cool right my

favorite part of the costume was that at

the Halloween cut pot party you're at is

a little bit lame could always play

Angry Birds so as we kind of have this

mic so basically put that video out it

went sort of viral three million views

overnight front page of CNN the main

complaint though is like cool idea bro

but I don't have $1200 for Halloween

costume so basically my challenge was to

come up with like a cooler Halloween

costume that wasn't quite as expensive

right and so while working my day job as

a NASA engineer on the Curiosity rover

that was like three months before we

send it to Mars at night I was working

on this this concept right and so I

called the company digital duds and so

this is kind of how it works so you play

a video on your phone and you slide it

into like a shirt so it's a really cheap

it yeah sorry it's kind of big it's a

really inexpensive implementation of

this concept right you buy $20 shirt and

it's a free app yeah apologize that's

very large and so the thing that I

learned basically from this experience

is that I like this feeling of putting

something out there and having people

see it and sort of getting that feedback

and making it feel like you know your

creative efforts were appreciated so I

decided every month I would try and put

out a YouTube video about a creative

idea and so we started a YouTube channel

and now it has like it's way more than

we first thought it's like 42 million

views on the site and like 100

thousand subscribers which is supercool

certainly no cutie pie but it's but it's

an exciting opportunity and so here are

just a couple of real quick ideas that

we put on the channel so this is like

you put a GoPro on a ceiling fan upside

down it's like ghetto bullet time from

like the matrix right so this is just a

GoPro that's spinning around you play

the footage back it has this really cool

looking effect or this is if you put the

FLIR like an infrared on the front of an

iPhone I'm actually stealing this

woman's pin here because I figured out

that certain keypads if you touch the

keypad it leaves behind a thermal

signature so you can see where they

touched right and so I put this video

out saying like dude bad guys can use

this simple solution is just rub your

hand across all the keys when you're

done and then it leaves like a

meaningless thermal signature another

idea is a no-mess watermelon smoothie

right so you just get a coat hanger to

drill it's really refreshing and

slightly creepy

stumbled upon that one

and finally this idea if you use the

front-facing camera on your phone and

then take it to the zoo and put it like

in front of the monkey exhibit the

monkeys see it and they're really

interested so you get this really cool

footage with just a dumb phone right and

before you get all smug and laugh at the

monkeys I actually repeated this

experiment on higher order primates as

well so some of the videos have sound

too so if we could just turn the sound

up a little bit it's fine but in the

future thank you um so going back full

circle how do you come up with your

ideas I think what people are really

asking when they ask this is how can I

come up with more good ideas like how do

I be more creative because there's this

there's this myth and I like it because

it's tackles of Smith head-on that you

know people are either creative or

you're not like it's some gift bestowed

from on high either you have good ideas

or you don't and that's not true in my

opinion curiosity or creativity is sort

of like a muscle you develop so for the

next couple minutes I want to just talk

about like how you develop that muscle

basically so there's three steps that

I've kind of feel like I figured out for

step one we're going to go to the

ancient city of Alexandria 300 BC they

did something interesting here whenever

a ship went into their port they would

board it forcefully but the soldiers

weren't looking for gold or spices and

one of their books they would take the

books in the library and they would copy

them and as a result they got this

amazing knowledge this database it's

like you know Wikipedia of 3300 BC of

just all these experiences of people

across the world and we had people like

Euclid and Archimedes who study there

and they had incredible advancements

because of this approach they were

really curious about the world around

them they observed it and they try to

solve these you know these problems

there's this this quote that I really

like the most exciting phrase to hear in

science the one that heralds new

discoveries is not Eureka but that's

funny and and the and the key to all

good adventures if you think about it

even the scientific method

first step is observation it starts with

observing the world around you a great

example of this is the microwave oven

this was first invented by a guy named

Percy Spencer and he was working on a

radar tube

he had a mr. Goodbar in his pocket and

all the sudden the thing melted which

seems incredibly dangerous now that we

know about microwaves but he saw this

thing melt and he's like well that's

weird like that's funny he had that one

of those that's funny moments and so he

observed that and went back and did some

research and figured out what was going

on and from that we got the microwave so

the first step I think in the way to be

more creative is to be curious and if

you think about the most like creative

group of people on earth I think it's

probably kids like my son could take a

