The LEGO of ideas

We visited the world’s largest LEGO store in London in December. It was very cool. Our whole family are big LEGO fans. I love how the blocks can be combined and recombined to make all kinds of cool things.

I also like the LEGO of ideas aka “Synthesis”. To combine things from different fields. To recombine existing things in new ways. To explore the intersection of things that are known and things that are untried.

The first important thing is to expose yourself to multiple fields and points of view. That’s why I enjoy my mixed bag of a Twitter stream. In there are people ranging from scientists and market analysts to philosophers and entrepreneurs.

I love innovation. And innovation starts with creativity. And creativity often comes from synthesis.

It’s like Steve Jobs said:

“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things.”