The video offers insights into generating great ideas consistently, rather than waiting for random inspiration. Recognizing that ideas are valuable in various sectors from business to everyday life, it encourages viewers to actively seek methods to stimulate idea generation. This becomes notably important in the context of successful humorous content as demonstrated by The Onion, where the speaker led its creative team.

A detailed process is proposed, labeled as the "Ideatron 9000," consisting of four steps: "divining," "panning," "filtering," and "vetting." Each step is designed to help individuals or teams sift through numerous ideas, refine them, and assess their viability and impact. The process aims to remove biases and foster openness by treating all ideas initially as playful and avoiding negativity.

Main takeaways from the video:

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Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. monstrosity [mɒnˈstrɒsɪti] - (n.) - Something large and unsightly, often with a negative connotation. - Synonyms: (eyesore, hulking mass, giant)

I think of it sort of like the ice making machine Doc Brown made when he went to the Old west and back to the future. Just because it's a big chugging monstrosity that seems like it'd be a lot of fun to use.

2. performance anxiety [pərˈfɔːrməns æŋˈzaɪəti] - (n.) - A feeling of fear or apprehension that may prevent someone from performing well. - Synonyms: (stage fright, nervousness, unease)

A lot of us see a blank page and we get performance anxiety.

3. boundless [ˈbaʊndləs] - (adj.) - Limitless or vast; without boundaries. - Synonyms: (unlimited, infinite, vast)

Kids come up with ideas not just in their heads, but from the depths of their soul. So how did that boundless spirit turn into what if I write something stupid?

4. commodify [kəˈmɒdɪfaɪ] - (v.) - To turn something into a product that can be bought and sold. - Synonyms: (commercialize, market, merchandise)

I've realized it's not a stupid question. It's a smart question. Where do ideas come from? Pulling back from the Onion. I've built other companies, and I know that ideas are the most valuable commodity in business.

5. reframing [riːˈfreɪmɪŋ] - (v.) - Changing the way a situation, concept, or experience is perceived or understood. - Synonyms: (recontextualizing, reinterpreting, readjusting)

And we're going to start by reframing that word stupid to redirect that critical inner voice.

6. subjectivity [səbˌdʒɛkˈtɪvɪti] - (n.) - The quality of being based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions. - Synonyms: (bias, partiality, predisposition)

If I start thinking, well, I don't like Debbie, so I'm not going to like any of Debbie's ideas. I introduce subjectivity into the system and that's going to cloud everyone's judgment about what the best ideas are.

7. facet [ˈfæsɪt] - (n.) - One aspect or side of something many-sided, especially of a cut gem. - Synonyms: (aspect, side, dimension)

I've built other companies, and I know that ideas are the most valuable commodity in business. Pulling back further, aren't ideas bigger than that? You're sitting in a chair right now. Somebody came up with the idea for a chair one day. What a great idea. The chair. Microwave ovens, rocket ships, agriculture, democracy. These are great ideas.

8. critic [ˈkrɪtɪk] - (n.) - A person who expresses a reasoned opinion on any matter especially involving a judgment of its value, truth, righteousness, beauty, or technique. - Synonyms: (reviewer, analyst, evaluator)

As adults, we judge our work. We're our own worst critics.

9. juncture [ˈdʒʌŋktʃər] - (n.) - A particular point in events or time. - Synonyms: (point, moment, stage)

Now, this is a tricky juncture. Too much tweaking in step three can kill a great idea.

10. vetting [ˈvɛtɪŋ] - (v.) - The process of thoroughly examining and evaluating something. - Synonyms: (examining, evaluating, scrutinizing)

And in our Onion Writers Room example, we have one potential Onion headline, which we're going to get back to after we look at step four, vetting

Where good ideas come from, according to The Onion - Scott Dikkers - TEDxMinneapolis

You ever come up with a great idea? A once in a blue moon great idea? An amazing feeling? Right? You ever thought, what if I could do that on command? What if I didn't have to wait for inspiration to strike and I could come up with a great idea anytime I wanted? The kind of idea that everyone else wishes they'd thought of.

