Castle in Air Essay

Are messages like these popping up more and more in your workplace? Faced with complex, aerofoil-ended, ever-changing challenges, organizations realize that constant, ongoing innovation is slender to stay ahead of the competition. This is why we need to be on the lookout for radical ideas that loafer agitate innovation, and its why the ability to think other than, generate new ideas, and trip up creativity within a team be go fars an important skill. You need to work actively on building and cultivating this skill, and it open fire be through and through Often, though, we make the mistake of assuming that acceptable ideas just come.Or worse still, we frustrate caught in the sound judgement trap that creativity is an aptitude some people have it, some others dont. Then there is the other self-defeating belief I am not intelligent enough to come up with good ideas. These assumptions atomic number 18 r arly true. Everyone can come up with fresh, radical ideas you just ne ed to learn to open your opinion and think contraryly. This article shows you how to do so. How to Generate New Ideas Standard idea-generation techniques concentrate on combine or adapting existing ideas. This can certain(a)ly generate results.But here, our focus is on equipping you with tools that garter you leap onto a totally different plane. These approaches push your mind to forge new connections, think differently and consider new perspectives. A word of caution while these techniques are extremely effective, they will besides succeed if they are backed by rich knowledge of the area youre working on. This center that if you are not prepared with adequate information about the issue, you are unlikely to come up with a great idea even by using the techniques listed here.Incidentally, these techniques can be applied to spark creativity in group settings and brainstorming sessions as well. Breaking Thought Patterns All of us can tend to get stuck in certain thinking patter ns. Breaking these thought patterns can serving you get your mind unstuck and generate new ideas. There are several(prenominal) techniques you can rehearse to abatement established thought patterns * Challenge assumptions For every situation, you have a set of key assumptions. Challenging these assumptions gives you a whole new spin on possibilities. * You want to buy a house but cant since you assume you dont have the money to make a down earnings on the loan.Challenge the assumption. Sure, you dont have cash in the bank but couldnt you sell some of your other assets to raise the money? Could you dip into your retirement fund? Could you work extra time and build up the kitty in six months? Suddenly the picture starts looking brighter. * Reword the bother Stating the problem differently often leads to different ideas. To reword the problem look at the issue from different angles. Why do we need to solve the problem? , Whats the roadblock here? , What will happen if we dont solv e the problem? These questions will give you new insights.You might come up with new ideas to solve your new problem. * In the mid 1950s, shipping companies were losing money on freighters. They decided they ask to focus on building faster and more efficient ships. However, the problem persisted. Then one consultant defined the problem differently. He said the problem the indus exertion should consider was how can we reduce woo? The new problem statement generated new ideas. All aspects of shipping, including storage of cargo and loading time, were considered. The outcome of this pocket in focus resulted in the container ship and the roll-on/roll-off freighter.Think in reverse If you feel you cannot think of anything new, try turning things upside-down. Instead of focusing on how you could solve a problem/improve operations/ bring up a product, consider how could you create the problem/worsen operations/downgrade the product. The reverse ideas will come flowing in. Consider th ese ideas once youve reversed them again as thinkable solutions for the original challenge. * Express yourself through different media We have multiple intelligences but somehow, when faced with workplace challenges we just tend to use our vocal reasoning ability.How about expressing the challenge through different media? Clay, music, word association games, paint, there are several ways you can express the challenge. Dont bother about solving the challenge at this point. Just express it. Different expression might spark off different thought patterns. And these new thought patterns may yield new ideas. Connect the Unconnected Some of the best ideas seem to go just by chance. You see something or you hear someone, often totally unconnected to the situation you are trying to resolve, and the penny drops in place. Newton and the apple, Archimedes in the bath tub examples abound.Why does this happen? The hit-or-miss element provides a new stimulus and gets our brain cells ticking . You can capitalize on this knowledge by consciously trying to connect the unconnected. Actively seek stimuli from unexpected places and then see if you can use these stimuli to build a connection with your situation. Some techniques you could use are* Use random input have a word from the dictionary and look for novel connections between the word and your problem. * Mind map possible ideas Put a key word or phrase in the middle of the page. Write whatsoever else comes in your mind on the same page. See if you can make any connections. Pick up a picture. Consider how you can relate it to your situation. * Take an item. Ask yourself questions such(prenominal) as How could this item help in addressing the challenge? , or What attributes of this item could help us solve our challenge? Shift attitude Over the years we all build a certain type of perspective and this perspective yields a certain type of idea. If you want different ideas, you will have to shift your perspective.To do so * work someone elses perspective Ask different people what they would do if faced with your challenge. You could approach friends employed in different kind of work, our spouse, a nine-year old child, customers, suppliers, senior citizens, someone from a different close in essence anyone who might see things differently. * Play the If I were game Ask yourself If I were how would I address this challenge? You could be anyone a millionaire, Tiger Woods, anyone. * The idea is the person you decide to be has certain identifiable traits. And you have to use these traits to address the challenge. For instance, if you decide to play the millionaire, you might want to bring traits such as flamboyance, big thinking and risk-taking when formulating an idea.If you are Tiger Woods you would focus on things such as perfection, persistence and execution detail. Employ Enablers Enablers are activities and actions that assist with, rather than directly provoke, idea generation. They create a positive atmosphere. Some of the enablers that can help you get your creative juices flowing are * Belief in yourself Believe that you are creative, believe that ideas will come to you positive reinforcement helps you perform better. * Creative groundlessness time Nap, go for a walk, listen to music, play with your child, take a break from formal idea-generating.Your mind needs the rest, and will often come up with connections precisely when it isnt trying to make them. * wobble of environment Sometimes changing the setting changes your thought process. Go to a nearby coffee surf instead of the conference room in your office, or hold your discussion while walking unitedly round a local park. * Shutting out distractions Keep your thinking space both literally and mentally clutter-free. Shut off the Blackberry, close the door, divert your phone calls and then think. * Fun and humor These are essential ingredients, especially in team settings.