by Laura Larsson, HAS Newsletter Editor
A company's future, is determined by creativity and innovation,
and harnessing the resourcefulness of people
to create new knowledge. -- Denham Gray
Luigi Pirandello is often quoted as having said, "The history of mankind is the history of ideas." Buckminster Fuller said that everyone has great ideas, but few people capture them, and even fewer act on them. He also said, "Man knows so much and does so little." Are you one of those people who have good ideas but never write them down or act on them? Do you know a lot but do little?
Thomas Davenport, well-known expert in the area of knowledge management, asked some critical questions surrounding big business ideas in his book mentioned below. He asked, "Where do ideas come from? Who are the idea advocates within large organizations? And how do they get traction for new initiatives, especially in this cautious business environment?" Working with two colleagues, Laurence Prusak and H. James Wilson, they put their research into a book titled, What's the Big Idea? Creating and Capitalizing on the Best Management Thinking (Harvard Business School Press, 2003). In an interview described an article by Bill Breen,Fast Company, Davenport laid out his eight-point game plan for winning with ideas.
Ideas are important in public health as well as in business, maybe even more so because these days we have to do more with less money. Ideas strike at the most inconvenient times and generally when you're preoccupied with something else, like painting the bathroom, editing a paper -- or occupied in an unrelated task such as reading. (Reading is always a great source of ideas, by the way, especially if you are reading outside your knowledge domain. Often ideas occur at the boundaries of two disciplines. This is why it is important to read outside your area of expertise as often as you can).
This article is describes hardware, software and simple technology methods for capturing and presenting ideas when and where you think of them, including in the shower. Some of the recommendations will be obvious; others may be new to you. Both high and low-tech idea capture and management possibilities are discussed.
1. Desktop Computer (High Tech)
Most managers have at least one computer on site that they use to do our jobs. Some of us are lucky enough to have a home computer (even if we have to fight our children for the use of it). However, a computer by itself isn't very useful; it's the software that we acquire along the way that makes our computer capable of capturing ideas. Many managers use Word to author reports and memos, Excel to lay out spreadsheets to forecast how to spend what little money is available, Access to enter related content into a database, Netscape or Internet Explorer to browse the Web for information, Outlook or a related email product to keep in touch with colleagues and work on projects, and work-related applications developed specifically for the environment you work in.
By itself the computer does not capture ideas. It is the software applications that you acquire that enable you to store and retrieve information successfully. There are many hundreds of applications that have a good track record for capturing information for individuals personal knowledge management (just as there are an increasing number of (high-priced) software applications for capturing enterprise-wide knowledge). Several of these will be noted below. A list of possible resources will be appended at the bottom of the article. Future articles will discuss several of the applications that are mentioned below.
2. Laptop/Tablet PC (High Tech)
The beauty of a laptop or tablet PC is that it enables you remove yourself from a formal environment to one that is less formal and possibly less stressful. With a smaller device you can sit in a comfortable chair with your device on and just think, browse the Web, read ideas on topics of interest and capture those ideas in a variety of ways for later use.
Laptops and Tablet PCs, as well as handheld devices, can be used to capture ideas by speaking into an attached microphone and letting your device capture your idea.
Tablet PCs are relatively expensive - generally more than $1,899 and upwards of $2200 to get a fast processor. Their ability to capture survey data, searchable handwritten notes and ideas make them very appealing - if you have the money. Wit a docking station attached to your Tablet PC you can eliminate your desktop entirely - and take all your information, data and knowledge bases with you when you go to a meeting. Otherwise a good, lightweight laptop can act as both a home and (take-work-home) work computer.
3. Handheld - Palm, Pocket PC (High Tech)
Ah, the joys of carrying around a device that has more computing power than the desktop computer I used up until 1998 and which can connect you to the Web via WiFi to search for information and retrieve more content than you could ever possibly digest in your lifetime. There is so much information on handhelds out there that it is hard to know where to start. In addition to tracking events, tasks, and contacts, the handy note application that comes with each device is a great place to add ideas as they come to you. The main advantage of a handheld is that they are "instant-on." There's no forgetting an idea while you wait for your desktop or laptop to boot up.
Most new handhelds enable you to record ideas into notes via an inboard voice recorder. Just press a button and start talking. Play your thoughts later on the same device.
