Be receptive<\/h2>\n
Ideas come at the most inconvenient of times \u2014 at 4 in the morning or when you have no access to pen\/paper\/internet. Accept this and provide yourself with tools to mitigate it: keep a pen besides your bed; use the notes feature on your phone; carry a notebook everywhere.<\/p>\n
Stand on the shoulders of giants: read<\/h2>\n
There are no new ideas. Everything is a development from something else: this makes it both easier and harder. Easier because you can read around and adapt ideas from other disciplines; harder because someone else has no doubt had the same idea, reducing its novelty, impact and therefore marketability.<\/p>\n
Follow your dreams<\/h2>\n
Allow yourself periods of not actively thinking about an idea \u2014 when you come back to it the problem will often be clearer. A lot of the heavy lifting can be done by your subconscious; give it time to do the groundwork and feed it by reading around the topic. But try to keep it focussed, as it is prone to drift off to the land of chocolate (mmmm. Chocolate<\/a>).<\/p>\n \u201cMy subconscious is working on my grant\u201d is a great excuse, but doesn\u2019t get you funded \u2014 you do actually have to do something. Even if all you have to show for it is a bin full of crumpled paper; sitting, thinking and writing are all needed to add substance to any idea. I\u2019ve spent many mornings going round in circles stuck on a particular issue, but you need to put in those miles in order to achieve breakthroughs. The trickiest part is knowing when to push and when to stop.<\/p>\n Even short breaks can help. Archimedes had his Eureka moment in the bath, Newton was chillin\u2019 by a tree when he got beaned by the apple good<\/a>, and programmers have been communing with rubber ducks for 17 years. The first two probably didn\u2019t happen (and the third, bizarrely, does<\/a>) but that\u2019s beside the point \u2014 stepping away from your desk can often lead to moments of clarity.<\/p>\n Ideas are strange ephemeral things and in their earliest stages, they are staggeringly easy to destroy: direct scrutiny is the death of creativity. To paraphrase Douglas Adams, the brain just edits out them out, like a blind spot: your only hope is to catch them by surprise out of the corner of your eye. There is a difference between coming up with an idea, when you need to be creative, imaginative and think of the big picture; and developing an idea, when you need to be critical, analytical and focussed on the details.<\/p>\n It can help to discuss your idea with someone else as advice is always valuable<\/a>, but you need to find the right person. Some people are good at giving unstructured support. Others are more critical, which can make your ideas stronger, but it can also kill them stone dead. Be clear with what you need when approaching someone for advice.<\/p>\n The timing of the discussion is critical. At their inception, when I can\u2019t even find the words to describe the ideas to myself, there is no point trying to describe them to others; I get tongue-tied and frustrated while the person I am talking to just stares, bewildered. As the ideas become more formed, my excitement increases, but they are no less fragile.<\/p>\n John Tregoning<\/p><\/div>\n When they\u2019re developing, but not complete, the ideas (and I) both need unconditional praise to develop further: detailed questioning can make me doubt my idea, lose enthusiasm and bin the whole thing, including the good bits. Finally, only when fully mature, do I feel robust enough for \u2018instant feedback.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The single best thing about academia is that you get to have ideas and test them, no matter how crazy they are. But you must feed the beast: it takes more than one good idea to sustain a career. Yes, a \u201cbreak-in\u201d idea might get you your first PI job, but maintain a stream of ideas at various stages of development from half-baked plan devised in the pub to rejected grant. So get out there and start thinking<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n John Tregoning<\/a> is a Senior Lecturer at Imperial College studying the immune response to respiratory viral infections. In spite of everything, he remains relentlessly optimistic: you can read more of his writing here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Suggested posts<\/strong><\/p>\n Transferable skills: What are scientists good at (other than science?<\/a><\/p>\n The faculty series: Nobody rides for free<\/a><\/p>\n The faculty series: Balancing the books<\/a><\/p>\n Failing to fail gracefully<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What is the most important skill to become a PI? An eye for numbers, an ability to perform repetitive tasks accurately, optimism in the face of relentless failure, the ability to play nicely with others, sheer bloody mindedness, self-belief? All of these skills will strap you into the driving seat but once there, you\u2019ll need to press the pedals yourselves. The most vital skill is creativity; the ability to see new connections \u2014 linking old data in new ways and using what we do know to interpret what we don\u2019t. Read more<\/a> Continue reading Work the problem<\/h2>\n
Take a break<\/h2>\n
Don\u2019t overthink it<\/h2>\n
It\u2019s good to talk (but only sometimes)<\/h2>\n
![\"John](\"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/naturejobs\/files\/2015\/12\/ME08443.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
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