Inspiration Everywhere

The dullest bulb can inspire the greatest idea.

I’ve always been a firm believer that inspiration can come from anywhere. Looking at someone else’s work in a museum or gallery. Watching someone who has a skill or level of skill you would like to possess. Being part of a community or organization of like minded and focused individuals. Often times however, it is the little connections and sometimes even the complete misses we encounter that can be the most inspirational.

I recently had someone share some information regarding direction for my line of work. The notion was so blatantly wrong that it couldn’t have been further from the actual direction I needed to take. I nearly dismissed the direction, the person, and the very essence of the connective strings that led me exactly to the next steps I would need to take.

When I teach people the benefits of brainstorming the inherent value sometimes can even evade me, a person who prizes himself on looking beyond the obvious information to find the golden nugget that lies hidden beneath the surface. I have told people that some of the best ideas can be inspired by the most narrow minded and off base individuals if we only take the time to sift through what is being said and not simply dismiss it as garbage.

Reserving judgement is the ticket, the thing that allows for an open mind that can see all possibilities to uncover the truly inconceivable that lies beyond the face value of raw information. Sometimes hearing the absurd resets the narrow minded perspective that keeps us from identifying the answers we need.

I have found this tool most valuable in working with the most logical and technical of thinkers. The top percent of people who rigidly believe that they have logically identified all possibilities for a course of action only to stifle themselves and pigeon hole their options. By simply writing something silly down that makes no logical sense they find themselves free to let go and find the answers they are looking for.

As with most things in life, inspiration can be fueled from virtually any source and it is only the truly creative that can utilize the absurd to open their minds and find direction.