4. Pen Scanner (High Tech)
Pen scanners are small, pen-like tools, actually slightly fatter and flatter than pens that weigh about 2 ounces, and are used to scan lines of text much the same way as someone would use a regular highlighter - only digital. Unlike a full-page scanner, these devices are used to scan and retype small amounts of text and numbers into your laptop, desktop, tablet PC and/or handheld device. Most pens will read bar codes and handwritten numbers. Examples of pen scanners include: WizCom Technologies QuickLink Pen hand-held scanner, and StudyPen.com C-pens.
Pen scanners can also be used to scan URLs so you can capture information on work or personal interests more accurately than you can often type in the URLs. It's great for students whose faculty still provide readings and textbooks on paper. Scan the important sections into your computer for later study and capture ideas for use in your papers (with credit, of course). Possibly the best use is in scanning business cards (assuming you haven't beamed your cards to each other via InfraRed).
Pen scanners are not intended to scan images. Images are just too big. OCR (Optical Character Recognition) abilities varies from device to device. After scanning a line you may have to wait for the recognition process to complete, then do the next line, and so on. Many text scanners these days are blazingly fast, but not all. Also, it is important to make sure you don't stop before the end of a line or miss a letter or two at the beginning -- otherwise the pen may give you what looks like garbage.
These are useful tools for capturing text to later assemble into your own ideas.
5a. White board (High Tech)
After a meeting or brainstorming session is over comes the drudgery of copying the final content onto a piece of paper for later transcription onto your PC. Right? Well, not if you have a digital whiteboard. A digital whiteboard uses the interface you are familiar with - a board, a pen and an eraser - and stores your every word, line and color on your PC automatically. Make a mistake or want to make changes, simply erase the error and continue.
A digital whiteboard saves everything you write automatically on your PC. In fact, it even remembers what you have erased. The result is that you have a complete record of the evolution of your ideas. Very useful for later revisiting your thoughts during a brainstorming session.
Other whiteboards use your computer, a stylus and a projector. Ideas are captured directly on your computer and displayed to the others in the room. These type of whiteboards can edit multiple board-fulls of information in real time by going back and forth between the stored pages as you revise your work. The board acts like an electronic flipchart.
The 3-M Company manufactures both types of whiteboards. Visit the URL given below in the references section for additional information and links.
5b. White/Blackboard (Low Tech)
Blackboards and chalk have been used for a long time to capture or disseminate ideas, especially in academia. Businesses often acquire whiteboards that are used with special pens for thinking out loud and capturing the resulting brownstormed ideas. The problem with both blackboards and whiteboards is that after the intellectual work is done, someone has to transcribe the thinking onto a piece of paper for reuse and further consideration. If you are lucky, participants in the meeting might do the transcribing for you as the ideas are being developed. But, this is not always the case.
To save the content on a whiteboard, use your digital camera to photograph the board after a meeting. The resulting image can be shared via email with colleagues. A real timesaver over transcribing the content. Failing that, hope that someone has a Tablet PC that they are willing to use to capture the ideas using Journal or OneNote (both note-taking tools) or Inspiration or MindManager (both mind mapping applications).
6. Microcassette Audio/Voice Recorders (High Tech)
These tiny devices are especially valuable for capturing thoughts and ideas as you commute. Simply switch on the device and start talking. Put the device in the middle of the table to capture comments in meetings. (Be sure to get permission from the participants). Having one of these devices handy saves you from phoning home and leaving a message on your telephone message machine since you can turn it on and record your thoughts.
Sony, Panasonic and Olympus are some of several manufacturers. Voice recorders can be purchased at shops like Office Depot, Amazon and other office supply stores.
7. Index Cards (Low Tech)
Although many people think of capturing ideas on 3x5" or larger cards as horribly old-fashioned, there's nothing like reaching into a pocket or purse and fishing out a pack of cards to write down an idea or item for a to-do list. Paper is still wonderfully convenient for capturing an idea as it occurs to you and there's no need to wait till your PC or laptop boots up to enter it. Writing down the idea title (name), a date and time, and a brief description as it occurs to you is so easy using this method, Paper does not hold up well in wet conditions such as what we have in the Pacific Northwest. Any ideas still must be transferred to your computer for use.
