An analysis of the book “Where good ideas come from”

Copyright © 2020 Teddy Ndhlovu

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Introduction

When we ask “Where good ideas come from?” there is a common belief that

they are born out of eureka moments, but the author gives us a more

descriptive answer to this question suggests that eureka moments rarely

exist and there isn’t a single source of ideas but rather there are a series of

shared patterns and properties that recur to generate different kinds of

innovations. The author calls those patterns the 7 patterns of innovations.

Steven Johnson comes up with one of the most enlightening books when it

comes to innovation- its history and guidelines for the future. From Charles

Darwin’s Natural Selection theory to how FBI agents could have stopped the

9/11 attacks on US soil if they had been “connected,” this book Is

imperative to any person within an avenue that requires innovation.

Published in 201…, at over 300 pages, Steven Johnson gives readers a well-

researched paper that will no doubt shift the thinking of its readers.

The Concept of Innovation

Within the context of this books main aim, it is pertinent that we discover

the meaning of innovation as described by various scholars. This will

provide more understanding as to how innovation is defined by the world

as a whole. From that vantage point, we can then delve into how innovation

actually interacts with the outside world. This book analyzes and discusses

the innovation plights of individuals and business corporations. As such,

this section will discuss both from through the eyes of various scholars.

Innovation before the new millennium was defined mostly in the frame of

creating new products and services (Chipunza, 2014). There was an

emphasis on the company fending of competition through finding new and

improved ways of satisfying customers. Tajedima and Trueman (2008) as

cited by Chipunza (2014) stated that for a company to stay relevant in its

industry it must ensure that the products it offers are better than its

competitors, which requires innovation. Chipunza (2014) states that for a

product/service concept to be an innovation it must “accepted and then

used by clients.” Therein lies the difference between creativity and

innovation, Chipunza adds. Nguyen (2015) defines innovation as

introducing a new product, service or method to the marketplace that

brings value to the customers.

Companies can grow by introducing new products that solve the customer's

problems (Christenssen et al., 2016). Sales are a result of a company

meeting the needs of a customer. Innovation then is about consisting

looking away from the ordinary and constantly looking for ways to better

the current products and services on offer (Bloom et al., 2016), whilst

addressing the needs of the customers and bringing profit to the company

(Duta et al., 2015).

Chpunza (2014) states that many companies survived and grew because of

their ability to adapt to the current business landscape by applying

innovative ideas to better themselves. Many hotels are enjoying a high

number of clients because they provide booking online, according to the

prevailing technological climates. If they were to ignore these advancements

they would shut down as people now use modern concepts that are more

convenient for them. Lind et al (2017) cite Crossan and Apaydin (2010)

define innovation as apply a new process to create a new product. This is

despite the fact that the term has been often used interchangeably with

creativity. Innovation can include both products, services or processes.

Matinde (2014) separates inventions and innovations by stating that an

invention is a new concept that may be a success whereas an innovation

already has commercial success.

Durant (1992) as cited by Matinde (2014) placed innovation in the categories

of incremental and radical. Incremental innovation can be described as

innovations that bring small changes and improvements to products or the

developmental processes of those products. These are normally a result of

specialized systems that are rigid and meant for creating a standardized

product. Radical innovations challenge the current belief systems and ask

the question, why something is done the way it is done. Such innovations

have a major impact on the competitive landscape and lead to immense

changes and shifts in business. O’Connor (2010) adds that radical

innovations create entirely new markets by destroying the existing ones.

Salerno et al (2017) state radical innovations represent a major shift in the

technological landscape that change the way business is conducted and the

way customers receive those products and services. Matinde (2014) states

that radical innovations can achieve groundbreaking success but can also

result in major failure because of their high-risk nature. Matinde (2014) says

that between radical and incremental innovation is a breakthrough

innovation which creates new products that are meet the needs of

customers more than the current products on the market. These have been

shown to create new competitive advantages for organizations as they

change the market.

