How do financial modellers get inspiration? Generally not, I feel, by looking at spreadsheets.
It is the light bulb moments that really solve difficult problems and here are three of my favourite ones:
Newton and his apple
One of the most famous stories in the history of science, Isaac Newton was apparently sitting in a “contemplative mood” under the shade of some apple trees when an apple fell and the notion of gravity came into his mind.
Archimedes and his bath
Another classic tale from the history of science has Archimedes running naked down the street crying “Eureka” once he realised that the more his body sank into the water at the public baths, the more water was displaced. From this observation he realised that Density = Mass / Volume.
Dvořák and his fishing trip
Composer Antonin Dvořák, during his stay in America, took his family on a fishing trip and became so inspired that he wrote music all over his shirt cuffs. When he had run out of space, he had to rush home to finish: the result was his String Quartet number 12, the “American”.
Hopefully financial modellers will have some holiday time this summer and will contemplate under apple trees, have plenty of baths and showers and go on some good fishing trips to maximise their chances of light bulb moments.