bucket and just play with it for like

three hours and that's amazing with kids

is because they're always questioning

and looking and observing and making

connections about the world around them

I think that sort of gets beat out of us

like in the school system somehow and by

the time we're your guys age a lot of

people like oh I'm just not creative

right that's not what you said when you

were in kindergarten I think the most

creative people that I know that I

respect are those who've been able to

maintain that kid-like approach and view

of the world Johnny I've is the head

designer at Apple brilliant guy and he

says it's for him it's almost like a

curse when he looks at objects and

designs and stuff he's always asking

like well why is it that way and not

this way it's like you can't turn that

off he's always asking that question an

Apple has this amazing way of making

products there you go that just seemed

different right and this is a great

quote about that the difficulty lies not

so much in developing new ideas as

escaping from old ones and a lot of

times you know you pictured almost like

there's a hill and everyone's trying to

optimize and get to the top of this hill

and Apple sometimes can step back and

just be like well there's another hill

over here that's really big right and so

the hallmark of good design is when

people can look at it and be like wow

like how did how did nobody think of

that before when the design in hindsight

seems really obvious I had an

opportunity like this about a year ago I

was cooking a frozen burrito in my

kitchen and I'm like microwaves have not

changed it felt like

for 40 years I'm like like what could we

do differently as humans rely primarily

on our sense of sight and so I figured

since infrared my infrared lenses are

pretty cheap now it'd be awesome if you

could put your burrito in the microwave

and you could see it cooking right so

you get a heat map on the front of the

microwave you could visually tell what

it was done but it gets better because

you could like put your bowl of soup in

the microwave and then you could like go

upstairs and be working and then after

four minutes it's not quite done you

don't see all white you just like add 30

seconds so it's like a different

approach right and this one actually has

a happy ending because I got a patent on

this and I'm working with like a couple

the big guys to get it into a Walmart

near you so at some point if you ever

see this just buy it I don't care how

much it costs all right just buy it so

that's step one

being curious right so step two I think

look to this thing called the

marshmallow challenge this guy named Tom

Wu Jack does this he's done it over like

70 times and what he does is he gives

people a challenge he's some spaghetti

some tape and some string and a

marshmallow and he says in 18 minutes

why do you build a tallest tower you can

with the marshmallow on top and the

fascinating thing about this he's done

it a bunch of times and there's one

group that consistently beats CEOs

lawyers and businessmen and that group

is kindergartners seriously and the

reason why explains is because you know

the adults look at the situation and

first of all the first three minutes is

like a power struggle who's going to be

the leader right and then once they sort

of figure that out they start building

something but they don't actually put

the marshmallow on until the very end at

like minutes 17 and marshmallows are

deceptively heavy and so then the whole

structure buckles and I'll I have

nothing with like a minute left

whereas kindergarteners by contrast they

just start building right away there's

no power struggle right and

kindergarteners instead is putting

marshmallow on ones on average they put

it on four to five times so about four

minutes into it they're already putting

the marshmallow on top and sort of

testing it and so because of that

because they're sort of testing early

and often they're able to get to a

solution that actually works and it

literally consistently

the board they do better so step two I'm

calling a sort of work hard and for

every like design you see from Apple

right behind the scenes there's like

forty devices prototypes that you never

seen Thomas Edison said he came up with

you know ten thousand light bulbs before

he found one that worked James Dyson the

vendor of like the cyclone thing said he

had five hundred five thousand one

hundred twenty seven failed prototypes

before he had a mic you know a vacuum

that actually sucked like sucked like in

the sense that like it sucked it was

good right that was like a success right

the point is it's like whatever you do

do it like if you're like a sculptor

just sculpt if you if you you know paint

paint a ton if you like photography

don't say I'm just not a creative

photographer just go out and take a ton

of pictures and fail and learn for

basically what you're doing and you know

by doing this you sort of discover you

know you fail and you learn and you get

better it's interesting to know that the

guy who invented the microwave you know

other people had actually had the the

chocolate bar melt in their pocket but

he was the first person to actually do

something about it and actually have

that like kindergarteners approach of

curiosity and trying to figure out what

was going on there

so I actually had an experience where I

kind of implemented steps one into a

little a little while ago where I

remember reading as a kid that if you

