Your Next Big Idea

May 2, 2022
Sanders, founder of Heard, a tech company that helps local governments connect with citizens, debuts with an easy-to-follow road map for ramping up innovation. “Everything starts with an idea,” he writes, but to be successful, entrepreneurs must not only have ideas, but also master three skills: innovation, creativity, and problem-solving. To help readers refine their chops in those areas and to “come up with 100 meaningful ideas a week that you can apply to your career or personal life,” Sanders offers a wealth of exercises and activities. One should start by “asking questions and identifying problems, needs, and wants” by jotting down “three problems you had to overcome today while completing tasks, activities, or other commitments,” then read stories Sanders provides about other people’s days and identifying the problems they faced. “Brainstorming and mindmapping,” meanwhile, includes “rapid free-thinking” idea sessions free of judgement, and coming up with a chart about “a change you can make to forward yourself in your life or career.” Sanders isn’t short of ideas himself in this treatise on turning ideas into reality, and the “Big Idea Journey Map” that structures the book works nicely. Entrepreneurs wanting to get their creative juices moving should give this a look.

Starred review from May 15, 2021
Serial entrepreneur Sanders shares, with clarity and finesse, the process he's used ever since a college assignment required him to come up with more than 100 ideas a week. His goal here is to help readers learn to be "innovative, creative, good at solving problems, and an ace at coming up with ideas." The book is appropriate for everyone from employees and start-up launchers to students and those between jobs. Writing in a straightforward, crisp style, Sanders takes readers from identifying problems, needs, wants, and questions to implementing solutions. Along the way, he offers copious creative exercises to warm up the brain and stories that concisely illustrate the concepts. In one exercise, Sanders challenges readers to imagine a way to make shoes more efficient; in another, he urges his audience to pretend they are aliens charged with solving highway traffic jams. Your Next Big Idea ignites the imagination with a kaleidoscope of ideas and exercises. Even readers who have no intention of pursuing "the next big idea" are sure to find an exciting, fresh perspective on the world around them in this book.

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