The Onion is a humor publication. You've probably seen it in your news feed with stories like, Archaeological dig uncovers ancient race of skeleton people, Child bankrupts. Make a Wish foundation asking for unlimited wishes. And the time the Onion named Korean dictator Kim Jong Un the world's sexiest man alive. Now, some of these headlines may have made you do a double take. They look real. All the stories are made up, of course, but apparently the Onion is now the world's most trusted news source.

The Onion is filled with great ideas. Every headline is a masterpiece. The Onion's writers do a consistently amazing job of coming up with great ideas. When people find out I developed the Onion's creative formula and led its creative team for two decades, they always ask the same question. Where do you get your ideas from? Creative people get that question all the time. We don't understand it. People don't know where ideas come from. Seems like kind of a stupid question.

So I've usually answered it by making fun of the person who asked it. I tell them, oh, I get all my ideas from Ideas magazine. I have a subscription. It's filled with great ideas every week. I don't have to think up anything. Lately, I've been thinking differently about this question. Where do you get your ideas? I've realized it's not a stupid question. It's a smart question. Where do ideas come from?

Pulling back from the Onion. I've built other companies, and I know that ideas are the most valuable commodity in business. Pulling back further, aren't ideas bigger than that? You're sitting in a chair right now. Somebody came up with the idea for a chair one day. What a great idea. The chair. Microwave ovens, rocket ships, agriculture, democracy. These are great ideas. How do you come up with these things? It's an important question.

When I left the Onion, I wrote my book, how to Write Funny, and my latest book, the Elements of Humor, which break down how to create something funny step by step. I decoded comedy, and in doing this, I realized I really enjoy figuring out the process of things and creating a system that I can hand to someone else so they can get the same results.

So I started thinking about decoding idea generation, not just for coming up with ideas, but for coming up with great ideas. And what I got was a creativity machine, a four step process I call the Ideatron 9000.

I think of it sort of like the ice making machine Doc Brown made when he went to the Old west and back to the future. Just because it's a big chugging monstrosity that seems like it'd be a lot of fun to use. I also think of it like Mr. Fusion, which Doc Brown got when he went to the future. He just put a little garbage in this thing and it would generate the 1.21 gigawatts he needed to power the time machine.

That's what the Ideatron 9000 is. It's an idea generating contraption you can take with you anywhere. You just put garbage in one end and great ideas come out the other end. Here are the four steps of the Ideatron 9000.

Step one is called divining. In this step, ideas need to be thought up out of our heads, out of thin air, out of the blue, and written down. A lot of ideas, at least 10 or 20. On paper, in a computer, on a voice note, on a napkin. The best ideas are on napkins.

Now, there's a problem with this step. It can be scary. A lot of us see a blank page and we get performance anxiety. Suddenly we're sweating. What if I write something stupid? What if people make fun of me? You could draw, you could color, you could make up stories. Kids have so many ideas, the blank page can't even contain them. They're writing on the walls and the sidewalks. In a child's mind, the blank page is a magic portal that transports them to a magical, fantastical land of self expression and self discovery. Kids come up with ideas not just in their heads, but from the depths of their soul.

So how did that boundless spirit turn into what if I write something stupid? What happened is adulthood. As adults, we judge our work. We're our own worst critics. What do you say to a kid who shows you what they put on their blank page? Something judgmental, Something critical. No. You tell them, that's wonderful. You created something beautiful. Nobody's saying that to us anymore. Not like that anyway. And we miss it.

We've lost the joy of play. Play and fun are vital in this first step of the Ideatron 9000. We need to write down any and every idea, no matter how stupid we think it is. And we're going to start by reframing that word stupid to redirect that critical inner voice. And we're going to call those ideas playful. And we need to tell ourselves and everyone on our team, if we're working with a team, that our ideas are wonderful and beautiful. Unconditional celebration only. And everyone contributes. You can even ask your favorite AI engine to contribute ideas. The important thing is that the ideas flow.

