How to have original thought

Is it true that nothing is original anymore? It seems you can’t go online at the moment without people having duplicated or repurposed something for their own use and promotion. I even went to a seminar recently where the speaker advocated plagiarism. But when does this become a problem? Or does it even matter?

Original thought, for me, is absolutely VITAL. Yes, I take inspiration from conversations or the initiatives I see around me but during the vetting or due diligence process (which is often me just mulling something over for a few days), if the idea seems too closely linked to something else I recognise or even know someone else to be developing I steer away and think about new angles and new opportunities to develop.

But why does it matter?

It matters to me because I should try harder to make my offering, ideas and initiatives unique to me. It is important that I innovate and challenge myself to be the best version of myself and really put my skillset to use. But secondly and more importantly, my audience deserves someone original and capable of unique thought.

Example… I have a list of clients. If I am incapable of original thought, how can I look at their business or brand and help them have original unique ideas that harness and propel their USP? I’d surely turn up and regardless of their business churn out the same suggestions and advice to them. How valuable is that? It’s not. It’s just creating lots of versions of the same thing, who can in-turn similarly saturate the market and make the business world even more stagnant. Boring. We need original ways of doing things to shake things up, keep things fresh and move us forward.

How to have original ideas?

Choose an inspiring environment that enables you to think openly and creatively. Go to different places too.
Think about an area you’d like to develop and then write all the problems down. The best ideas come from solutions to problems.
Stay off social… well at least for the idea generation part. We think social is inspiring, but it is often quite draining, and we can get lost in black holes of other peoples’ ideas.
Have a tonne of ideas. Get them all out and on paper. A good idea here is having a notepad by the bed; inspiration can strike at any time.
Consider the angles. How could you do something different and put a spin on something old?
Trust a few people but do tell people. You’d be amazed at the number of people I tell and get an opinion from. And not just in the business world. My ideas are richer from the inputs of others. I am not afraid to learn.
Think about how your ideas and how they align to “brand you.” It is absolutely key that you really feel passionate about it, not that you think it will make you a buck.
Do your due diligence. Before you get carried away, make sure this is actually original, and you don’t look totally oblivious to our network.
Forecast. You might have a shift change moment and launch a new initiative that takes you in a totally new direction, have you thought about the implications of this? Will it confuse your current offer or audience? Will you end up with loads of different types of clients?
Could you do it? So get off your ass as Brad Burton would say and actually do the idea, and do it REALLY WELL.

Original thought might be tough, it might seem hard to think of original ideas, and they might be harder to implement because someone before you hasn’t shown you the way. But it shows everyone around you and who might be looking at you as a possible business client or collaborator that you are intelligent, creative and unique.

Get creative people!