Come original

“To come original it ain’t nothin’ strange You got to represent you got come full range Full range of emotion full range of styles”

Come Original. 311

Coming full range.

A call to arms to putting the best of you into what you create, but also to the exploration of the overseen / unseen.

To come full range: to use a high level of knowledge with a high level of imagination.

That’s how Marty Neumeier defines (in my words) what’s New To The World in his Originality Matrix in Metaskills: 5 talents for the robotic age.

Originality is a function of knowledge and imagination.

K x I = O

It takes different levels of novelty and impact.

  • Adapted from the same domain: little knowledge with little imagination.
    “Borrow an idea from a competitor and adapt it for your own purposes.”
  • Adapted from another domain: you have more knowledge and apply a bit of imagination.
    “Adapt an idea from a different domain—another industry, discipline, or culture. Less like plagiarism and more like appropriation.”
  • New to yourself: little knowledge, but highly imaginative.
    “Invent an idea you’ve never encountered before.”
    But that maybe others also have already invented. This is the first step to become an original thinker.
  • New to the world: more knowledge and highly imaginative.
    You come up with things new to you, but also knowing what’s been done and what not.
    “At this point you’ve seen enough to know what has and hasn’t been done, and inventive enough to fill the gap with a surprising idea.”

In full range,

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