Schumpeter proposed five types of innovations (Schumpeter, 1934) as cited

from Snyder et al (2016):

a) Introduction of new products (product innovation)

This involves the introduction of an entirely new product to the market that

customers are unaware of. The products are good and should meet the

needs of the customers in a more effective way than before.

b) Introduction of new methods of production (process innovation)

This includes a new method of production and development that is yet to be

fully tested or is tested by not fully experienced. This can be a new

manufacturing machine that is meant to increase production and lower

costs.

c) The opening of new markets (marketing innovation)

This involves the entering of a new market that the firm has not entered

before. This new industry is yet to be experienced, so there are still various

uncertainties.

d) Development of new sources of supply for raw materials or other

inputs (supply chain)

The conquest of a new source of supply of raw materials for half-

manufactured goods, again irrespective of whether this source already

exists or it has first to be created.

e) Creation of new market structures in an industry (business models)

The carrying out of the new organization of any industry, like the creation

of a monopoly position (for example through justification) or the breaking

up of a monopoly position.

10/10 Rule

The idea that it takes a decade to build a new platform and a decade for it to

find a new audience. HDTV is the obvious example. The 10/10 rule states

that new technology often doesn’t have a conducive environment when it

has been fully formed and needs 10 years for the audience to receive it.

Whilst at the same time it takes 10 years for it to get to the stage where it's

fully formed.

The Adjacent Possible

What the adjacent possible tells us is that at any moment the world is capable

of extraordinary change, but only certain changes can happen

Steven Johnson states that ideas often build on what is already available.

The term was coined by the scientist Stuart Kauffman to explain biological

innovation but Steven uses it to show us how it can be used for ideas too.

Anyone might be able to come up with extraordinary ideas but in order for

them to succeed a previous set of ideas or innovations have to pre-exist.

The adjacent possible are those openings that unlock as we create new

stuff.

A great way to see the adjacent possible in action is to think of any web

service that we use and then start going backward. Let’s use Uber as an

example, someone in the 60’s might have thought of a device to order a

taxi, but was it possible to do build that back then? No. That’s an idea which

was “ahead of its time’. In order for Uber to exist, there were many doors

that had to be unlocked - to list a few:

 The Global Positioning System.

 The Internet.

 Amazon Web Services

 The iPhone

 Credit Cards

 Online payments

The list can go on and on, building Uber was not just sheer luck but

rather a combination of ideas that were there waiting for someone to

 bring them together and unlock a new door. The inventions whose raw

material is not available are ahead of their time and fail to materialize.

The adjacent possible innovations come from the first-order combination of

what’s already available. The writer himself termed them “spare parts.”

When talking about technology, I think Amazon Web Services was one of the

biggest rooms with unlocked doors. Many services could be built because of

them, and then those services contribute to the creation of more ideas.

Stephane Tarnier, an obstetrician in 1870, took inspiration from chicken

incubators to construct human incubators. The same incubators turn out to

be difficult to be repaired in the developing world and a new one built out

of auto spare parts turned out to be better. For example, YouTube

succeeded in 2005, it would have failed, if launched, in 1995.

Liquid Networks

The second pattern is “liquid networks”. Steven writes on how the social

flow of group conversations help ideas to connects. In the book, the author

shows through numerous examples how cities, the eighteenth-century

English coffeehouse or the first market towns in Italy ended up being great

places for new ideas to flourish.

Slow Hunch

Slow hunches stay in the mind and develop into an idea over time, and

liquid networks allow such hunches to be passed around and intermingled

with other hunches.

“Eureka” moments, where an idea comes fully formed is very rare and

almost improbable. Big ideas such as Charles Darwin’s natural selection

theory, come in parts within one's mind. Past writings of Darwin’s indicate

he already had an idea of the theory in his mind, but it hadn’t “clicked.” The

author uses the term slow hunch to show us how great ideas come into the

world more as hunches than revelations and then introduces the

commonplace book as a secret to cultivating hunches.

Darwin, Milton, Bacon, Locke, and Erasmus – they were some of the great

thinkers mentioned in the chapter and how keeping a commonplace book

help them reflect on their previous hunches to come up with new ideas. Tim

Berner’s Lee took inspiration from Enquire Within Upon Everything over

time to develop his hunches around how World Wide Web should look like.

Similar hunches lead to the invention of products like Google News.

An FBI agent filed a memo in July 2001 stating that Osama Bin Laden is

sending students to attend civil aviation in the US. The memo was marked
speculative. A month after his memo, Pan Am Flight Academy in Minnesota

reported to FBI about a suspicious student who has more interest in cockpit

doors and communication than the actual flying. The search warrant to

check his laptop was not granted till Sep 11, 2001. The two agents in

Arizona and Minnesota had hunches but only if they were connected, it

would have lead to something.

Serendipity

The fourth chapter talks about the creation of new ideas thanks to

accidental connections. Serendipity is the world to describe such accidents.

