Isaac Asimov’s Hidden Guide to Generating Ideas… Written for a Secret US Project

NOTE TO READERS

Isaac Asimov was the author of over 500 books on a wide range of subjects.

Social Entrepreneurs are challenged to be creative as they attempt to develop a solution for social problems.

I believe Social entrepreneurs can learn valuable lessons from Asimov’s thoughts on creativity. The following excerpts are lightly edited for brevity. The link below leads to the full article.

Excerpts

1. The Origin of Ideas

Isaac Asimov made one thing very clear:

A new idea is nothing more than a new combination of existing elements…….

To generate valuable ideas, you need to learn about topics as diverse as possible. Only then can you combine the pieces in new ways.

2. Skills and Personality Required

2.1. Learn from Diverse Topics

No one makes valuable connections without a solid foundation.

The ability to connect unrelated things arises in people who never stop learning, who continuously feed their minds with new and varied ideas. You’ll never connect what you don’t even know exists

2.2. Be Bold

As Asimov warned early on, it’s not enough to know — you have to dare to combine.

“A person willing to challenge reason, authority, and common sense must be someone with great self-confidence.” — Isaac Asimov

Someone who once thought the Earth was round instead of flat.

Someone who believed the Earth moved, not the Sun.

Someone who argued that objects require force to stop them, not to keep them moving.

These three ideas sounded insane in their time. They often seem wrong or revolutionary.

2.3. Be Self-Taught

Creative people don’t always follow the pre-designed path. They learn on their own.

A major mistake is believing that learning ends with a diploma. It’s quite the opposite. Finishing formal education means you’ve matured and now have the tools to learn independently and question what you’ve learned.

To be truly creative, learn twice as much outside the classroom as inside it.

2.4. Mental Toughness

Creativity comes with a high cost: being criticized.

If you do something different — if you step outside the established norms — you expose yourself. Even if you’re right, you risk being rejected just for stepping outside the norm. And yet, that’s where the opportunity lies.

3. You Need to Be Alone

Even with all that knowledge and the right mindset, you need the right environment.

Creativity cannot emerge in the urgency and speed of today’s world. On this, Asimov is blunt: “In terms of creativity, isolation is required.” The creative mind needs slowness and silence — you need to spend quiet time alone.

4. How to Generate Ideas in Groups

4.1. Cerebration Sessions

Asimov proposed what he called “cerebration sessions.”

As mentioned earlier, you need privacy to create, so these sessions aren’t for that. They’re spaces to enrich the collective mental warehouse — to exchange pieces, to give and receive elements you might later combine.

The magic lies in cross-pollination between minds.

4.2. Session Characteristics

Asimov was precise. For a cerebration session to work, you need:

Small groups — no more than 5 people.

Informal settings — homes, cafes, dinners.

Total absence of judgment (though not embarrassment at saying wild things).

No hierarchy — no one can be anyone’s boss or leader.

Why? Because fear of ridicule and direct pressure kill creativity.

4.3. The Role of the Facilitator

A cerebration session can’t be rudderless.

It needs a moderator who asks questions, redirects when necessary, and maintains the rhythm — without dictating the content. That is, asking reflective questions so others arrive at their own insights.