How to Generate Original Ideas (By Connecting the Dots)

Ever Feel Like You’re “Out of Ideas”?

You sit down to create…

And nothing comes.

Or worse—you come up with something, but it feels:

• obvious

• overdone

• not quite there

This isn’t a creativity problem.

It’s a connection problem.

Because at its core, creativity isn’t about inventing something from nothing…

It’s about connecting things in new ways.

Where Ideas Actually Come From

Every idea you’ve ever had is built from something you already know.

Your experiences

Your knowledge

What you’ve seen, learned, and absorbed

Think of these as dots.

Creative thinking is simply the ability to:

connect those dots in interesting and unexpected ways

The more dots you have…

and the better you are at connecting them…

The more creative you become.

The “Adjacent Possible” (Your Creative Playground)

There’s a concept called the Adjacent Possible.

It’s a simple but powerful idea:

Your creativity is limited (or expanded) by what you already know.

Let’s make this super simple.

If you only know one letter:

A

How many combinations can you make?

None.

Now add two more:

A, C, T

Suddenly, you unlock:

• Act

• Cat

• Tac

• At

With just two extra pieces of information, your possibilities expand dramatically.

That’s how creativity works.

More Input = More Possibilities

If you want better ideas, you don’t just need to “think harder.”

You need to:

• learn more

• observe more

• experience more

Because every new piece of input adds another dot to your system.

And more dots = more potential connections.

A Real Example (From My Own Work)

Let me show you what this looks like in action.

At one point, I was:

• learning Adobe Illustrator (specifically the Pathfinder tool)

• and… eating pizza

Two completely unrelated things.

But then I asked a simple question:

“What would it look like if I applied Pathfinder tools to a pizza?”

That single question led to:

• a fictional brand: Pathfinder Pizza Company

• a series of illustrations

• and eventually… a full class concept

That idea didn’t come from nowhere.

It came from connecting two unrelated dots:

👉 design tools + pizza

Before You Connect Dots… You Need to Collect Them

Here’s the part most people miss:

You can’t connect dots you don’t have.

Which means creativity isn’t just about thinking…

It’s also about:

• learning new skills

• observing the world

• building your “mental library”

Even skills that seem unrelated can become valuable later.

You never know when something will connect.

Why Most People Miss Creative Opportunities

Opportunities for ideas are everywhere.

But most people don’t see them because:

• they’re not looking for connections

• they haven’t trained that thinking pattern

• they stop at the first idea

Creative thinkers, on the other hand:

• stay curious

• ask more questions

• explore further

They don’t just find a solution…

They look for better and more interesting ones.

Start Training This Skill Today

You don’t need to wait for inspiration.

You can train your brain to make connections on demand.

In the next post, I’ll walk you through a simple exercise that helps you:

• generate ideas quickly

• build associations

• and unlock new ways of thinking

Want to Go Deeper?

This post is just one part of a full system I use to develop creative thinking.

In my full class, I walk through:

• step-by-step creative exercises

• real examples

• and how to build a daily habit that actually sticks

👉 [Watch the full class on Skillshare]

👉 Next Post: A Simple Exercise to Instantly Generate More Ideas (Word Blast)