What is Original? How Every Idea Came from Something Else
Sunday, January 26, 2020 at 04:52PM
Charlie in Digital Financial Reporting

Creation can only take root when the ground has been prepared.

This PBS Ted Radio Hour program, What is Original?, helps you think about creativity.  There are multiple "sections" to this program.  The first talks about creativity in music.  The second is the notion of the "remix". The third looks at creativity in the fashion industry.

The fourth which starts at 34 minutes and 45 seconds is the most interesting.  Tesla gave away their patents.  Why would they do that?

Ben Franklin, a prolific inventory, never patented anything.  Franklin's philosophy was to "send ideas out into the world to attract the ingenious."

Creativity is not about with coming up with your own new ideas. Creativity is about building upon or remixing the good ideas of others.  That is the approach I take.  As Picaso said, "Good artists copy; great artists steal."

An idea is not a single thing.  Innovation happens when you take other ideas, stitch them together in unique ways, and create something that is novel and useful.

Are you ingenious? The Digital Financial Reporting Manifesto provides links to lots and lots of information about XBRL-based digital financial reporting.  Create something.

Being an artist means learning from the ideas of those that came before you.  The ground is ready.  What will you do to improve accounting, reporting, auditing, and analysis?

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