Subscribe to the 2W2aB feedOne of the most common and easily remedied barriers to a breakthrough is not seeing lots of options or possibilities. We need to generate diverse ideas and thoughts to find new ways of tackling an old problem or seizing an opportunity that has eluded us.
Here is a great resource for idea generation. Via the Fast Company blog, I found this website with a healthy list of idea generation techniques and approaches. This site also contains many links to get detailed information on each idea generation method. There are dozens of methods listed, here are just a few:
Alternative Words
Backcasting
Be the Problem
Brainwriting
Change the Setting
Cube Crawling
Other Worlds
One of the best ways I know is to keep asking the question "what if...?"
What if I didn't try to solve the problem?
What if it couldn't be solved?
What if I did exactly the opposite?
What if I gave the problem to a mouse to solve?
What if I asked my cat?
The more radical and ridiculous the option, the more likely it is to jolt the mind into fresh channels.
Posted by: Adrian Savage | September 03, 2005 at 01:35 PM
Adrian - I love those questions! What if the answer is yes? What if you gave the problem to a child?
Posted by: Lisa Haneberg | September 03, 2005 at 06:38 PM