Where good ideas come from
by Steven Johnson · first published 2010
69% recommend31% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Anecdote-rich look at the environments that produce innovation: cross-pollination between fields, serendipitous encounters, slow hunches, and keeping a commonplace notebook. Suits anyone wanting to have better ideas.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
This work tracks the history of innovation in the form of the "slow hunch". The author discusses how new ideas form from the scaffolding of older ideas, a phenomenon he describes as the "adjacent possible". Includes delightful figures of how innovative ideas are shifting from one man with a plan for a profit to many minds working for the public good.
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"Where Good Ideas Come From" by Steven Johnson I'm fairly stubborn, so it takes a lot for me to change my ways. This book has changed my daily work routine. Johnson outlines 7 environments that have historically produced the most…
on “Ask HN: Best book you read in 2010 and briefly why” ↗…correlate with SV. The Peninsula and the SR237 triangle aren't known for their creative diversity" It isn't an assumption. There's a lot of literature backing up the association (for a popularization, read Where Good Ideas Come From, by Stephen Pinker). In any case, for many years the city was a bedroom community for Silicon Valley -- people worked in the valley, and lived in the city for the diversity and culture (which is part…
on “How the Internet ruined San Francisco (1999)” ↗…(Grove, 1995) - Leading Up: How to Lead Your Boss So You Both Win (Useem) - It’s your Ship (Abrashoff) - The score takes care of itself (Walsh) - The Hard Thing About Hard Things (Horowitz) - Where good ideas come from (Johnson) - Extreme Ownership (Navy Seals) — (Willink) - Work Rules — (Bock) - 5 Dysfunctions of a team — (Lencioni) - Give and Take (Grant) - This is what impactful Engineering leadership…
on “CTO Mentor Network – A virtual peer-to-peer network of CTOs” ↗…and relaxed - and away from distractions of any kind. I guess in today's connected world, the bathroom is one of the few places where this is still true! I also recommend you read the wonderful book "Where Good Ideas Come From.." by Steven Johnson (check it on Amazon) for a great set of principles on how discoveries and invetions come about.
on “Ask HN: How Do You Come Up With Your Cool Ideas?” ↗…all?) inventions aren't revolutionary in their novelty but are just an increment above what already existed." This is true. If you're interested in the history of invention, try Steven Berlin Johnson's "Where Good Ideas Come From." Fascinating book, lots of depth, much recommended.
on “13-Year-Old Makes Solar Power Breakthrough by Harnessing the Fibonacci Sequence” ↗Both Steven Johnson's "Where Good Ideas Come From" and Steven Pinker's "Better Angels of our Nature" have fantastic discussions on many other occurrences of power law distributions.
on “Pay attention to power law distributions” ↗…(although to be fair they are gimmicks that work). I think what you really want is to "become" an inventive person instead of trying to force invent stuff. Read this book for starters: http://www.amazon.com/Where-Good-Ideas-Come-From/dp/15944853...
on “Ask HN: How do i become inventive?” ↗…applicable. Kaufman, J. C., & Sternberg, R. J. (2010). The Cambridge handbook of creativity. Tons of great material. Section 1, chapter 2 gives a literature review of the topic. - Johnson. S., 2010, Where Good Ideas Come From, Penguin UK. Packed with lots of good anecdotes, this is a very accessible book. - Currey, M. 2013, Daily Rituals: How Artists Work, Knopf. Blog avaiable here: http://dailyroutines.typepad.com/. This…
on “Are Ideas Getting Harder to Find?” ↗…Politics of Global Warming. By Paul Edwards Biology is Technology: The Promise, Peril, and New Business of Engineering Life. By Rob Carlson The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves. By Matt Ridley Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation. By Steven Johnson What Technology Wants. By Kevin Kelly The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer. By Siddhartha Mukherjee Culture, society and travel Through…
on “Economist books of the year (science and technology picks)” ↗Where Good Ideas Come From by Stephen Johnson - interesting exploration of how connectivity facilitates ideation. Making Ideas Happen by Scott Belsky - great nuts & bolts conversation on moving ideas into execution Comfortable…
on “Ask HN: What are you reading right now?” ↗If you want to read a fairly new book about the same subject you should check out "Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation" by Steven Johnson. http://www.shelfari.com/books/15034310/Where-Good-Ideas-Come...
on “James Burke’s Connections: A BBC History of Innovation” ↗Here are some more favorites (they may not qualify as the best books ever, but great books with original and useful ideas): - Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation by Steven Johnson - The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home by Dan Ariely - Switch: How to Change Things When Change…
on “Ask HN: What is the greatest book you've ever read?” ↗There's a great book by Steven Johnson called "Where Good Ideas Come From" that talks about a lot about new ideas being the logical next step or a combination of ideas that have just been discovered/talked about. I'd highly recommend it.
on “Clone Wars: Rise of the Fast Follower Startups” ↗For a book on a literal revolution, read George Orwell's "Homage to Catalonia." For a book on how to generate revolutionary ideas, I'd recommend Steven Johnson's "Where Good Ideas Come From." More generally, Kindle lets you sample the first chapter of any book for free. Amazon also lets you lend books to other Kindle owners, but I've never found that feature for myself...
on “Ask HN: Got a Kindle. What now? What books should I read?” ↗Good piece, with major implications for public policy. Encouraging more people to go into startups is great, but funding more R&D (especially in energy) is crucial as well. Also, Steven Johnson's Where Good Ideas Come From makes this case very well at book length.
on “Forget About the Mythical Lone Inventor in the Garage” ↗