Unexpected/Creative Ideas Hiding in Plain Sight

Aaron Sorkin shared an amazing fact about his Emmy Award-winning TV Show, “The West Wing ,” that he created, wrote, and produced:

“The West Wing” wasn’t actually his idea.

Sorkin made that revelation on Brian Koppelman’s podcast, The Moment . Here's his story: John Wells, television producer of the hit TV series ER , invited Sorkin to lunch to see if he had any good ideas for a TV show.

“I don’t know anything about television. I don’t have anything to pitch him. The night before that lunch, a couple of friends were over at my house watching something on TV and eating dinner. One of them was Akiva Goldsman … And I tell him that I’m having this lunch with John Wells tomorrow. And he and I go down to my basement office to sneak a cigarette, and he points to the poster of the American President (a movie Sorkin wrote in 1995) and says, ‘You know what would make a good TV series? That. If it wasn’t about the romance between the president and the lobbyist, but it was kind of about the senior staffers.’ And I said, ‘Kiv, I promise you I’m not doing a television series. I’m just having lunch with the guy.’ And the next day was the lunch. John said, ‘So, what do you want to do?’ And instead of saying, ‘I’m sorry, there’s been a terrible mistake. I don’t have anything to pitch you.’ I said, ‘I want to do a show about senior staffers at the White House.’”

When I heard the Sorkin-Koppelman interview, it struck a chord, which led me to think about and research the origins of new and creative ideas.

As far as I can tell, most singular, outstanding, and imaginative creator concepts don’t magically appear in flashes of blinding insight. Instead, they often emerge from chance or timely conversations between creators and industry people (i.e., agents, editors, publishers, producers, and ghostwriters) who both know their abilities and understand the market, i.e., what sells.

Some famous examples include:

·????? Mario Puzo, author of “The Godfather.” Puzo’s agent suggested the idea to him based on televised hearings of mobsters appearing before Congress in 1963.

·????? Lorne Michaels, producer of Saturday Night Live. NBC executive Dick Ebersol suggested Michaels develop a late-night sketch comedy show that became SNL.

·????? Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss), author of the 15 million copies bestseller, “The Cat in the Hat.” Geisel’s editor was the one who had the idea for a book that first graders could not put down, using only 225 vocabulary words.

·????? JRR Tolkien, author of “The Lord of the Rings.” Tolkien’s “Hobbit” publisher, Sir Stanley Unwin, suggested its sequel based on Tolkien manuscripts that Unwin reviewed.

·????? Stephen King, author of “Carrie.” After concluding it was a lousy story, King threw away the first pages of “Carrie.” His wife, an accomplished writer herself, Tabitha King, retrieved the pages and convinced him to finish the work.

·????? Hillary Clinton, author of “It Takes a Village.” Clinton collaborated with ghostwriter Barbara Feinman, who shaped the book’s ideas and experiences into a bestseller.

As a collaborator and ghostwriter, my role is unearthing the most engaging stories and helping others tell them. However, I have also benefited from outside perspectives in suggesting ideas or plot changes.

One clear example was my collaboration with Dr. Lanny Snodgrass , a psychiatrist from Seattle seeking assistance with his memoirs. When we started, Lanny planned to chronicle his travels in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. However, as we got into it, Lanny offhandedly mentioned that he had joined the US Army at 63, even after having been disqualified for service more than 40 years earlier by a football injury.

Wait. How many people join the US Army at the age of 63?

He had no idea, and neither had I. After some research, I found that the number is either zero or close to zero. Had Lanny ever thought about writing about his experiences as one of the oldest people ever to join the US Army? No. It had never occurred to him as the potential centerpiece of a book.

With ‘joining the US Army at 63’ as inspiration, Lanny's memoir began to take shape, chronicling his humorous exploits in Officer Basic Training despite his heart condition and later perseverance through Desert Storm. I believed a traditional publisher could help Lanny reach an audience of military book readers better than self-publishing. The downside, of course, was that it might take a year or two longer.

I suggested that Lanny work with a highly experienced editor, Adam Rosen , to refine the book. While it was an engaging memoir, Adam immediately identified the big challenge: Lanny was not a household name, and publishers generally don’t take risks on unknowns. On the plus side, however, Adam recognized something neither Lanny nor I had considered, namely Lanny's rare perspective from decades of treating veterans, understanding PTSD in youth, and appreciating the advantages of maturity in older recruits. Adam proposed reframing the narrative and writing a book about age and military service.

Walking away from 100,000 words was difficult. But Adam identified what, in retrospect, seemed obvious, that Lanny could uniquely contribute to the policy discourse on appropriate age limits. The final book, "Duty Calls: Transforming the US Military," is being published by Casemate on May 15, 2024 . It transcends a memoir; it makes a powerful case to rethink enlistment eligibility, a mission that could save tens of thousands of lives.

Like Akiva Goldsman’s influence on Aaron Sorkin, Adam Rosen’s role was crucial in identifying a superb idea at a pivotal moment and setting our course.

As evidenced, the benefits of such encounters can be profound.

So, consider this: Who knows your creative talents, abilities, and dreams well enough to reveal a breakthrough concept you never saw? Who intuitively understands your strengths and can spot the perfect opportunity you might otherwise walk by?

Instead of falling into the trap of the 'not-invented-here syndrome' and rejecting ideas from the outside, embrace the opposite – proudly look to others to help uncover great ideas staring you in the face. Don’t wait for that lightning bolt to strike. Instead, pull up a chair and ask a trusted colleague or industry veteran: “I’m searching for my next big idea – what possibilities do you see?”

When you welcome the wisdom of trustworthy experts and peers into the creative process, you plug into the power and promise of what amounts to a tried-and-true idea engine.

If you need confirmation that this process works, just ask Aaron Sorkin.