So, you have just started thinking about an idea, which you think will lead to a great invention. But you need to work out the details.

So, how do you proceed?

At least during the initial phases of inventing, you need to have breadth, in addition to depth. I will explain. By depth, I mean that you have already laser focused on the invention, and are trying to maniacally work out all the details of it, specific to one single application which is in your mind.

Now, do not get me wrong. Maniacal obsession can sometimes be a good thing for inventors. However, at least during the initial phases, try to think about the many different directions which you can take your main idea to. Do not limit yourself to one single application of the idea. Think about the different possibilities. Do not think of any application as silly. It is the buyer or the consumer of the invention who will decide that.

Keep writing down all possibilities for a few days, and once you think you have gathered almost all of the ideas, go back, and look at what you have written down about your invention. Look at everything. Now, with this newly available information about your invention/idea, think of the best way to go about it. Even if you decide not to do any of them, it will help you when you try to pitch the invention before an interested buyer, and he is not interested in the specific use or design – that is when your breadth analysis will come handy for you and your invention!