How Great Ideas Happen
The Hidden Steps Behind Breakthrough Success
Published on 27. January 2026
304 pages
978-1-6680-2602-1 (ISBN)
Description
Great ideas are all around us, waiting to be discovered. Here's how to find them.
We're used to imagining creativity as a lightbulb moment?sudden, mysterious, reserved for the gifted few. But what if ideas aren't conjured from thin air? What if they're discovered?more like precious artifacts that we unearth and refine?
In How Great Ideas Happen, cognitive scientist George Newman draws on cutting-edge research to show that creativity isn't magic, it's method. The most successful innovators don't wait to be struck by brilliance; their creative process is more like archeology. As keen-eyed explorers, they scan the terrain, dig with intention, and, with a little luck, find gold.
With vivid examples from the arts, science, and business, Newman shows how creativity often comes from discovering what was already there. For example, how Jackson Pollock tapped into deep patterns in nature to create his famous "drip" paintings; how Korean filmmakers created an entirely new genre by closely studying foreign films; or, how Paul Simon made Graceland by carefully sifting through previously recorded material for what he could take away.
By revealing the hidden steps behind breakthrough success, How Great Ideas Happen uncovers a repeatable method that anyone can follow, reframing creativity not as a rare gift, but as a universal capacity waiting to be unlocked through exploration. The creative process is an adventure of ideas?this book is your guide.
We're used to imagining creativity as a lightbulb moment?sudden, mysterious, reserved for the gifted few. But what if ideas aren't conjured from thin air? What if they're discovered?more like precious artifacts that we unearth and refine?
In How Great Ideas Happen, cognitive scientist George Newman draws on cutting-edge research to show that creativity isn't magic, it's method. The most successful innovators don't wait to be struck by brilliance; their creative process is more like archeology. As keen-eyed explorers, they scan the terrain, dig with intention, and, with a little luck, find gold.
With vivid examples from the arts, science, and business, Newman shows how creativity often comes from discovering what was already there. For example, how Jackson Pollock tapped into deep patterns in nature to create his famous "drip" paintings; how Korean filmmakers created an entirely new genre by closely studying foreign films; or, how Paul Simon made Graceland by carefully sifting through previously recorded material for what he could take away.
By revealing the hidden steps behind breakthrough success, How Great Ideas Happen uncovers a repeatable method that anyone can follow, reframing creativity not as a rare gift, but as a universal capacity waiting to be unlocked through exploration. The creative process is an adventure of ideas?this book is your guide.
More details
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
approx. 01/2026
Simon & Schuster
€28.50
Not yet published
Person
George Newman is an associate professor at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and a leading expert on creativity. His research has been featured in The New York Times, The Economist, BBC, Scientific American, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. He has been named to the Thinkers50 Radar Class of 2026.
