There is no doubt that creativity is one of the most cherished human qualities, especially within a corporate environment. Without creative drive there would be no progress and entrepreneurs would hardly remain on the market. In many cases, however, creative thinking needs stimulating. The Open Forum website therefore recommends several useful exercises, tools and concepts:
Create a customer map
Customer feedback can be the most valuable item for development of your innovative ideas. Customer journey maps will help you see and understand your products or services through the customer's eyes. Find more about this concept here.
Try the techniques of lateral thinking
This is a technique that focuses on challenges from a completely different angle. It is based on generating ideas by selecting completely random nouns and then thinking of as many associations as possible of these nouns. How can you relate this to your business? More on the technique can be found here.
Set a Google alert
Accounts from Google provide notice on topics that interest you. This can be very useful if you are solving a problem in a specific area. Gather as many ideas as possible. This is very useful advice even in the event that the problem is not new but you need a different view. Learn more here.
A fishbone advises you
If you need help with a specific problem, just try this "fishbone" technique: draw a circle symbolising a fish's head, the problem, on one side of the paper and then add the fish's skeleton - one long horizontal bone with smaller bones protruding on both sides. At each end of these bones write the possible causes of the problem.
Change the frame with the grid
This technique is based on the idea that different people have different experiences and thus, logically, see a problem from different angles. The method is simple: draw a grid with four boxes and the problem to be solved in the middle. Now you have a double opportunity to use this technique. You can fill the boxes using the 4 Ps approach, looking at the problem from the perspective of product, planning, potential and people. Or you can organise other specialists and professionals from other fields who will have their own specific point of view. More on this technique can be found here.
These techniques are quite simple and can help open your eyes when you are stuck in a rut. If, however, you distrust the above techniques, then you can simply create a notebook or a bulletin board for ideas. You will see how useful it can be just to write your ideas down somewhere.
-bn-