As a young lad, after pinching some Black Cat firecrackers from my older brother’s stash, I proceeded to find things (inanimate) to blow up. My friends for life at that time (or until 15 years old or so, whichever came first), were keen on competing with me on who could obliterate the cooler thing. Thankfully, all of our digits were retained and most of our senses … sight, taste, sound … (eh, sound, not so much), endured this venture. On the other hand, the melons, soup cans, Mrs. Huggart’s lawn gnomes and my sister’s Raggedy Ann and Andy did not fare so well. Evening arrived, taps was played and Fruitopians across America wept, as did I when my brother discovered his missing pyrotechnics. He called it betterment through bruising.

The point being …

Creative ideas are like fire. Three things are needed to achieve a flame. Fuel, oxygen and combustion temperature, or better said, a spark. In our case, they can appear alone, together and in any order. Here the the spark was in eliminating my boredom. The fuel … firecrackers. Oxygen … what to blow up with them. My youthful companions and I worked together to accomplish this goal, Ideating, scavenging, all with a small injection of competition of cooler things to explode that were slightly better than the next guys. Moments after each helpless victim fell prey to our nitro-glycerous urges, a simultaneous shout of “Hey! You know what would be neat?” emerged from all. We were firing on all cylinders. Each idea was followed by a better one. Some were duds, or teachable moments. But the sifting through options teamwork allowed us to arrive at the coup-de-gras, Lisa Gunderson’s prize 4H pumpkin entry.

OK, so the idea right before that one was probably the best.

Lesson learned.

Take away #1. Everybody had ideas. Nobody said “Oh, I’m not very creative”. Sure you are, but ideas don’t just knock and walk in. You need any one of those three catalysts. Then take it to your buddies, friends, co-workers or team, chuck it out there and watch the other elements show up. #2. Injecting a small amount of competition will incentivize the right side of the brain to innovate beyond the last idea presented, building on the flow of information from earlier suggestions. And #3. Don’t steal your brothers things.

Epilogue.

The picture below is the result of just this type of scenario. It is a round hard plexiglass like screen material that has been frozen into a block of clear carving ice. Using a small projector from behind, images appear magically inside of the cube. Meld additional ice pieces together and have it carved into a theme. Let your imagination run at this point. Cinderella’s Castle at a wedding event with a photo collage of the bride and groom. A corporate logo at a company gathering with a years worth of video memories. Many types of screen mediums can be used including holographic. The screen can be eliminated completely, and frosting the back of the ice with sandpaper will create a projection surface on its own. And it all evolved from somebody saying, “Hey, you know what would be neat?” That somebody was a co-worker, who labored on developing this idea with me. I think he lives in Duluth with a bunch of cats now, so will remain unnamed. As to my tongue being stuck to the ice … I hadn’t yet seen the Christmas Story. ‘Nuff said.

Hope springs a kernel – Rob