BORROWING BRILLIANCE by David Kord Murray

REMILYN O. MATABUENA

4th Year

BSA

1. What dou you think the book is all about?

~ This book is all about the best way to come up with the next great new idea is to borrow
from the best of what already exists. He provides examples from a variety of industries to
demonstrate that innovation is an evolutionary process. New ideas are always constructed
out of existing ideas. What appear to be genuinely original ideas always combine snippets of
one idea with parts of another to come up with something which has never before been
combined in that way. To be specific, when you look at the creative process from a big picture
perspective, you'll always find the genesis of any new idea comes through a six step process.
Brilliance is actually borrowed. This has been so throughout human history. Some of the most
creative people who have ever lived, such as Isaac Newton and William Shakespeare, were
accused of idea theft and plagiarism. Ideas, like species, naturally evolve over time. Existing
concepts are altered and combined to construct new concepts; the way geometry,
trigonometry, and algebra combine to form calculus. Brilliance is actually borrowed, easily
within your reach, for, really, it's knowing where to borrow the materials from and how to
put them together that determines your creative ability.

2. Which of the topics discussed did you like the most and why? Give at least 3 topics and
explain.

~ First is Defining. This state clearly the problem you're trying to solve. Creative ideas are
always the solutions to problems. Therefore, how you define the problem at hand shapes
what kind of solution emerges. Don't be too narrow or too broad. Next is Borrowing. Borrow
ideas from other places with similar problems. Bring together solutions to comparable
problems which are already in use from your competitors, your industry or in the sciences,
the arts or elsewhere. Lastly is Combining. Connect and mix-n-match borrowed ideas. The
essence of creativity is to make new and fresh connections. Look for an appropriate
metaphor to structure and define your new idea. Establish a new metaphor if necessary.
3. Did you find the book useful or helpful? Cite some valueable insights or advice you have
gained.

~ Yes, I really find this book helpful to me. I learned some like eliminate weak points and
build strong points. Keep on improving your idea through trial-and-error. Make adjustments
and fine tune what you're working on. Keep on reorganizing your idea again and again until it
becomes genuinely world class. Also Identify strengths and weaknesses of the solution.
Analyze your solution and identify its strengths and weaknesses. Evolve your new idea
further by injecting your own viewpoints, personal judgment and intuition into it. Allow these
ideas to incubate into a complete solution. Let your subconscious mind stew over your new
idea. Deliberately think about other subjects so your subconscious can add its tweaks and
improvements to your idea.

4. How does the book or the wisdom of the author change the way you think differently? Or
does the book change the way you view certain things? One example.

~ At first, I thought that copying is somewhat wrong. But when I read this book, I understand
now that borrowing and enhancing it is not bad at all. The goal of this book is to take the
creative process out of the shadows of the subconscious mind and bring it into the conscious
world. It's to dispel the misconceptions about creativity, lift the fog off its true nature, and
reveal the fact that brilliance is borrowed. In order to create, first you have to copy.

5. Have you aimed for a better understanding of yourself, the personality of others or the
community or the organization you are in? What insights have you learned from the author
that can best be applied to your studies/workplace, to your family, and to your church to
become a better version of yourself?

~ Yes, I aimed for it. Borrowing Brilliance is a very good book and explains many things about
how there is nothing new under the sun. Almost all inventions, business models and ideas are
nothing more than a combination of many other ideas. This is what I was taught to be a
Meme. Like human sexuality that combines one gene with another to create a new and
unique person so it is with ideas or thoughts. My idea is co-mingled with another and it gives
birth to yet another unique idea..this is called a meme rather than a gene. The author's
explanation though is far more detailed and will establish without a doubt not only the
theory of memes but how to gear your mind to make the connections more readily.