The Inspiration You Need is Already Waiting In Your Memories

Greg Orme’s The Human Edge reframes advantage as human cognition—reflection and conscious judgment—rather than more AI. This is a relief, actually, and a timely reminder that our advantage isn’t speed; it’s awareness + curiosity.

“Creativity combines the fruits of consciousness and curiosity. Your creative thinking brings together what’s gone before: motivation, time, energy, knowledge, experience and absorbing questions. When these bump together, the ensuing sparks become value-adding new ideas.” Greg Orme’s The Human Edge

This week’s Human Journal Writing Experience encourages us to follow the thread of our seemingly “unrelated” experiences and to see the power of combining them into something valuable.

Why combinations stagnation

New ideas rarely arrive from nowhere. They’re usually two familiar things meeting in a fresh way: a method you learned at one job + a frustration you keep seeing now; a hobby + a client need. Journaling by hand, away from the computer, frees our minds to see how those ingredients could create a solution to a problem. This approach can create a much-needed paradigm shift.

Quote from Greg Orme’s The Human Edge about creativity growing from consciousness and curiosity, with a journal prompt asking how to combine past experiences into something new.10-minute “Idea Remix” exercise

The rules: Grab a page. Set a timer for 10 minutes. Write fast; don’t edit. You’re doing this to find something unexpected — so it’s not OK to discount your outlandish ideas. This is about the journey, not the destination.

1) List three past moments (work or life) that stick with you.

  • A process you streamlined

  • A tough conversation you handled

  • A side project you loved

2) List three current ideas or even pain points you’re noticing.

  • A client complaint that repeats

  • A tool or trend you keep hearing about

  • A bottleneck that’s costing time/money

3) Make three odd pairings (draw lines or use A→B):

  • Past #1 → Signal #2

  • Past #2 → Signal #3

  • Past #3 → Signal #1

4) For each pairing, finish these sentences:

  • “The obstacle here is ________.”

  • “If I combine (past skill) with (current need), a tiny pilot could be ________.”

  • “First step I could take in 24 hours is ________.”

5) Circle one pilot you’re willing to try this week. Put it on your calendar.

Journal Prompt:
Am I missing something about seemingly unrelated ideas or past experiences? Is there something here that I could combine into something new?

For leaders (and makers)

  • If you lead a team: ask for one remix proposal in your next stand-up—“Combine one past win with one current obstacle; pitch a 1-week pilot.”

  • If you create: keep a running “ingredients list” at the back of your journal (skills, odd jobs, stories, tools). Every Thursday, pick two and force a combination.

Join me

If it’s time to step off the digital tether and think on paper again, join my next Human Journal Writing Experience.