Forget the Light Bulb Moment. Start an Idea Chain Instead!

Can inspiration happen ‘on demand’? Is the formation of ideas within our control? The answer is “yes!” You can have an abundance of ideas just by understanding the process.

Since the inception of cartoons, ideas have been illustrated as light bulbs that suddenly ping into existence over a character’s head. One moment the character had no idea. The next moment an idea just poofed into existence.

What did we do before light bulbs were invented? No doubt we labelled those events as “eureka moments” thanks to the bathtub inspiration experienced by Archimedes.

And yes, I’ll be the first to agree that light bulb moments happen. It’s a spectacular feeling when something just clicks in your brain and you suddenly realise you’ve got a new plan to try.

But I feel the light bulb moment cliché does us a disservice in multiple ways:

1. It takes the focus away from all the effort done before the light bulb appeared.

2. It makes us feel like ideas happen randomly and there’s little we can do about them.

3. It makes us believe that ideas pop into existence fully formed. No ideas came before them and no refinement is needed after they appear.

These issues make ideas seem like sudden, uncontrollable events that cannot be replicated. That takes the power away from us and attributes it to fate or muses or happenstance. It makes us believe that great ideas happen to other people and that we’re not creative because spectacular ideas don’t happen to us.

That’s all hogwash.

So let’s talk about what really goes into that light bulb moment.

The Initial Input

As mentioned in the post about where ideas come from, ideas form when we provide plenty of informational and experiential input (about the situation and a variety of other topics) and then provide opportunities for that information to connect in our mind. The connections between those pieces of information are where ideas happen.

And yes, sometimes that connection happens with the intensity of a lightning bolt and we sit straight up in bed and just know we’ve found the answer.

But before we got to the answer, we had to spend time with the information. We needed to learn. We needed to experiment.

Yes, Archimedes got his eureka moment in his bathtub. But we must remember all the study and effort he put in before he decided to take a soak!

What connection our brain makes and when it makes it may feel out of our control, but the time we spend exposing our mind to the information and experiences we need to properly understand the topic is within our control.

So if you’re struggling to find an answer to a problem, consider whether more information might provide your brain (a connection-making machine) more to work with.

And consider whether knowledge of an adjacent subject might throw some interesting possibilities into the mix. Often the greatest ideas are connections between unrelated facts.

Building the Chain

As mentioned earlier, the eureka moment cliché gives the impression that ideas bounce fully formed into one’s mind from nothing. And yes, that can happen. Quality information in a brain ready for connections can yield sudden insights.

However, we’re looking for things that are within our control. Eureka moments don’t feel like they’re in our control. But idea chains are.

Remember, ideas form when our brain makes connections. And sometimes that first connection is…disappointing. It’s small. It’s odd. It’s not going to work. It looks…well…silly. It’s not “eureka!” It’s “Oh. Really?” (The English have a term that fits perfectly. “Damp squib.” Referring to a wet firework that fails to explode properly.)

If we don’t understand how ideas work, we give up at the damp squib stage and walk away, figuring we’re not creative or innovative.

But we are creative, we’ve only just started the process. Because your everyday ideas aren’t light bulbs. They are links in a chain. They build on one another.

That damp squib is your entry point. It’s the first connection. It’s the first link and now you’re going to build your chain, but asking “what if?” and asking “then what?” and any other questions that feel relevant.

This is key: no idea is too silly. Not thought too random. Don’t shoot anything down. Just add it to your chain. Let your momentum build. Let the thoughts feed into each other.

This works especially well in team meetings where people feel safe to share ideas, even if the ideas seem unactionable. As a team, you can build the chain! Through this process, your colleagues add thoughts and possibilities and together you build to heights you couldn’t have reached separately.

Understanding that ideas can create chains takes the pressure of coming up with The One Idea to Rule Them All and just allows you to find an entry level where things can naturally grow and progress.

So don’t wait for the light bulb. Start creating a chain.

The Expectation of a Perfect Idea

The light bulb moment cliché makes us believe ideas should arrive with an action plan and marketing concept all ready to go. And if our idea has holes in it, then we’re clearly not doing it right.

Expecting that an idea will pop into existence with no issues whatsoever puts an incredible pressure on our brain (or team) and causes us to rule out the smaller ideas that could grow into a solution if they are further workshopped and built upon.

Ideas form best when we are relaxed, curious, and open to them. If perfection is the barrier to entry, then you’ll be knocking back almost all contenders. You’ll dishearten yourself and your team while blocking potential solutions. Solutions that could have been great if you’d let them reach brainstorming or workshopping stage.

So if an idea appears and it isn’t ideal, can you add it to your chain and allow other ideas to form around it? Innovation is rarely one perfect idea. It’s a succession of ideas that build to reinforce a central thought.

It’s not about having one brainstorming meeting and then you’re done, with a complete plan for the next twelve months. Ideas are needed at all points of development, be it how to solve a bug to how to market a product correctly or how to meet the deadline.

If we think ideas are just light bulbs, that leads us to a scarcity mindset. Ideas happen. We don’t know why or how. We just live in hope the light bulb pops up soon. That’s limits possibilities and limits growth.

If we treat the idea process as chain building, then we can have an abundance of ideas when we choose to create the conditions for them. We don’t create a barrier for entry. We don’t shout down small, silly beginnings. We make room for the process and treat everything with the curiosity it deserves.

If you’d like simple, actionable tips for how to implement this in your workplace, consider signing up for my snappy, practical newsletter The Bright Idea Bulletin which complements this deep dive blog every fortnight.