No. 213 · Strategy · General Thinking
Idea Maze
Breakthroughs come from exploring many paths and learning from every dead end.
In the Almanac
“Edison’s filament hunt”, 1879–1880 · “Pinterest”, 2009–2010
Both stories in full, three ways to use it and where it misleads.
Get the AlmanacQuestions
What is Idea Maze?
The Idea Maze pictures the journey from a first idea to something that works as a maze of decisions, with many dead ends. Success comes less from a perfect first idea and more from exploring systematically and noticing the right passage.
How do you use Idea Maze?
To use it, map the key turning points before you commit, log what you try and what happens, and watch for unexpected user behaviour. Treat every wall as information.
When does Idea Maze matter?
Idea Maze is one of the 56 mental models for strategy, the situations where you ask: How do I win when others want the same thing? Within that, it belongs to “Finding opportunities”, alongside Arbitrage, Joy’s Law and Local Optimum vs Global Optimum.
What is an example of Idea Maze?
Two stories show it at work: Edison’s filament hunt (1879–1880) and Pinterest (2009–2010). Both are told in full in The Mental Models Daily Almanac, which has two stories for each of its 365 models.
Which mental models are related to Idea Maze?
Pivot, A/B Testing and Customer Development. Idea Maze itself comes from general thinking.