This first step is a powerful team building exercise because everyone's a part of the process and no one is singled out for bad feedback, which is a motivation killer. To help you understand these four steps, I want to show you an example of what it looks like using the Onion writer's room. Step one looks like this. A writer, in this case, me, at home, coming up with ideas. At the beginning of step one, my blank page looks like this. And at the end it looks like this.

Moving on to step two, which is called panning. We take our ideas and everybody else's ideas and we put them in a pile and we vote on them. No one is allowed to pitch their own ideas and the names are taken off the ideas. Personal and political dynamics are removed from the equation.

The reason for this is that if I start thinking, well, I don't like Debbie, so I'm not going to like any of Debbie's ideas. I introduce subjectivity into the system and that's going to cloud everyone's judgment about what the best ideas are. In this step, we need to assess each idea objectively with every member of the team weighing in.

We're panning for gold here. And just like you wouldn't expect your tin pan to be filled with gold nuggets if you scooped it out of a random stream, don't expect a lot of winners here. Generally, a 9 to 1 ratio of rejected to accepted ideas is standard. Now, you can go through this whole process as a team of one, with you coming up with all the ideas.

If you do that before step two, give yourself at least a week to forget the ideas on your list so you can come back at it with fresh eyes. Now, whether you're working alone or as part of a team, this can be a painful step. It's not easy to look at all your playful ideas out there in the open for everyone to see. It can be embarrassing, but we've controlled for that. There are no names, no one knows whose ideas are whose. We're all in this together. Rejected ideas are just quietly panned out and we're left with a short list of acceptable ideas.

In our running example, step two in the Onion writers room looks like this. A few shortlisted ideas written by various writers up on a whiteboard. Step Three is called filtering. Here we look at each idea on our shortlist and we imagine implementing it. Does it feel right? Does it align with our personal or company values? How practical is it? Has it been done before? And if so, what happened?

In this step, we need to look at our ideas in a new context. We want to bring in outside people who weren't part of step one and step two so they can chime in should the idea be tweaked. Now, this is a tricky juncture. Too much tweaking in step three can kill a great idea. Step three is when leaders lead, they can make executive decisions about whether an idea can or can't work. It's also a good time for leaders to listen to the wisdom of the group and talk things through.

Now, after step three, let's say we're down to one usable idea, which is not uncommon. And in our Onion Writers Room example, we have one potential Onion headline, which we're going to get back to after we look at step four, vetting.

Now we beta test our idea, we put it out further. We get the opinion of a wider group of stakeholders, customers, maybe complete strangers. We see how it plays in the real world. You could put a little budget behind it if you need to, but don't bet the farm.

Now, if you get a good result after all that, congratulations, you have a great idea. If you don't have a great idea, just go back to step one. vetting in our Onion Writers Room example means the idea is written up as a story. It's given a graphic and laid out nicely and published in the Onion's website. And at the time we published this story, CIA realizes it's been using black highlighters all these years.

We also published it in our print edition and delivered it to News stamps. Use the Ideatron 9000. It works. And whenever anyone marvels at all your great ideas and asks you, where do you get your ideas from which they probably will, you can answer honestly, oh, I got one of those Ideatron 9000 machines. Works amazing. You should pick one up.

Let's review the four steps of the Ideatron 9000. Step one divining. Come up with as many ideas as you can, quietly and off by yourself. Step two, panning. Look at the ideas in the light of day and call them down to a short list. Step three, filtering. Bring in other people. Look at your ideas in a new context.

Step four, vetting. You test drive your ideas and see if they work too. Many of us believe the myth that great ideas can only come from some once in a lifetime. Genius who has a burst of brilliant inspiration. Not true. You have great ideas. They're in here and they're in here. All you got to do is fire up your Ideatron 9000 and let them out.

All those beautiful and wonderful ideas you had as a kid. Full of dreams. The genius isn't out there somewhere. The genius is in you. You have the power to come up with ideas that could change your life. You have the power to come up with ideas that could change an industry. You have the power to come up with ideas that could change the world. Who knows? You might even come up with something as revolutionary as the chair.

Thank you.

CREATIVITY, INNOVATION, INSPIRATION, EDUCATION, BUSINESS, TECHNOLOGY, TEDX TALKS