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How can people generate ideas? Charles Maisel explains how easy it can be to find the solution to a problem, come across the inspiration for a new business or think of any possible innovation. In this book the author tells us how he has realized that everybody can start the flow of ideas ...
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Seitenzahl: 62
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023
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Charles Maisel
Seeing the leaves
An original idea generation technique
Dieses ebook wurde erstellt bei
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Titel
CHAPTERS
CHAPTER 1: THE STORY OF THE VINE
CHAPTER 2: IDEA-GENERATION AND BECOMING PART OF THE CREATIVE ECONOMY
CHAPTER 3: WHEN I REALLY KNEW IT WORKED: SIZWE, SPINACH, THE GANGSTER MUSEUM AND THE RAA ACADEMY
CHAPTER 4: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF CHOICE AND THE #FEESMUSTFALL PROTESTS
CHAPTER 5: OVERCOMING LANGUAGE BARRIERS WITH THE POWER OF PICTURES
CHAPTER 6: THE POLLSMOOR PRISON WOMEN’S UNIT AND HOW ISOLATION CAN LEAD TO CREATIVITY
CHAPTER 7: EVERYDAY I’M HUSTLIN’: YOUTH HUSTLERS ON THE DUSTY STREETS OF KLERKSDORP
CHAPTER 8: CORPORATIONS AND THE OWNERSHIP OF IDEAS
CHAPTER 9: NO GROUP IS TOO BIG: SEEING THE LEAVES WITH 400 SCHOOL CHILDREN
CHAPTER 10: THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION AND THE NEED FOR FUTURE SKILLS
CHAPTER 11: THE POWER OF MANY IDEAS: YOU DO THE MATH
CHAPTER 12: SO YOU CAN GENERATE IDEAS, WHAT NOW?
Impressum neobooks
CHAPTERS
THE STORY OF THE VINE
IDEA GENERATION AND BECOMING PART OF THE CREATIVE ECONOMY
WHEN I REALLY KNEW IT WORKED: SIZWE, SPINACH, THE GANGSTER MUSEUM, AND THE RAA ACADEMY
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF CHOICE AND THE #FEESMUSTFALL PROTESTS
OVERCOMING LANGUAGE BARRIERS WITH THE POWER OF PICTURES
THE POLLSMOOR PRISON WOMEN’S UNIT AND HOW ISOLATION CAN LEAD TO CREATIVITY
CORPORATIONS AND THE OWNERSHIP OF IDEAS
EVERYDAY I’M HUSTLIN’: YOUTH HUSTLERS ON THE DUSTY STREETS OF KLERKSDORP
NO GROUP IS TOO BIG: SEEING THE LEAVES WITH 400 SCHOOL CHILDREN
THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION AND THE NEED FOR FUTURE SKILLS 11. THE POWER OF MANY IDEAS: YOU DO THE MATH 12. SO YOU CAN GENERATE IDEAS, WHAT NOW?
CHAPTER 1: THE STORY OF THE VINE
Years ago, a local farmer called me up and asked me to visit him on his wine farm. He had got my number from a friend of mine who was a lecturer in entrepreneurship at the University of Cape Town. I could hear from the concern in his voice that this was more than just a social call and so I agreed to drive out and see him.
A few days later we sat on his balcony, eating olives and cheese and drinking his award-winning wine. I looked out over the green expanse of his vineyards. It was almost impossible to count the rows and rows of vines that spanned out as far as the eye could see, like an endless sea of green. It was the kind of picture that you see on postcards, the ones that tourists buy and take home to show their friends. Looking at that view I could not imagine how anyone could have a care in the world. That was, however, until the farmer looked at me and said, “I have a problem.”
I listened as he explained his problem. During the non-picking seasons, the farmer found himself at a loss with a surplus of workers. It was not an uncommon problem among wine farmers but one for which he was trying to find a better solution. You see, he didn't want to lay off his workers but he couldn’t afford to keep a full workforce on salary with no grapes to pick. He had spent weeks racking his brain trying to think of something constructive and profitable for them to do.
When he was finished, I frowned and looked out again at the great expanse before me. Surely, he was right, there had to be something they could do, something that would provide a solution to his problem.
We sat on that balcony as the sun began to sink behind the distant hills, chatting and tossing ideas back and forth. We spoke about the idea of some sort of alternative liquor like Grappa or maybe even a property business within the vines, but nothing seemed to be quite the right fit.
Then, just as the afternoon light hit the vines making the leaves turn to gold, I saw it.
I wish I could describe to you exactly how I felt at that moment. If you’ve even had a great idea, and been sure of its true greatness, then you will probably know the feeling I am trying to describe. It’s an all-consuming combination of excitement, reassurance, and potential that makes your heart race and your mind outrun your mouth.
In an instant, I was on my feet, gesticulating wildly at the wines. Unfortunately, my mouth had not yet caught up with my brain and the farmer furrowed his brows, thinking perhaps I had too much wine.
“Look!” I cried. “Don’t you see it?”
I pointed to the vineyards again and the farmer obliged me by looking out at the fields, but I could see by the expression on his face that he did not see what I could see. I still could hardly believe it myself. There I was wearing flip-flops. My surfboard was still attached to the roof of my car. I knew hardly anything about grapes, other than I liked to drink them, and yet this idea had come to me.
I took a deep breath and forced myself to slow down. I pushed my unruly hair behind my ears and lent towards him.
“What do you do with your vine leaves?” I asked.
“Nothing,” he replied. “Why?”
“One word,” I said, a little smugly. “Dolmades.”
I began to tell him everything I knew about Dolmades, beginning with when I had first tried them. It was years ago in a little hole-in-the-wall Greek restaurant in the city. I liked the way the name sounded and so I had ordered a plateful, not knowing what a culinary treat I was about to receive. Essentially, Dolmades are just carefully constructed parcels of vine leaves that can be stuffed with a variety of fillings but it’s their versatility that makes them so unique. They can be served cold or warm, on meze platters, with salad, or simply scooped straight from the fridge. Moreover, the vine leaves can be used fresh or brined. They can be put in a jar and be vacuum-sealed, they can even be exported. The possibilities are endless.
“But I have millions of leaves!” the farmer said, incredulously.
“Then I see a million possibilities.”
Half an hour later, I was driving my car back into the city, with a few very expensive bottles of wine on the back seat of my car.
As I drove home I could not get the farmer’s face out of my mind and I felt pretty good about myself. I rolled the window down and looked out across the darkening landscape with the radio playing softly in the background. I began to think more about leaves and it was as if my mind began to expand beyond the confines of my skull, filling the car with every single possibility. I thought about my poor student days in Athlone smoking Bidis made out of banana leaves, with the view of Athlone Towers on the horizon. I thought about pumpkins, maize, and countless other plants, whose leaves have uses, but which are overlooked and underappreciated. I thought about the endless waste of money, food, and potential all because leaves are always seen as just a by-product of something greater.
It was not a long car ride, but it was one that I will never forget. By the time I arrived home the very fundamentalness of my being had shifted. I had finally discovered what innovation is. Innovation is the ability to develop your perception to such an extent, that you can see what is clearly there when no one else can. I’d seen the leaves, for what they could be.
