A man knows he has a big idea when he has to place a newspaper over his lap in public.

@Michael: better late than never..Good to see the color change:)

“How do you come up with the BIG Idea?”…is answered best here…An Ode To CONCEPTUALIZATION http://adholes.com/postings/755fe239...

It exists. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's not. I'm account services. My job is to show the business and effective side of things. I have to show progress and be measured, so I can't get caught up in anything that doesn't pass muster from the business/message end. Sometimes my gut tells me something, but I play devil's advocate with myself and try to prove myself wrong. My guiding principles are always business focused. If I have or hear a great idea, it may be truly wonderful, but if it doesn't meet the client's needs, we need to shelve it. The more you work in this business and in an industry, the better the intuition, but that still stems from knowledge and experience and needs to be tested. I'm a big fan of calling the shot--I don't want analysis paralysis--but there's a line to be drawn between enthusiasm for a feeling and good research. Believe me, I get excited about things and am a hundred yards down the road before I stop and think sometimes, but I do stop and look for the purpose before I get too carried away. Removing ego-involvement is hard, but necessary. Besides, I've been burned one too many times when being zealous.

@Sonya: what about pure simple intuition?

@Sara: can you specify if not music what other things?

Usually big ideas happen because you are thinking about what you know best, that for me is music. But, to answer your question, yes, I think about other things, and have big ideas about other things too. Mostly, my big ideas come from really understanding the subject, reseach is a necessity, and from there is much easier to formulate a real opinion and apply it to the problem or issue at hand. Being able to block out distractions and focus is what works best for me, and if I have done my homework, it usually comes fairly easy.

I research. I want to know what's going on with the client, the brand, the competition, and anything else relevant to the product. Once I'm informed and understand the goal, I think alone, brainstorm with others, and then walk away. Once it sits unattended, it makes sense to me later. The best check to see if I'm on track is when someone I usually disagree with sees it the same way--then it's golden. I'm a huge fan of information and time. I want to understand and then let my thoughts gel a while. When I understand a market, ideas come from other things, even disparate industries and totally unrelated everyday things.

@Marc R: right on, but what happened to pure simple intuition?

To answer your question: I keep thinking, analyzing, dissecting, patronizing, provoking, building, smashing and questioning every other idea I see or experience. I also try to record my responses and ideas with various tools and methods.
Marc made a great point; Its not just about having the idea, its the application and relevancy of it thereafter. And as JQ said, a little space-out never hurts–incubation is good. Ideas are abstractions of facts. We can only imagine or re-imagine what we've experienced or seen. Especially when dealing with mass communications. Otherwise, people will view it as a simple abstraction and feel disconnected.
It is impossible to qualify or quantify anyone individual's creative process. The real question is; how willing are you to compromise your big idea for the sake of mass appeal? Otherwise, you and your idea are all alone.

It's obvious that i am a visionary to others; that is why the comment was made. Glad you liked the liked the binocular thing.

@Sara: does Big ideas always involve music?

@Michael: does it work all all the time? if not do you think about why it didn't then you improve it? or just you throw it and move on to a second one ?

@Bert: the binocular thing is awesome but was wondering if you can explain why didi your friend commented for you to wear the binos

I have two ways that I write music. The first way is my favorite, but it is hard and can be very draining. Plain and simply, I hear the song in my head, complete. It will not stop until I get it out, that means playing it and recording it. Doesn't matter what else I do, that song will surface even if I try to work on something else. The other way is to simply sit at the piano, stare at my fish tank and just let my fingers roll. When a song is written by someone else and I am writing a part to it, I try to really put myself inside the song and feel what that writer was trying to communicate, and enhance their original message. Lyrically, I can really only write lyrics after a song is primarily complete, (mine or theirs) and I usually hear a word here or there through out the piece and then I fill in the gaps...other times the vocal melody comes to me first and I write the music around the vocal. It's always different and exciting, it's always fresh and new, and when I'm done, it's like a having a child. It's magical to me, and one of my favorite things about living.

I wake up thinking about ideas and how to sell them. All day long I think about ideas and how to sell them. I go to sleep thinking about ideas and how to sell them. I dream of ideas and how to sell them. I think about ideas and how to sell them. . . all the time. That’s just what I do, how I am, and how I have trained myself to be.

The quandary with Big Ideas is that in effect one must possess eagle vision. While meeting with a group at an engineering firm in Detroit Michigan, a good friend commented that I wore binoculars to the meeting and as everyone knows you can’t see close-up with binoculars. So the outcome is that the thoughts that stem from Big Ideas seem fuzzy to those that do not have the gift of vision. So it is up to the visionary to portion the thoughts together for others as one would do with a jigsaw puzzle and hope that the pieces will fit for them.

Marc are you saying: you are more of a "DO" rather than "THINK" kinda guy? JQP what if you want to have a BIG IDEA in the morning?

I think another question is how do we trust ourselves that a big idea is really a big idea. Almost every time someone asks me to sign an NDA, I laugh at them because usually they don't have a good idea at all. Ideas are a dime a dozen, it's detailed planning and brilliant execution that makes a big idea win. Otherwise it's just talk. So if we have instinct about which of our ideas is big, then we can be successful if we put the effort behind it.

The 22nd century is not here yet, but when it comes I'll have my grandson clue you in. What I do in the here and now is stare into space, or at the lint in my navel, or up ladies skirts from under the stairway. I stare into space just like I'm doing right now in your direction...

In all seriousness, I worked with someone who is somewhat of an outsider of the industry (more of a fine arts background) to come up with new brainstorming techniques which we used to generate unique ideas by not focusing on what works, but what doesn't work and then finding creative ways to make it work.

I just thumb through award show books, copy the design from one, change around the headline from another and PRESTO! Breakthrough idea!