8. Notebook/pad or Paper Journal (Low Tech)
Like 3 x 5" cards, notebooks, note pads and bound journals can be handy repositories of ideas. Keep a pad and pencil or pen beside your bed to capture ideas that you get in the middle of the night. One of the best pads I have found for keeping information handy when you don't want to use your PDA or carry your Tablet PC is a reporter's notebook. These 4 x 8 inch pads are Gregg ruled, can be held easily in the hand, and are easily accessible for that blinding flash of insight. These spiral-topped pads can be purchased from Kinkos. Others like artist sketchbooks/drawing pads because on certain models the pages can be easily removed from the covers and new ones inserted.
9. Dive Slate (Low Tech)
If you get your best ideas while showering in the morning you will want to consider acquiring a dive slate. This is a device used by, well, divers, when they wish to record some kind of observation while under water. They are cheap (around $5--$6), are available on the net at various dive shops, fit nicely behind the soap holder or hung in the shower and work well. A medium Dive Slate (3.5 " x 5.5") can be purchased for $4.18 from Scuba Central or try Amazon for an extra large thought capturer (8" x 10") for $10. Check in nearby scuba or sporting stores. The price for these simple devices is certainly appealing.
10. Mind Mapping (High Tech)
Mind or concept mapping software facilitates the display of information in a graphical format. Three of the most popular mind mapping applications are Inspiration, MindManager and MindMapper. There are many others on the market for you to choose from. These applications can be used to plan and organize projects, create online and face-to-face learning and Web sites, plan PowerPoint and other presentations and if you are a report writer, lay out your report. These applications can also be used as brainstorming, diagramming and outlining tools.
Mind mapping applications help you effectively express your ideas and better understand those of your colleagues. There is nothing like a picture to express and visualize an idea. Inspiration is particularly fun to use because it includes graphics that better express ideas in your mind map than text would.
11. Brainstorming Software/Application (High Tech)
If used carefully and thoughtfully, brainstorming can be used to develop many creative solutions to a problem - even radical ones. After defining the problem you want solved clearly, and laying out any criteria to be met facilitators should be careful to keep participants on track and focused on the problem. Ensure that no one criticizes or evaluates ideas during the session.
Brainstorming Toolbox assists facilitators in capturing information in brainstorming sessions.
12a. Journal Applications - Paper-based (Low Tech)
Since men and women had means of writing they have jotted down their thoughts, observations, and experiences first on stone or clay and recently in paper journals. Today we have the luxury of either using paper journals or employing digital journaling tools. Paper journals come in a variety of formats. Some can be locked to keep out prying eyes. Many are either designed for one year time spans; some are good for up to five years.
12b. Digital Journaling Applications (High Tech)
Personal and communal journals make information and idea gathering possible electronically.
The Journal is one of the more popular personal desktop journaling applications. In addition to tracking personal successes (and failures), this application will improve your writing as you write daily and read over the hints given in their occasional newsletter. The application can be password protected to guard your ideas and privacy.
Blogs, commonly known as Weblogs, appear to have started out as personal journals that grew into sites where individuals and groups can share ideas and information. There are said to be over 500,000 blogs available for you to read if you have the time. Businesses have discovered that blogs are good for business. On them customers can express concerns, ask questions and get feedback from the manufacturer and from other participants in a group. I have several favorite blogs including CoolTools, Pocket PC eBooks Watch, Tabula PC and others. It is interesting to speculate if there is a role for blogs written by public health practitioners that could be used to disseminate current scientific thinking and healthy behaviors. It's much more efficient to use a blog to disseminate information instead of press releases. Done properly, visitors could read and comment upon blog entries.
My public health blog is only one of about three blogs dealing with public health issues. The blog I write describes mostly annotated Web sites, not political commentary or personal gripes.
13. Idea File (in a Relational Database or List Manager) (High Tech)
Use Microsoft Access, FoxPro, or one of the other database managers to develop your own database of ideas. It would take some planning to consider all the possible fields and tables, but would be a valuable resource when completed.
If you do not want to bother with the complexity of a relational database, use a list manager. I often use ListPro which I purchased for use with my iPAQ 3850 and now use with my iPAQ 4155 PDA to capture ideas - mine and others. Flat file list managers like ListPro can also be used for many other purposes besides capturing ideas such as tracking your exercise workouts and diet, the books you've read, movies you've seen, projects, tasks, travel details, and Web sites to name a few.
Ideas can also be organized on a spread sheet and transferred to a database or list manager via tab-or-comma-delimited files.
