Originality with Purpose...

To create something that's never been done, just for the sake of being original, is insultingly easy. For instance... turkeyfightclub.com 


Ever hear of it? No? Exactly... because I just invented that sh&t.  It's a website concept for... well, no purpose whatsoever, but it's original. Just think, any combination of the words turkey, fight and club make complete sense. Try it. Fight Club... check. Turkey Fight... check.  Club Turkey... check. Just visit the site, enter the combination of words you desire and watch the icons appear. 

turkeyfightclub.com (don't steal this idea)

Make it relevant...


To be original with meaning, with results, with purpose... that is true innovation... real creativity (I might have stolen that). Whether it's a business venture, art project or new invention, any original idea is worthless without execution. How many great ideas are sitting on the shelf right now without the slightest hope of being realized? Yeah... probably most of them, but it's impossible to know for sure because they're trapped in "idea purgatory."


3 ways to deal with the originality conundrum:


1) Don't "DO" anything: Don't make anything, don't write anything, don't design anything, don't invent anything, don't think anything... because there's no point... it's already been done, right? 


2) Remain uninformed: Remember the movie Knocked-Up? Ben (Seth Rogen) was making a website with his stoner friends that would indicate the exact moment that nudity occurred in certain movies. They were crushed when Pete (Paul Rudd) told them about "Mr. Skin," a site that was already doing exactly that. With this strategy you basically insulate yourself from the truth by staying deliberately, or perhaps inadvertently, uninformed. Hey... if the idea is original to you, then who cares if it's already been done, right? You didn't know. (It actually does suck when you do come up with something worthwhile and find out it's been done though). 


3) Steal like an artist: (I actually stole that: http://www.austinkleon.com/2011/03/30/how-to-steal-like-an-artist-and-9-other-things-nobody-told-me). In other words, find something worthwhile, something great, and make it yours. Don't worry about misappropriation because it's completely acceptable within the creative domain. Comedians do it with jokes... writers do it with books... inventors do it with ideas... architects do it with designs. In fact, the originator of a new idea often fails in one way or another, only opening the door for you to make it better. 


So... go make it better.