To Connect The Dots, We Must Collect The Dots
When magicians workshop ideas with each other, there is an unspoken rule to not share them with anyone else. We do this to protect their ideas from being plagiarized by others. Though sometimes, plagiarism occurs unintentionally.
Sometimes a magician conceives an idea they swear is original, but it was actually inspired by a very similar idea they once heard from someone else… and they had forgotten the interaction.
What I had learned through magic is an idea can stay dormant in your mind for a long time. Sometimes, maybe 10 years down the road, after seeing things from a different perspective, those dots finally connect. That’s why sometimes innovative ideation can feel like happenstance.
The lesson? To become an idea creator, we must first be an idea collector. Because to connect the dots, we must first collect the dots. The more dots your mind stores, the better the chance you can utilize them to create something extraordinary one day.
Magicians read an enormous number of books, attend lectures, and organize jam sessions to continue learning new ideas, collecting new dots.
So if you are iffy about going to that networking event, GO!
If you are on the fence about going to that industry education conference, ATTEND! Those are perfect opportunities to collect ideas.
You don’t have to be an idea creator, you just have to be an ideas collector