14. Sticky Notes Applications (high tech)
I'll bet every one of you has at least one sticky note attached to your computer, phone, bathroom mirror, stove, refrigerator or back door to remind you of something you have to do or remember. With sticky note programs like Stickies, a free program downloadable from its author, Tom Revell. As you get an idea, jot it down in a sticky note. Rearrange sticky notes on your desk, layer them on top of one another, change their colors, backgrounds, size and fonts so that the messages leap out at you. (Change sticky colours to show different priorities). Stickies remains available on your desktop even after a reboot. Lastly, Stickies can also be synchronized with friends, imported/exported, or sent by email.
If you own a PPC handheld device, you can exchange stickies with it using PPC Stickies. A sticky note is exchanged via syncing. The PPC Stickies version is available for the modest price of $5.00.
Other sticky note programs are available but this one is my favorite. I like it because it works the way it should, doesn't take up much disk space, has good documentation, and is free.
15. Free Text Infobase Applications (High Tech)
Free text infobases such as InfoSelect, askSam, MyInfo and MyBase are very useful tools indeed for capturing your own thoughts - and ideas from the Web, from articles and from email. How many times have you saved a whole email message or an article just because you wanted one sentence or one or two paragraphs? With these applications you can cut and paste the exact content you need into a note, add the citation or URL, use Ctrl D to add the date, and throw in a keyword or two if you have time. Information can not only be organized temporally, but can also be organized by subject - or by some organizational scheme that only you can figure out. Best of all, you can search in a variety of ways: exact phrase, fuzzy searching, Boolean.
If a note is in the wrong place (InfoSelect, MyBase) you can drag it into another topic. My InfoSelect infobases include more than 50,000 notes gathered over the years. I've just acquired askSam but am already finding it useful to index all my email messages, track important phone calls (phone log), keep a daily journal of activities, develop frequently asked questions pages for various Web pages, and track project tasks.
16a. PowerPoint (High Tech)
As many of us know, PowerPoint is a tool for organizing and giving presentations. Did you also know that it can be used to capture ideas from meetings or discussions? While it is important to capture three things in a meeting: decisions, action items and open issues (new issues raised at the meeting but not resolved), ideas that were discussed on any topic should also be included in the final product so that they are not lost - even if the ideas are not used. Create three slides or transparencies before the meeting and key in the appropriate decisions, action items and unresolved issues on the appropriate slide. Be sure to include the name of the person assigned the action item and the date due. Assign each idea a person's name.
You could also use a word processor or even spreadsheet software to capture ideas and decisions.
16b. Transparencies (low tech)
Acrylic sheets used with an overhead are simple tools for capturing decisions, action items, open issues and ideas. Those of us older than about 40 remember using overheads frequently to teach, learn from, and disseminate thoughts and ideas.
17. Flip Charts (Low Tech)
Both a flip chart and butcher block paper can be used to capture ideas in a group setting or to do some serious thinking needing lots of scribble space. Flip charts, of course, are large pads of paper used with thick pens to capture ideas from colleagues during meetings. As one page of the pad fills up, the page is either folded up and over to the back or torn off and taped to a nearby wall for everyone to view. The advantage of a flip chart is that everybody's concern about a topic is put on paper to help the group get a sense of what matters to the people present, and what issues are in their minds. This method is used annually by APHA Program Planners to capture ideas about topics and potential speakers for next year's Annual Meeting. The large group is divided into smaller groups. As people provide suggestions one of the group captures the ideas and generally summarizes the suggestions to the larger group after about half an hour of brainstorming suggestions. The sheets are collected and the ideas summarized to the large group.
The advantage of a flip chart is that a lot of information can be captured in a short period of time. It is a group effort. The disadvantages are that the diagrams that come out are messy (but full of ideas that belong to people's concerns and to their visions) and the content, to be of further value must be rekeyed into digital format.
18. Butcher Paper (Low Tech)
The advantage of butcher paper is that very long sheets with lots of square footage can be torn off and taped to a wall ready for comments, ideas and suggestions. At the end of the meeting the paper can be rolled and the contents transcribed into a computer at some later time.
19. Idea Management Applications (High Tech)
Commercial tools are available that help organizations manage ideas. These tools help individuals and groups gather and evaluate ideas in a structured fashion. IdeaFisher is a tool that facilitates the free flow of ideas through either answering questions previously programmed into the application or by word association (associative thinking). It uses a looping process that helps you focus on ideas gathered by prompting your memories that in turn opens up new ideas, new phrases, words and associations that lead to even more thoughts and ideas. IdeaFisher can be used in brainstorming sessions as well.
