Research ideas, part 4: Keeping track

What do you do with your ideas? If you’ve been following along, we’ve worked through how to generate research ideas, why you need to have lots of ideas (and be willing to have bad ideas!), and  how to figure out which ideas are the best ideas. It’s easy for this to sound like a linear process that you walk through for each idea, but of course the reality is much more complex. You might have an idea that is initially not that great, but after months of thinking and refining, becomes something you are excited about. Or, you might have two ideas that on their own don’t go far, but become amazing when merged together.

In short, developing your ideas is less like this:

 And more like this:

So, how do you manage this process? How do you keep track of multiple ideas over several months (or years) in a format where you can continually add to and evolve your thoughts, and where you can find all of the information when you need it?

At this point, I need to make a confession – I am not the person who should be writing this post.  I’m terrible at keeping track of my ideas. They live across a combination of paper scraps shoved in my backpack, post-it notes stuck to my desk, notebooks I keep losing, and my failed attempts to use OneNote.  I’ve primarily resorted to just telling my ideas to the members of my lab in the hopes that they will remember them. It’s a good thing I work with incredible people! I know I need to do better, so I turned to the experts on twitter for advice, and they delivered!

By far the most popular option was electronic notebook apps, such as OneNote, iPad notes, and Google docs:

I like using Microsoft OneNote to organize new ideas. I can take picture of data slides presented at conferences, store PDFs, web links, draw cartoons. Then I try to synthesize idea into 1-2 page summary. Then reaxh our to collaborators who can do the things I can’t.

— Christopher Heery MD (@ChrisHeery) October 18, 2018

I also use OneNote, both for new ideas and ongoing projects. One key feature is that everything is stored in the cloud so you can access it from your computer, tablet, phone, etc. It’s easy to grab your phone and make notes whenever inspiration strikes!

— Ed Huttlin (@EdHuttlin) October 18, 2018

Accumulate references in a folder, name the folder with the idea and make a notepad detailing big picture and aims (all in 5-6 lines).

— Matha Naganbabu (@MathaCMU) October 18, 2018

Google docs! And/or the Notepad app on my phone. I also do this for coding commands/packages I learn so I can make some quick notes about why they’re useful and go back to them when I need to use them again.

— Nancy Fullman (@nwnancy) October 18, 2018

Second for Google Docs - when I’m ready, I can share to get feedback or collaborate.

Also that piece of scrap paper I wrote on many years ago that still lives in my wallet! Actually not sure whether I ever did that study....

— Dr. Dani Arigo (@DrDaniArigo) October 19, 2018

Great question! I use a Google spreadsheet sized for smartphone. Every idea goes into a cell. Related idea are adjacent and given the same fill color. Notes are inserted in cells as needed (can be very long). Best wishes!

— D. Brett Richardson Ⓥ (@BerkeleyBrett) October 18, 2018

I type directly into iPad notes at meetings, email to myself to tidy up and then immediately email to other attendees within a few minutes of meeting end.
When reading, I email links to journal papers and articles to myself with a few notes as to why it’s relevant/what I think.

— Dr. PadraiginOScholaidhe (Dr. Patricia Scully)🇮🇪 (@PPadraigin) October 19, 2018

I use Google Keep to track and organize my ideas that come but may never make it. I create a folder for any idea I have pursued and created a document for. I create subfolders for any idea that will eventually turn into a paper.

— Win Cowger (@WinzlyColton) October 19, 2018

Still far from a PI level but Evernote has helped me a lot lately to keep track of interesting tweets, papers, and notes of ideas that pop-up while commuting on a bus (by keeping respective folders for subjects or sources). That and doodling big picture ideas on whiteboards.

— Juan C. Sanchez-Arias (@juan_sanar) October 19, 2018

I have a list of ambitious/big ideas in google docs. these ideas are prioritized by how much i like them and the list keeps reshuffling up/down. if i keep going back to a particular idea then i think that is a sign to get started.

— Zhu Lab UTSW (@Zhu_Lab) October 19, 2018

Trello was also highlighted as a more technologically advanced platform with additional options for organizing thoughts and tasks:

I use trello. I set up a new board for big picture ideas, and individual lists and cards for the specifics

— Alan Grossfield (@agrossfield) October 18, 2018

If you don’t want to download, you can start with the web interface — the app is actually slightly less capable. They want you to pay to subscribe to get powerups, but thus far I’ve been happy with the free service.

We use it for collaborative projects

— Alan Grossfield (@agrossfield) October 18, 2018

For those who like to think while driving or doing other tasks, a great option is to voice record and use audio conversion software to transcribe into text:

I leverage long, boring trips driving to brainstorm, then use an audio recorder app to capture ideas. Then, https://t.co/Fz1l8qV5eU to transcribe notes! Time alone in the car is great thinking time for me.

— Startups San Antonio (@Startups_SA) October 18, 2018

While electronic options are popular, there are also many who prefer the classic choice of a hardbound notebook:

I’m old school and use an idea book, hard bound. It serves as a place to record and have those ideas develop in reflection.

— Luis Martinez (@TULuisMartinez) October 18, 2018

I have a note book that I always have, whenever I have an idea I write it down, put the date. When I get a new idea I skip five pages from the last idea (space to expand it later) and write it down with the date again.

