The Algorithm for Finding an Idea

Many entrepreneurs search for a product idea using an algorithm that looks something like this:

Idea FindGoodProductIdea()
{
Idea candidateIdea = null;
while (true)
{
candidateIdea = new Idea();
if ( candidateIdea.IsGood() )
{
break;
}
}
return candidateIdea;
}

This algorithm frankly doesn’t work well at all, for three reasons:

• It’s inefficient. Every time through the loop, your brain has to
make a context switch between being creative and being
analytical. These context switches waste a lot of your mental
CPU time and slow you down.

• It generates too few results. The context switches prevent you
from ever getting a really good flow of ideas.

• It’s buggy. This algorithm forces you to evaluate every product
idea in isolation. Sometimes an idea doesn’t reveal its potential or
its pitfalls until you’ve had plenty of time to think about it.

Using this algorithm is the best way to not find an idea or to settle on a
bad one. A much better algorithm looks something like this:

Idea FindGoodProductIdea()
{
ArrayList candidateList = BrainstormLotsOfIdeas();
return ChooseTheBestIdea(candidateList);
}

In this approach, you will spend a lot of time up front building a list of
ideas. This is the step where you apply creativity, thinking with an open
mind and diverging into all possibilities.
After that, you spend a lot of time choosing the best idea from your
list, thinking more analytically, and converging onto the one idea that is
the best fit for the kind of product you want to build.