We have slow hunches in our minds, things we have taken or given to liquid

networks and a world full of adjacent possibles, sometimes what we then

need is just some neurons to fire at the same time to bring ideas to life.

The author describes possible ways to cultivate serendipity like:

 Walking

 Reading

 Technology

The author touches on a very important subject and is the creation of walls

around ideas, counter-intuitive at what we have learned about the

generation of new ideas. Daphnia, a water flea, reproduces asexually under

normal circumstances. Subjected to stress (harsh weather), the reproduction

starts producing males and switches to a sexual reproduction. It’s a

biological innovation strategy. When life is going good, it makes sense to

keep doing what you are doing. Innovation is required when it’s not.

Dreams and sudden sparks of thoughts explore the adjacent possible

combining various unrelated ideas and sometimes reveal remarkable

solutions to problems at hand.

Error

Being right keeps you in place. Being wrong forces you to explore…

In this chapter Steven shows us how the constant accumulation of error

produces new ideas and like in other chapters, walk us through history to

make his point. A point that really caught my attention in this chapter was

how by being wrong we get force to explore and update our beliefs,

challenging our comfortable assumptions. Steven mentions Charlan Nemeth

who through research came out to the conclusion that good ideas are more

likely to emerge in environments that contain a certain amount of noise and

error. They emerge more from surroundings with a certain amount of noise

and error which leads to the exploration of the adjacent possible.

Exaptation

These patterns show us how many inventions resulted from taking things

that were not meant for that solution and putting them together to build

something new. One of the examples in the book is how Gutenberg

converted a machine meant to get people drunk into a printing press. The

author also tells us how legendary innovators end up creating great ideas

thanks to their many hobbies and how been curious about many things help

us except ideas from projects to projects. Feathers first emerged for warmth

were later exapted for flying by birds. If they haven’t provided warmth in

the first place, the evolution would not have pushed towards making them

worthy enough of flying. Therefore, exaptation is the only way for flying

feathers to evolve. Steven Johnson also talks about social networks. Diverse,

horizontal social networks are way more innovative than uniform, vertical

networks of similar individuals with shared beliefs. The latter damps the

creative sparks. In fact, the individuals who maintain active links to

multiple diverse groups are the real source of innovative exaptations.

Platforms

The last pattern in the book are platforms and tell us how platforms open

many doors in the adjacent possible. To make his point, Steven starts the

chapter talking about Darwin’s theory of atoll formation, then moving

through beavers which by creating dams gave life to a new ecosystem, and

ends up the chapter talking about recent platforms and the things they have

made possible. Steven also talks about APIs and how companies have been

evolving from that “secret sauce” to fostering the idea of an open platform
for others to come and built on top of them. As an example, Steven uses

Twitter and all the mashups that were created thanks to their open API.

Platforms also have a natural attraction towards recycling the waste and

abandoned. In big cities, chain stores and restaurants occupy the

new construction while the old one is occupied by bookstores, struggling

artists, and antique dealers. The riskier enterprises always have to go for

the less valuable spaces, that’s why, Google, Apple, and HP were started in

garages. Old ideas can sometimes use new buildings but new ideas must use

the old buildings, new construction is too expensive to support them.

What I found imperative about Charles Darwin’s account was that he had a

mentor in the form of Charles Lyell, who had his own theory which stated

that atolls were formed by undersea volcanoes. Having engrossed his mind

so much Lyells’ theory, Darwin came to his own realization and conclusion

upon the observation that his mentor's theory was wrong.

Max Kleiber’s Law

Within the pages of what I would call a ground-breaking book is the account

of Max Kleiber, a Swiss scientist who measured the impact that body size

had on metabolic rate. From Max Kleiber came the calculated explanation of

why animals with fast metabolic rates eat more and literally live "faster"

than those with slow ones. A case example would be why the lifespan of a

fly is about 25 days and the lifespan of a turtle can be over 100 years. Upon
further analysis, this revelation wasn’t even the most important Scientists

from the Santa Fe Institute wanted to find out if Kleiber's law applied to

cities. They wanted to answer the question: did cities slow down as they got

bigger? A brief answer is "not exactly." There are some variables that

increase as a result of being part of a bigger, more complex system - such as

elements of creativity. The study concluded that a city that was 10 times

bigger wasn't just 10 times more creative, but it was actually 17 times more

creative. And a metropolis that was 50 times bigger was 130 times more

innovative.