— Maria zinga (@Maria_M_Zinga) October 19, 2018

I have a little hardbound notebook that contains my research ideas. It’s a judgement free space (crazy ideas welcome!) and is only for the start of an idea (2 pages max). Once it’s developed past that it’s time to move to a computer file/folder.

— Alexandria Johnson (@avblanch) October 19, 2018

Or index cards:

I write each potential project or reaction on an index card. different colours for different areas. Got the idea from Prof. Yoshito Kishi.

— Alex Speed (@awhspeed) October 18, 2018

Or post-it notes:

I just have post-its all over the walls of my apartment 🙈

— Margy Thomas (@ScholarShape) October 18, 2018

I had a PI who kept a big whiteboard and organized ideas into future grants in columns. He'd bring us in to toss things around and add sticky notes into columns. At some point he moved stuff into a doc, but I loved this for bringing us into brainstorming.

— Katie Reichard (@klreichard) October 18, 2018

I use the door to my living room as a brainstorm board. I write down ideas on post-its wherever I go, then I sort them in different categories on my board. Sometimes I re-shuffle ideas. Or I write on my window.

— Katharina Herzog (@metabolady) October 19, 2018

I use the Productivity Pipeline idea that I learned from @NCFDD. It’s for big picture organization and prioritization pic.twitter.com/vvCiY8P993

— Beth Caissie (@SeaIceBeth) October 19, 2018

With all of these great options, you might feel lost trying to decide. A good route is always to try the one that seems to best fit your style, but be flexible and willing to adjust as needed. Put systems in place so that you keep the format consistent and can find your thoughts and information when you want them later. The most important thing is to be able to hold onto, refine, and make the most of the great ideas you have!

Research ideas, part 3: Ask questions

I’m fascinated by the television show Shark Tank, where professional investors listen to a brief pitch from aspiring entrepreneurs, ask a few questions, then make a decision on the spot to invest (or not invest) up to millions of dollars in an idea. Similarly, if you’ve ever pitched project ideas to someone who has been doing research for a significant amount of time, they can often tell you very quickly whether they think your idea has promise.  It may seem as if these people are “going with their gut” as they make decisions, but I can almost guarantee that this is not the case, and that each decision is the result of a systematic and calculated evaluation process. These individuals have just practiced it enough that it becomes almost instantaneous.

You might be tempted to think that if you’re not giving away millions of dollars on Shark Tank, then you don’t need this ability to quickly judge the merit of ideas.  Not so.  As we discussed previously, if you are in or aspiring to a research career, you need ideas, and to have good ideas, you need to have a lot of ideas.  This means that you need to be able to quickly evaluate each idea and decide if it is worth the investment of your time to develop further.  There are many ways to do this – our process involves a series of questions:

• Has this exact thing already been done? This may seem obvious, but it’s surprising how tempting it can be to put off asking this, as it is the one question that can completely kill an idea.
• Is there a real problem or question here? Is there something that we don’t know or can’t do? Is that thing potentially impactful?
• Have others worked toward solving this problem or answering this question? This is a subtler version of the first question – maybe nobody has done exactly what you are thinking of doing, but likely someone has reported a technology to help meet the need or data toward an answer to the research question. If the answer to this is “yes,” then ask whether there are still limitations to the reported approaches or knowledge that is missing. Will your idea help overcome that?
• Is this really the best way to solve the problem or answer the question? This can be a tough question to answer honestly, as we often become so enamored with our approach that we don’t want information that would compel us to let go of the idea. A productive way to push through that discomfort is to ask: If there is a better way, what is it? Has that already been done? Would I be excited to work on the “better” idea?
• Is this feasible? It may seem odd that this question is coming so late in the game, but that is intentional. If you realize at this point that there is a feasibility challenge, it is likely that you can find a creative solution to reduce risk, then keep going.  However, if you spend significant time up front convincing yourself of feasibility only to later realize that the idea is not significant or impactful, that’s not an ideal situation.

When you’re starting out with generating research ideas, it may take quite a bit of time to think through these questions. The good news is that as you practice and gain experience, you will become much more efficient, and likely gain the ability to triage most ideas within seconds of generating them.

The questions above are aimed at deciding whether an idea has enough merit to warrant a plan. If you’ve gotten this far and haven’t killed the idea yet, it’s time to start asking some more practical questions: 

• What is most likely to go wrong? This question is in line with the “fail fast” philosophy – if something isn’t going to work out, that’s fine, but you want to find out sooner rather than later. As logical as that sounds, it can be tough to act on. Again, it’s important to push through the discomfort, figure out what is most likely to cause a complete failure of the project, and develop a strategy to run at that answer.
• If things do go wrong, what are the alternative approaches? Pretty self-explanatory, but it’s never too early to start thinking about this!
• If nothing works, what can I still learn or produce? While you obviously hope not to end up in this situation, sometimes that’s just where research takes you, even with a really good project idea.  It’s important to think ahead about whether you could “turn lemons into lemonade.” If the answer is that nothing can be learned or produced if things don’t work, the project might still be worth trying, but at least acknowledge that risk up front, and set a timeline for how long you’re willing to commit before you succeed or drop the project. 

If my group and I can make it through this entire series of questions and still have a high level of enthusiasm for an idea, then we recognize it’s something we should give serious consideration to, and we already have the start of a strategic plan to get going!  Stay tuned for next month, where I’ll close out this series with some practical tips for what to do with the ideas that successfully make it through this mental gauntlet.

Think of a key question that I missed? Use a totally different process? Share that in the comments!