The Myth Of The Lone Unique Genius

Ideas develop in a mosaic not a vacuum.

Photo by AB on Unsplash

We often have a stereotype for a genius. It’s generally an odd character in a lab coat, off by his or herself churning out ideas from their magnificent brain. This stretches further to the concept of idea generation. It occurs in that sudden “Eureka” moment when a thought suddenly implants itself in your mind.

However, this is more reminiscent of fiction than reality. In many cases breakthrough ideas are generated by a group. Moreover, that idea is generally pieced together from past innovation and grown over time into something new.

That sudden new technology that sets the world’s imagination a buzz didn’t appear in an instantaneous puff of magic. It slowly arrived, likely by trial and error — building upon ideas which came before. Here are some examples.

• The iPod was extremely similar to a device created in the 1970s called the IXI.
• The Wright Brother’s ideas for the airplane were influenced by bicycle design, nature, and the work of other early flyers.
• Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet “borrowed” a good deal from a poem called The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet.
• The lead singer of The Doors, Jim Morrison, copied his unique look from Alexander the Great.