Idea Capture

Earl Nightingale used to say, “Ideas are like slippery fish; they have a peculiar knack for getting away from us unless we gaff them on the point of a pencil.” Always be ready to capture ideas…

I’ve read that football coach Gary Barnett had white boards installed in his assistant coaches restrooms in case they got an idea at an inconvenient time. Football coach Bill Walsh reportedly got an inspiration for a play in bed and immediately drew it out on his wife’s back. According to Fast Company Magazine, Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos kept white boards in the company elevators. Leadership guru John Maxwell keeps a notepad with a special night light next to his bed. Virgin Founder Richard Branson keeps school notebooks with him to jot down ideas.

In addition to 3x5 index cards I now keep different size Moleskine Notebooks with me at all times. These booklets which can be purchased at Barnes and Noble, Borders, and recently Target are replicas of the notebooks that Van Gogh, Picasso, and Hemmingway kept with them. I also like the Staples brand letter pads. They tear cleaner at the top perforation than any brand I have tried.

If you don’t write down your ideas, there is a great danger you will lose them. In Bird by Bird, writer Anne Lamott explains how she keeps from losing her best ideas:

"I have index cards and pens all over the house—by the bed, in the bathroom, in the kitchen, by the phones, and I have them in the glove compartment of my car. I carry one with me in my back pocket when I take my dog for a walk…. I used to think that if something was important enough, I’d remember it until I got home, where I could simply write down in my notebook….. But then I wouldn’t…. (Writing down your ideas right away is not cheating). It doesn’t say anything about your character."

John Maxwell says, “I always write down my ideas. When I’m in my thinking spot, I use a legal pad. The rest of the day, I keep a small leather-bound notebook with me. I even have something to write with next to my bed at night: a small pad with a light attached that illuminates when you remove the pen. That way I can write a note while still in bed without disturbing Margaret by turning on a light. Have a system and use it.”

For decades, Ronald Reagan discreetly wrote his best material in shorthand on four-by-six index cards that he stuck into a photo album that he kept in an Oval Office drawer. Some of the handwritten quotes suggest that Reagan started the collection as far back as when he was traveling the country as a spokesman for General Electric in the 1950s. One reason Reagan has remained a looming presence in the American psyche more than 20 years after leaving office is his uncanny ability to connect with people from all walks of life. He always had a disarming joke or apt quote up his sleeve — and now with “The Cards,” we get to see up that sleeve. With notes showcasing Reagan’s well-read, thoughtful side and demonstrating his familiarity with the writings of liberal intellectuals and Greek classics,

Bill Clinton told the New York Times that for most of his life, one of his final tasks of the day was to make a 3X5 card for each person he had met that day. On the card he would write all the relevant contact information, along with other important information including how and where they met, and any other information he had gleaned from that contact.

If you set up systems to capture your ideas, you'll be surprised at how many more you seem to get!