Answer: Let Stephen Johnson tell you how in this 4-minute clever, animated RSA video.

From RSA’s intro to the video:

With Where Good Ideas Come From, Steven Johnson. . . address[es] an urgent and universal question: What sparks the flash of brilliance? How does groundbreaking innovation happen? Answering in his infectious, culturally omnivorous style, using his fluency in fields from neurobiology to popular culture, Johnson provides the complete, exciting, and encouraging story of how we generate the ideas that push our careers, our lives, our society, and our culture forward.