know people will swerve more on the road

to hit turtles than they would snakes

which always seemed interesting to me so

I actually ran an experiment so I had

the curiosity and I went out and I

placed by the side of the road

alternating like snakes and turtles

right and then I collected data

in a lab coat so it looked official and

it turns out my hypothesis was wrong so

like actually people did swerve to it

snakes more than turtles but there are

turtle turtle killers amongst us that

got messed up but what's interesting is

that some people really cool like this

lady was really nice she started

throwing plums at my rubber snake you

encouraged it to like get off the road

it didn't move it didn't move in the end

or this guy this guy yeah he was like I

thought he's trying to get the tarantula

safety that's cool but then he just when

he got this car just ran it over anyways

or this guy he was cool like he was

saving the snake I was like that's cool

and he's like oh it's fake I'm gonna

take this home and like give it to my

wife or something and so hey

that's my snake I'm right here trying to

do some science so in hindsight I think

I think my mistake was trying to appeal

to his love of science that was the

disconnect but this is a great example

of like when I told people I did this

that I've released a video of it you

know people who like wait so like you

use you crouch in the bushes for like 10

hours like videoing cars and stuff and

I'm like yeah and for a lot of people

are like you're weird you're crazy but

that's sort of the point like part of

the creative process is just putting in

you know the elbow grease putting in the

time so for step three this is supposed

to be blank you guys so for step three I

think it's important to think about our

concept in general in society of what

creativity is back in people have noted

this but with the Romans we actually get

the word genius from them but to them

what a genius was was like a troll that

lived in your walls and at night when

you like had your piece of art you were

working on it would come out and like

sprinkle like creative dust on your work

of art and this had an interesting

impact because if you were really good

you're kind of humble about it cuz

you're like well I just got a really

good genius you know that lives in my

wall but if your work it's kind of

sucked then you know it's like well what

could you do my genius is kind of lame

right so it's like there's what could

you do and the sort of benefit of

thinking about it this way is it sort of

takes it out you know takes you a little

bit out of it and I think that's the

truth lie somewhere between the way we

think of genius and the way the Romans

did you know I don't believe you know

even partially that there's like little

trolls living in their wall in your

walls but there is important to know

that the part of the creative process is

just about getting lucky there's an

interesting book called good to great

and this author interviewed a bunch of

CEOs and ten of them like supposedly

these companies that will never fail

awesome ones and she tried to find her

he tried to find the common like thread

the thing that connected all of them and

what I appreciated is all ten of them

mentioned that you know

a lot of what happened they just got a

couple lucky breaks like they got some

they got lucky getting certainly there

was some skill involved but a lot of it

had to do with luck and as humans we

don't like that like we try to assign a

reason for stuff there's a there's a

fancy term called hindsight bias which

is when we look back at points that are

actually random we try to connect them

and create a narrative as an example

like if there was 1,024 of us in this

room and I gave each one of you a

quarter I said flip that ten times

statistically one of you would get 10

tails in a row and what happens usually

is the media swoops in and then you know

it's like let's look at Kevin like you

know he got ten tails in a row look at

his flip technique you know and his

fingers and the way his wrist was and

how his elbow and his posture like

that's what we do

it's funny even returning on that point

with good degrade of the ten companies

two of the CEO she profiled for the CEOs

for Circuit City and Fannie Mae because

the book was written like ten years ago

right which we know or I didn't work out

so well so whether you call it like luck

or karma or blessings I think it is

helpful to think there's some part of

this process that's a little bit out of

your control because then if you're

Thomas Edison you've build 9999 you know

light bulbs you don't say I give up

because you realize you trust the

process review james dyson you build

5,000 vacuums it's like trust the

process and keep going and i'm not

saying don't misinterpret of that being

creative is just it's all luck but my

point is is as you are creative and you

observe and you you know question your

world as you work hard and you you build

early and often you increase your

chances of getting lucky you're

basically giving yourself more quarters

to flip so you can get 10 tails in a row

and so my punchline today is that i

believe we are all more like way more

creative than we give ourselves credit

for it's just about understanding the

process so returning full circle how do

you come up with your ideas for the

first time ever the most unsecured

response i've ever given i'm proud to

say the key is to be curious to work

hard and to get lucky thank you

you