As an inventor* (in this episode), Homer was on the right track. In fact, through his own“process” he discovered a truly original idea: the un-tippable chair. Unfortunately Thomas Edison beat him to it decades earlier, D’oh!
When do you stop researching? As a neophyte researcher and someone who resisted looking too deeply at things lest they “pollute” my own vision, this may be a very naive question. Early in my career as an art director you were warned by some senior creative directors not to study the creative annuals of award winning work. Look, but don’t look too hard at. It was obvious, however, that many others would take more than just a little inspiration from the work they saw. I was determined to be original.
I suppose, by being blind to some of what’s really out there may make you think you’re being original, but as google and computer information systems in general, become smarter and even more ubiquitious there’s no excuse not to be intimately familiar with the arena you’re playing in. The reasearch is out there. All the information you want is at your fingertips. With even just an average ability to comprehend your material, gaining basic mastery over your subject area is no longer a time-consuming task.
* with respect to innnovation / invention , I realize that they are very different things. An invention is not necessarily an innovation. I prefer Art Fry’s definition “Innovation is where people switch to a new practice or use a new product”
