Ideas do not always appear when you need them. Use these creative techniques to find business, innovate in your products or services, or find original solutions to the problems of your company.
Henry Ford was inspired by a slaughterhouse. When creativity needs a “push,” there are several techniques to help de-relax thought.To design the production line of your automotive company;Howard Schultz saw an espresso machine in Milan and turned his neighborhood coffee shop into the successful concept of Starbucks; Mark Zuckerberg looked for ways to take the school yearbooks online and created Facebook.
We are all creative. But ideas may need a push to appear at the right time. Various techniques serve as “triggers” for creativity. How do they work? Stimulating alternative ways and “deceiving” the brain so that it eludes fears, practicality and other characteristics that can act as blocks to the generation of novel ideas.
It implements one of these techniques when it comes to finding and improving business ideas, creating or naming products, designing marketing campaigns, tackling new challenges or finding solutions to complex problems:
- Creative copy. Look for projects, ideas, names or concepts that you like and take them as raw material for your creativity: combine, improve or reinvent on them.
- Forced association. I wrote a list of random words, chosen, for example, flipping through a magazine or listing objects around you. Associate each word with your problem or pose to generate an idea.
- Inspiration in nature. What does the problem look like in the natural world? How is it solved? Thus, for example, velcro was created, observing how the briers adhere to the skin of animals.
- Gallery of celebrities. Make a list of personalities, real or fiction, that admire for various reasons (Einstein, Steve Jobs, Don Draper, El Chavo, etc.). How would they see the problem? What would you do in the face of this situation? What would they advise you? You can search for inspiring phrases, read their biographies or just let your imagination fly to find new points of view.
- Immersion in creative environments. Visit a museum, browse image sites, reread your favorite books, watch a movie, meet different people. Take note of observations, details, emotions, and everything that catches your attention. Then try to relate your notes to your challenge. Also make sure that your workspace encourages creativity on a day to day basis .
- Brainstorming or brainstorming. I gathered a group of people and generate a “creativity session” to find a lot of ideas, product of the interaction. (See more in “Storm of ideas: a breath of creativity”)
- Moliere’s technique, “clean eyes” or call to the profane. A fresh and new look usually leads to the stagnation caused by excessive information or involvement. Invite people to say that you have nothing to do with the problem. It can be a child, a foreigner, an elderly person, a professional from another field, etc.
- Da Vinci Technique. After concentrating for a few minutes on the problem or pose, relax and draw whatever comes to mind, without worrying about style or precision. Analyze the drawings later to find information that you may not find easy to put into words.
The playful aspects of the various techniques help to avoid the logical and linear paths, much needed in other circumstances. But not the best when it comes to finding innovative ideas. Probalas and keep your creative capacity trained.
