Secs sells. A great new twist on an old, old line.

I once took part in a conference about creativity and originality.

A couple of the speakers believed that any creative thought, if it is to be truly creative, must also be completely original.

No copying, I can understand. No pale imitations, and no "same old, same old" either.

But sometimes, you see a great idea, and realise it has influences. It might be a parody, or an homage, or simply something well known given a new twist.

A great one appeared on billboards last week. You may have seen it.

It's brilliant, just brilliant.

The line "Sex Sells" is one of the oldest in the book, particularly in car advertising. This ad takes the obvious line, turns it round, and subverts it. It even subverts the usual approach of talking about the speed of the car (which is now illegal) by talking about the speed of the roof!

It's funny, and it makes the viewer complicit in the gag - there's a payoff when you "get it".

OK, it might look more like a trade ad rather than a consumer one, but I still love it.

Taking the obvious, or the current paradigm, and turning it on its head is a great way to come up with new ideas.

Try it. It might just work for you, too.

Clive Gott left life as he lived life - with unbelievable impact.

On Sunday afternoon I opened my pages on Facebook, as I sat waiting in a car park.

The first posting I read was from a speaker friend. It didn't make much sense to me, as it seemed to be referring to another speaker - Clive Gott - in the past tense.

I scrolled down, and saw another. And another.

It gradually dawned on me that my great friend, mentor, encourager, raging bull, and inspirational genius Clive had died suddenly on Saturday night. I was stunned. I still am, to be honest.

Clive himself would not recognise any of the descriptions I've used about him above. He used to talk about how he hadn't won any medals, hadn't climbed any mountains, hadn't done much, really.

What nonsense.

I'll leave others to list his achievements (they can start with Fireman, Marathon runner (Actually, 99 mile marathons. In the desert.), Fellow of the PSA (he was very proud of that, although he fell out with the organisation regularly). He was also proud of the fact that he had seen Status Quo live every year for the last four decades or something. Ah well, nobody's perfect.

What he did achieve was an effect on people. He moved people. He touched their sense of self. He inspired them. And me.

His big thing was "pay it forward". So Elaine suggests that you buy flowers for yourself, or send them to someone else, to pay it forward from Clive.

If anyone took the Nike slogan and turned it into "Just F***ing do it", it was Clive.

My last communication from him was on Friday night, when he told me that he and Elaine were coming to see me speak in Leeds on Thursday night. Then he sent me a joke.

There's a line in the Rocky Horror Show which says "What a guy. Made you cry. And he did."

Clive made us cry with laughter throughout his life.

He made us cry this week too.

For ideas, look to your life.

I met one of my heroes recently - the brilliant writer, artist, playwright and all-round good guy, John Byrne.

He wrote "The Slab Boys" trilogy, he's a phenomenal artist and caricaturist, and co-wrote songs with Gerry Rafferty of Stealer's Wheel. And his design for the 1980 album "Beatles Ballads" was originally going to be the cover of the Beatles' "White Album"!

I'd love to say he came to me for advice on how to be even more creative, but he didn't.

I met him on a train.

As we stood in the corridor, I swallowed my nerves enough to say "You're John Byrne, aren't you? I'm a huge fan of your work".

"Oh really?", he said. "Anything in particular?"

That's lesson one. Never go up to someone and pretend you're a fan - you might just get found out.

However, I really am a fan.

Tutti Frutti, his TV series about a travelling rock and roll band, is one of my favourite ever dramas - real black comedy, and bittersweet.

So we had a laugh about my favourite scene, where Robbie Coltrane as Danny McGlone plays a beautiful version of "Love Hurts" to Miss Toner (Katy Murphy), only to get the loving response "Beat it, ya creep".

"And Slab Boys, of course" I said.

I first saw it in Edinburgh in the late seventies, and I've seen it, and the other two Slab boys plays, a few times since.

It's set in the dye-mixing room (the "slab room") of a carpet factory. I always thought it was based on Templeton's factory in Glasgow, an amazing building copied, believe or not, from the Doge's Palace in Venice!

Here's a picture - it's now an amazing looking business centre:

The plays were actually inspired by John's experiences in a different factory, in Paisley, where John grew up. He was a "slab boy", and later, a designer in that carpet factory.

"Always a good idea" John said, "to exploit your life for your art".

Absolutely - even if your 'art' is less fine art and more "I need an idea".

Look to your life. Your experiences, your connections, your inspirations.

What is there in your half-remembered past that could inspire new ideas, new approaches, new solutions?

Someone once said that every first book is autobiography.

More than that, your autobiography could be the source of your next big idea.