Buy low, sell high

The investment theory of creativity draws on advice we’ve all heard before: buy low, sell high. In this case, though, what’s being bought and sold are ideas not stocks.

When investors buy low, they are looking for stocks that are undervalued. The companies have high potential value, but other investors are ignoring them. As a writer this metaphor means finding small cap, unproven ideas to learn, apply, and promote. Don’t buy what everyone else is buying. Look for the diamonds in the rough, invest in them, and sell high.

I feel like I’ve been implementing this plan badly. I do find undervalued ideas and write about them a bit, but I’m not promoting and selling those ideas. I treat my portfolio of ideas like an index fund.

That just means I need to write more. Less buying (research), more selling (writing).

This particular theory was developed by scientists Robert Sternberg and Todd Lubart back in the 1990s and has been a bit undervalued since then. Maybe its time has come.