The Creative Problem Solver

vi.

Old + old = new

‘An idea is nothing more, nor less, than a new combination of old elements.’

JAMES WEBB YOUNG

There’s a little book called A Technique for Producing Ideas (catchy, I know) by James Webb Young where he puts forward the above hypothesis.

Now I don’t know if that’s always the case, but I do know that combining existing ingredients can create a brand new recipe. And old + old = new can be particularly effective for developing new opportunities, but it can also be valuable for some kinds of problem solving too.

Visual

Block A means you can only go up three levels. Block B means you can travel a further distance, but only go up two levels. But put them together and you create something new that lets you go up five levels.

Theory