Other thoughts on the book

It is through an observation made by Charles Darwin on the sands of the

Indian Ocean that Johnson forms the foundation of his own idea.

Throughout the book, Johnson seems particularly fascinated with Darwin’s

Paradox that describes the coral reef – so many different life forms,

occupying such a vast array of ecological niches, inhabiting waters that are

otherwise remarkably nutrient poor. Darwin was interested in the “tiny

architects” that build the reef formations that are resistant to the waves’

impact. The microorganisms form connections to the rocks and each other

that are incredibly strong. In many cases, they have created coral

formations that are thousands of feet tall.

Johnson uses the reef as a metaphor for our own minds. He explains that by

utilizing the seven patterns of idea formation in our daily lives, we can start

to create our own “reef” – a bank of connections in the mind. And

ultimately, it is the connections made within the mind that give rise to good

ideas. The good news is that we can do more to foster these connections.

Johnson believes that the richness in our daily lives builds up those

connections and by doing so we make our lives a more fertile environment

for good ideas.

“Go for a walk, cultivate hunches; write everything down, but keep your

folders messy; embrace serendipity; make generative mistakes; take on

multiple hobbies; frequent coffeehouses and other liquid networks; follow the

links; let others build your own ideas; borrow, recycle, reinvent.”

Making connections in the mind to build one’s coral reef isn’t necessarily

about absorbing tons of new information. Rather, it is about connecting

what we already know in new ways. Consider this: the adult human brain

contains one hundred trillion distinct neuronal connections. It is by far the

densest, complex network on earth. In order to make the most of the

information we have, we have to be able to access it. In a way that is slightly

metaphysical, Johnson proposes that we already hold all the answers – they

are internalized.

One of the ways that the brain forms connections are during REM sleep.

Neuroscience suggests that REM sleep can actually be a crazy time for the
brain. Think about the last dream you remember. Did it seem random? That

randomness is actually the brain experimenting! This sometimes leads to

the brain coming across a valuable link that escaped during waking

consciousness. In fact, studies have shown that the brain actually gravitates

toward a more chaotic state of existence where it can experiment with new

connections. Johnson goes as a far to say that Freud had it backward – a

dream isn’t revealing a repressed truth, “it is exploring, trying to find new

truths by experimenting with novel combinations of neurons” (page 102).

Allowing your mind to wander is one of the many ways we make meaningful

discoveries. To go a step further, we have to give ourselves the “space” to

be a bit chaotic in order to form those connections. Brainstorming at the

beginning of a project is a prime example of this.

Just as coral reefs welcome new microorganisms to build themselves up,

choosing to be open about our ideas will provide us with opportunities to

build upon our own ideas. Johnson suggests two facets of openness. The

first relates to the networks we live and socialize in. Throughout his

explanations of the seven patterns, Johnson alludes to networking and

openness as a key way to form good ideas. But it’s not enough to spend

time with like-minded folks. Making your personal network diverse is what

will lead to the richness of your ideas because you can cultivate them from

different perspectives.
The second kind of openness that Johnson discusses relates to intellectual

property. An idea is often just the tip of the iceberg for developing

something much greater and there is great value in allowing others to come

into a conversation about the idea. Johnson uses the example of offices that

have created a physical space that foster idea generation: breaking down

physical walls, allowing employees to work near those they are

collaborating with and turning walls into whiteboards. By making it easier

for inter-disciplinary collaboration, good ideas are more likely to be birthed.

Johnson also uses Twitter as an example of “Cooperative Advantage.” Much

of what Twitter is today has been developed by users and external

developers, not the company. For instance, only a small percentage of

Tweets are actually sent from the main Twitter website. The majority of

them come from the plethora of applications for mobile devices that were

created by amateur coders. These developments all stem from the

deliberate decision of Twitter’s founders to utilize an open platform –

Application Programming Interface. This has created one of the largest

ecosystems of applications built for their platform and further engages

users with their product.

Just like the coral reef that he describes, Johnson builds a network of ways

for the reader to improve idea generation. Although there are many ideas to

try, they are all connected to two underlying concepts. First, we are only as

intelligent as our networks. Second, breaking from the routine leads to new
perspectives. Johnson’s combinations of historical anecdotes and creative

insight make this a great read for anyone who seeks to be on the edge of

innovation.

Earlier, when connectivity was poor and it was harder to capitalize on one’s

innovation, it was mostly driven by the individuals for non-market motive.

