This is the most counterintuitive step. After you have exhausted yourself in Step 2, you stop.
You put the problem completely out of your mind. You go see a movie. You take a walk. You take a long shower. You sleep.
Why? Because your conscious mind is a bottleneck. The real work of combining elements happens in your subconscious. By "incubating" the problem, you allow your brain to shuffle the data without interference from your logical, critical inner voice.
Young insists that you cannot rush this. You must genuinely distract yourself until the anxiety of "not having an idea" fades. a technique for producing ideas by james webb young pdf
Action Step: Literally schedule "thinking time" that is not about the problem. Go for a 30-minute walk without your phone. Take a nap. Do dishes. Let your mind wander.
Given that this technique was developed in 1939, how does it hold up against AI, social media, and Google?
Better than ever. Here is why:
(The Working Phase)
Now that you have your raw materials, you must chew on them. In this stage, you take the different facts you have gathered and look at them from every angle.
You write the facts down on index cards. You shuffle them. You look for similarities. You ask, "How does this fact relate to that fact?" This is the most counterintuitive step
This is the phase of frustration. You will feel like you are getting nowhere. You will try to force connections and they won't fit. Young notes that this "mental indigestion" is a necessary part of the process. You are wearing yourself out consciously so your subconscious can take over later.
Before diving into the steps, Young establishes two fundamental truths about ideas:
With these principles in mind, the process begins. With these principles in mind, the process begins