PHOTO
AMC/PHOTOFEST
attention,’ insteadof ‘daydreaming.’”
ForBrooklyn-basedentrepreneurand
businesscoachSabinaHitchen, thatkind
of inspirationhitswhenshe’scutting
vegetables fordinner. “It’srare thatyou’ll
findsomeonesay that theybroke through
toanewcreative levelwhilestaringat
theircomputer,”shesays. “Breakaway.”
ValWright, aPasadena-basedconsul-
tantwhohasworkedwithMicrosoftand
Starbucks, suggestsyouschedule that
breakaway. “Booksome time forsilence
eachweekanddon’t letanythinghuman
orelectronic interrupt it,”shesays.
HAVEAN“IDEAWALLET”
Finding inspiration isn’tmuchgood if
youdon’tcaptureallyournew thoughts.
That’swhyKelleysuggests thatyou
developat leastonemethod forcollect-
ingyourcreativity.Hecalls itan“idea
wallet,”butyoumightcall itEvernoteora
whiteboard.
ForJohnDeGroote,ofDallas-based
dispute-resolutioncenterDeGroote
Partners, it’scalledanotebookhekeeps
inhisbackpocket. “Onceyouwritesome-
thingdown, yourmindcansortof let it
go,”DeGrootesays, “and itoften
comesback insurprisingways.”
BrentSpencer, anovelistand
screenwriterwho is thedirectorof the
creative-writingprogramatCreighton
University,usesmultiple“ideawallets”—
alldigital. “Iuseanapp thatkeeps trackof
allmy tasks,bigandsmall.ThatwayIcan
keepmyheadclear forbigger thoughts.”
FIGHTFEARWITHSMALLSTEPS
DonDraper isn’tgoing tocreate thatCoke
adalone, andhe’snotgoing todo itallat
once.Therewillbe typeddrafts, story-
boards, samplesongs, castingandsoon.
In thisway (andmaybeonly thisway),we
canemulate the
MadMen
protagonistby
takingsmall stepswithourownbig ideas.
“Break the idea intoaseriesofsmall
experiments,”Kelleysays. “Try toproto-
type it.Someexperimentswill fail.But if
thecostsare low, youwon’tbebrandeda
failure.You justhave tohave thecourage
tomove forward.”
JOSEPHGUINTO
isaWashington,D.C.-based
freelancerwhowritesoftenaboutbusiness for
AmericanWay
.
82
SEPTEMBER2015
AMERICANWAY
BUSINESS
DonDraper isn’tgoing tocreate thatCoke
adalone,andhe’snotgoing todo itallatonce.
FIVEAHABUSINESS
MOMENTSHAD
BYCOMPANYFOUNDERS
1.SaraBlakely,SPANX
Looking toget a slimmer profile for
apair of cream-coloredpants she
planned towear to aparty in 2000,
Blakely cuts the feet offof apair of
control-toppantyhose and realizes
she’s created aproduct thousands of
womenwill alsowant.
2.WillisCarrier,CARRIERCORP.
Watching fog roll across a train
platform inPittsburgh in 1902,Carrier
envisions amachine that passes air
throughwater, creating a fog that can
beharnessed to control humidity and
change the temperature in a room.
3. IngvarKamprad, IKEA
Nearly adecade after founding
IKEA in 1943, Kampradhears of an
employeewho removed the legs of
a table so it wouldbetter fit into a
customer’s car.Hedecides then to
makeflat-packing, self-assembled
furniturehis company’smainstay.
4.HamdiUlukaya,CHOBANI
After throwing away a junk-mail flyer
listing the saleof a former yogurt
factory, Ulukaya digs the flyer out of
the trash, suddenly inspired tobuy the
factory anduse it tomake the kindof
yogurt hehadgrowingupon adairy
farm inTurkey.
5.DrewHouston,DROPBOX
During a four-hour bus ride,Houston
realizes he’s forgotten topack the
USBmemory stick containingfiles
for hismost recent project.He
immediatelybeginswriting code for a
service that will allowhim to syncfiles
online. —J.G.