After printing press, the connectivity became easier, then the most

innovation was driven by the networked groups for non-market motive. As

capitalism took a strong grip on the economies, more and more innovation

was produced by the networked groups working for the

[captialistic] market. One problem with that, however, is that financial

rewards discourages an open sharing of the information and hence, makes

the networks less liquid. Both universities and the world-wide-web have

played a strong role in encouraging networked innovation with non-market

motive (“commons”) leading to open-source movements and open research.

And even markets have benefitted from it.

The Importance of Innovation

The book goes at great length on showing how innovation plays a

fundamental role in societal and corporate growth. In this section, I want to

link what has been stated by Steven Johnson with the words of other

authors pertaining to innovation and its importance.

Innovation has a positive impact on the profitability and overall success of

an organization (Miremedi, 2018). New products and services that meet the

needs of customers in an efficient way cause the company to grow and

prosper (Chipunza, 2014). Both small businesses and large corporations

need innovation to survive and grow from where they currently are

(Matimande, 2014). Gulsen and Yimaz (2008) conducted a research that

shows there is an obvious and undeniable link between innovation and the

way a business performs. Businesses continue to innovate in order to suit

an ever-changing business landscape and then in the process gain a

competitive advantage. Davial et al (2006) state that products change to

suit the customer tastes of customers. For example, if most people now

desire touch screen phones than the traditional cellphones with buttons, the

cell phone companies will manufacture touchscreen phones. Due to the cash

shortages in Zimbabwe, Econet Wireless introduced Ecocash, a mobile

money application for people to continue their transactions even in a tough

economic climate (Bara, 2016). Matimande (2014) states that when

businesses introduce innovative products that solve customer needs then

they are most likely to find investors for their growth. Zimbabwean

business will need to find creative solutions to the challenges being faced in

Zimbabwe to allow investors to fund projects that positively impact the

economy.

Yang et al (2014) found from their research in Taiwan that innovative firms

far outperformed their counterparts. Aas and Pedersen (2011) also found a
link between innovation, the growth of a company both financially and in

the market.

Dao and Yang (2014) also found that employees are happy in a working

environment that is open to new ideas because they can express

themselves. They also suggest that customers are attracted to new creative

methods that meet their needs. Research has also seen that customers are

loyal to a brand that meets their needs through innovative products and

services (Bedford, 2015). Customer loyalty comes as a result of a firms

reputation of meeting the needs of customers through its products and

services. Chipunza (2014) also adds that new investors are attracted to

businesses that have an evergrowing customer base that shows a bright

future.

Conclusion

The book provides an insightful account of how innovation can be used as a

tool of advancement in all areas of life. The author organizes his concepts

well together with relatable case studies that ensure it is easy to

understand. This book is for anyone who wants to increase in creativity for

any endeavor, whether for purely via inspiration, an innovation to do list or

both. After a brief study of various academic authors on the concept of

innovation, I found the book to be an accurate account of how innovation

and evolution have revolutionized society. Anyone experiencing hard times

will also be motivated in knowing that times of chaos and noise are

predominantly the most conducive times for creativity and innovation.

What the book does well is that it consists of a refined mixture of

philosophical points and scientific facts. A large number of self-

development express ideas that seem good but have no scientific backing at

all. This book allows the reader to immediately trust all its ideas by going

back to traceable historical facts.

References

Chipunza, L.T., 2014. Driving innovation in small accommodation

businesses: a comparative study of Zimbabwe and South Africa (Doctoral

dissertation, Bloemfontein: Central University of Technology, Free State).

Bloom, N., Draca, M. and Van Reenen, J., 2016. Trade induced technical

change? The impact of Chinese imports on innovation, IT and

productivity. The Review of Economic Studies, 83(1), pp.87-117.

Dutta, S., Lanvin, B. and Wunsch-Vincent, S., 2015. The global innovation

index 2015. Effective Innovation Policies for Development, Geneva: World

Intellectual Property Organization.

Nguyen, T., 2015. Finland as a top destination for innovative entrepreneurs.

Miremadi, I., Saboohi, Y. and Jacobsson, S., 2018. Assessing the performance

of energy innovation sy stems: Towards an established set of

indicators. Energy Research & Social Science, 40, pp.159-176.

Matinde, E., 2017. Assessment of the technological and innovation

capabilities in the iron and steel sector in Zimbabwe: Imperatives towards

developing an innovation driven beneficiation framework.