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“If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading or do things worth the writing.”

– Ben Franklin

I bring you good news!

Creativity is not random. There are reproducible tools and tactics that can help you think smarter and more creatively about personal challenges.

I help people-executives, entrepreneurs, kids, teachers, and just plain folks-invent ideas for solving their problems 52 weeks a year using the Eureka! Way. In the 48 hours prior to this writing, I’ve used some of the methods detailed on these pages to help:

• A frustrated young woman find the courage to follow her dream.

• The owners of a small but spectacular restaurant invent ideas for attracting new customers and generate additional revenue.

• A VP at one of the world’s most respected corporations create 75 choices for growth.

• The executive director of a non-profit discover ways for turning momentary positive momentum into stable long-term income growth.

For the past decade, my life and the world of the Eureka! Ranch has been focused on turning the art of creativity into a reliable, renewable science.

When creativity is conceived of as an art, it’s ethereal and fickle; a slippery intangible. As creativity moves more toward being a science, it becomes more predictable and dependable, a trustworthy tool that can be wielded to yield real results.

Years of mining through mountains of data have unearthed a clear understanding of what works and what doesn’t as far as enhancing the ability to generate ideas. The teachings on these pages are grounded in original research involving thousands of big companies, small companies and start-up entrepreneurs who have participated in Eureka! Ranch Inventing projects, as well as Eureka! Institute lectures and seminars. Everything you’ll read about in here you can apply to your career and your life.

Warner Books, a division of Time Warner, published this book in its original form in January 1994. It became a creativity classic, reprinted by dozens of book clubs and international publishers.

As the years passed, my understanding of the creative process evolved. By measuring and analyzing over 6,000 invention teams and over 10,000 business-building ideas, I developed a new understanding of what drives success.

Simply speaking, this new material had to be incorporated into Jump Start Your Brain, so I contacted Warner Books with the news. They told me to cool my jets. They saw no problem, saying the book was selling.

But I was bothered. Finally, my frustration rose to action level. I called Time Warner and bought back the rights to the book. With the help of Richard Hunt, my publisher, I’ve recast this book based upon how my perceptions have been changed based on quantitative research.

Correcting past works is something my hero, Ben Franklin, America’s first great inventor and entrepreneur, articulated in his epitaph:

“Here lies the Body of B. Franklin Printer; like the cover of an old book, it’s contents torn out, and stripped of its lettering and gilding, lies here, food for worms. But the work shall not be wholly lost: for it will, as he believed, appear once more, in a new & more perfect edition, corrected and amended by the author.”

What’s New?!

From a big picture perspective, the three most important changes from the first edition are:

1. FEAR, not lack of FUN, is the key issue.

The first edition declared, “Fun is Fundamental.” Instead, there is another “f word” even more critical to creativity—fear.

But, when we measured real people inventing real ideas to solve real problems, we found that increasing levels of fun did not correlate with the production of more big ideas. We tried every manner of measurement and questioning to validate the importance of FUN. It didn’t matter: increasing the fun factor was NOT as fundamental to creativity as was decreasing the fear factor.

What we discovered was that as the level of fear increased, the number of high quality ideas dropped. Fear could be the pressure to produce, the presence of a particularly scary boss, or simply not wanting to appear foolish or stupid.

2. Diversity is a much greater issue than I initially thought.

The first edition stated that diversity was an additive to stimulus when it came to creating ideas.

The data clearly shows that diversity delivers an exponential kick. When you connect with others who have different mind-sets, experiences, and backgrounds, you realize a ginormous leap in your creativity. Diversity is not just about people-although people are a great way to connect with new ideas-diversity is about exploring, accepting, and adapting to fresh ideas and insights.

Diversity is so important that it cannot be left solely to those moments when you gather together for an ideation or brainstorming session. In recognition of the importance of diversity, this edition contains a bounty of ideas and advice for making connections with other people and other ideas.

3. Capitalist Creativity is about effectiveness, not “liking.”

Eureka! Ranch research found that the classic customer service measure of “liking” or “how much did you enjoy the exercise” had no correlation with actual success levels. Instead, results directly tie to the direct and blunt question-how effective was this exercise at generating ideas that fulfill our objective?”

Enjoyment and effectiveness are two different things. A creative exercise could be difficult and challenging, yet still very effective. Alternatively, an exercise could be fun and enjoyable yet result in meaningless ideas.

In this edition, we have edited the creativity techniques, the “Jump Starts,” to include only those proven effective at creating big ideas. The fun-yet-not-effective exercises are gone. Only the real stuff that really works remains.

Every account you’ll read here is essentially true in terms of the events they describe, however, I have taken the liberty to make two modifications to historical accounts:

• Certain identities or products have been hidden in the interest of client confidentiality … or to protect the guilty. This is a book about hope, faith, and believing in yourself. You won’t find tales tattled here.

• As Ben Franklin often did, I’ve editorialized a few stories, adding a joke here or a twist there to make a point. My intent is to teach and inspire—not to brag or bore.

• Richard Saunders lives. As with the first edition, these pages are sprinkled liberally with quotes from friends, colleagues and associates. Here and there, I’ve included nuggets that came to me on a moonlit night from one Saunders, which by odd coincidence was Ben Franklin’s pen name. Although I can’t prove conclusively that it’s the same Saunders, I can believe it so. It’s a free country.

Jump Start Your Brain

The title sums up the corporate mission of this book and my companies. The intent here is to help you get the maximum horsepower from your particular combination of imagination and intellect. My mission is to help you turn your dreams into reality.

This little piggy went to market,

This little piggy stayed home.

The first little pig had a wicked good idea,

The second little pig had none.

And the first little pig laughed,

Hee, hee, hee, hee,

All the way to the bank.

– Richard Saunders

So here it is: the new edition on the Eureka! Way. It’s what I am. Just as with the first book, it’s all I know-and all I’ve come to know about thinking smarter and more creatively. You hold in your hands my life’s work on personal creativity. On these pages is what I’ve learned from nearly 40 years of real world entrepreneurship.

My hope is that after reading these pages your hope is renewed, your resolve strengthened and your dreams that much closer to being realized.

The Eureka! way is good for you. It works. So here we go. Get ready! Get set! Let’s crank up your cranium!

Cheers,

Doug Hall

Springbrook, Prince Edward Island, Canada

Cincinnati, Ohio U.S.A.