Put simply, it's the ability to rapidly generate ideas.

I have always been one of those people with a lot of ideas. When I was young, someone once told me the best way I could use my talent for coming up with solutions at the drop of a hat is to learn as much as I could about everything, so that I wouldn't waste my time reinventing the wheel, or worse, blowing it on crackpot ideas.

This fit well with my interests, which were many. In fact, I quickly discovered there's...