Page 116 - 100 Great Business Ideas: From Leading Companies Around the World (100 Great Ideas)

57/31. ROLLING IN THE GRASS OF IDEAS

This technique involves collecting as much material as you
can about the problem at hand in an easily readable form—
for example, summaries of related articles and hooks, the
experiences of others, ideas that others have given you, and
competitors' actions. You read through this material as rap-
idly as you can in one sitting. Then you ask yourself what it
all means. Are there any patterns? If so, what do they sug-
gest? What solutions pop into your head?

This technique is especially useful for solving management
or technical problems, writing talks, articles or papers, or
book chapters, and creating models of situations. It is the
volume of ideas that can be asso-
ciated with each other that makes
this technique work.

The name of this technique came
from watching my two Irish setters,
Misty and Macintosh. We've all
seen dogs roll on their backs in the
grass. Misty and Macintosh
would also roll on their backs in . 1\)
notes, articles, or manuscript pages ly-
ing on the floor of my office. One day I told students in my
innovation class how I sometimes get ideas for articles, books,
products, management problems, and other problems by
reading through as much material as possible related to the
problem at hand. I described how excited I get with all those
ideas running through my head, and how insights seem to
pop into my head as a result. The analogy to my dogs' be-
havior was a natural: I am rolling in the grass of ideas.

SUMMARY OF STEPS

1. Collect information about your problem, making notes in an eas-
ily readable form.

2. Read through all of your notes in one sitting so that all the ideas
are in your brain at one time.

3. Allow natural incubation to occur and see what ideas develop.

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