A more expensive product, Idea Central, can be used to help companies to gather, share and evaluate ideas. Programs similar to Idea Central track ideas from inception to implementation. Unlike suggestion boxes that are generally ignored by employees idea management software tools are designed to help organizations focus their employees on specific business issues.
Ideas have a way of intruding when you least expect them and often when you are not prepared to deal with them. With the many methods of idea management, both high and low tech, that are available for you to use to capture an idea while it is still fresh in your mind, there is no reason why you cannot ensure that your ideas get retained and, hopefully, used.
(1) Breen, Bill. Hidden Asset. Fast Company. Issue 80 | March 2004, Page 93. [Online] Site URL: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/80/davenport.html. Site visited: May 21, 2004.
3M Meeting and Presentation Solutions: Digital WallDisplay. [Online] Site URL: http://www.3m.com/us/office/meetings/product_catalog/digitalwalldisplay/index.jhtml. Site visited: May 21, 2004.
Amazon Extra Large Slate (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000BZK3Q/kkorg-20/104-2727200-9230317)
Amazon Microcassette Voice Recorders (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00006I5TG/ref=pm_dp_ln_e_10/104-2727200-9230317?v=glance&s=electronics&vi=similar-products&me=ATVPDKIKX0DER) - several brands listed
askSam (http://www.askSam.com/)
Brainstorming.co.uk (http://www.brainstorming.co.uk/) - rich Web site with a lot of information on the process of individual and group brainstorming. Vendor for Brainstorming Toolbox,
CoolTools (Weblog) (http://www.kk.org/cooltools/) - the author of this blog, Kevin Kelly offers up books, gadgets, software, videos, maps, hardware, materials, websites or gear that are extraordinary, little-known, or reliably handy for an individual or small group.
IdeaCentral (http://www.imaginatik.com/) - tracks ideas from inception to completion.
IdeaFisher (http://www.ideafisher.com/) - a desktop application that facilitates the free flow of ideas.
InfoSelect (http:www.miclog.com/) - version 8 is currently available. Version 8 will also work on your Tablet PC.
Inspiration (http://www.inspiration.com/) - mind mapping application originally developed for teachers but simple to use for non-technical people.
The Journal (http://www.davidrm.com/) - keep track of your activities, the important events in your life, and your ideas in a journal on your computer.
MindManager (http://www.mindjet.com/) - more complex mind mapping tool used in business. Will also work with your Pocket PC and Tablet PC.
MindMapper (http://www.mindmapper.com/) - this product will help you visualize your ideas.
MyBase (http://www.wjjsoft.com/) - freeform PIM and personal information organizer.
MyInfo (http://www.milenix.com/) - organize ideas, documents and projects easily.
Larsson's Public Health Weblog (http://depts.washington.edu/hswork/phblog/phblog.html) - one person's attempt to capture some of the valuable public health resources that come flying by our desktops.
Office Depot (http://www.officedepot.com/txtSearchDD.do;jsessionid=
00005TE3AGGSM2DWSGJMAW44MCI:ufnir22a?searchTxt=voice+recorder&x=0&y=0)
- voice recorders from many vendors may be compared for price and product details.
Olympus Voice Recorder (http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_vr_digitalrecorders.asp) - long list of recorders on the site for you to choose from.
Panasonic Voice Recorder (http://www.panasonic.com/consumer_electronics/portable_audio/sd_recorders.asp) - details of the various available recorders.
Pocket PC eBooks Watch (http://cebooks.blogspot.com/) - gives you access to ebook publishers and to the tools you use to read ebooks.
Scuba Central (http://www.scubacentral.net/) - source of dive slates. (see other sports and diving stores)
Sony Voice Recorders (http://ww1.onecall.com/About_00001000_37_327_0_2_0_0.htm)
StudyPen's C-Pen (http://www.studypen.com/) - this tool collects and translates text from multiple languages. Move the scanned text to your PC, Mac, or PDA and your word processing or text-to-voice programs.
Tabula PC (http://www.kstati.com/tabula/) - Weblog for news on and about Tablet PCs. It is one of many available on the Web.
WizCom Technologies QuickLink Pen hand-held scanner. (http://www.wizcomtech.com/Wizcom/products/products.asp?fid=79) - hand scanning device.