The likelihood that a brilliant idea comes to your head spontaneously tends to zero. Almost always, she is born in agony, is the result of a complex thought process. To simplify it and generate a million dollar idea, try to streamline your thinking and use 3 effective life hacks.
Content
1 How to streamline the thought process
2 How to generate ideas? TOP-3 effective ways
2.1 Use new sources of information
2.2 Study your competitors, but don’t steal ideas
2.3 Create a mind map
How to streamline your thought process
In the process of generating ideas, it is important to involve three types of thinking:
- It involves looking for a solution beyond the obvious. Accordingly, you do not find the only correct solution, but generate many options.
- Requires consideration of the situation from different angles, from different points of view, from variable positions. You have to break the habitual, standardized, and stereotyped patterns.
- Choosing a solution from a variety of options. You cannot afford to dwell on an idea that comes to mind, even if it seems perfect. Repeatedly repeat: “Great, more options?”
Different types of thinking can be applied depending on the scope and scale of the ideas needed. More tips in the article – How to overcome the creative crisis?
When it comes to creativity, think outside the box, divergently. If the idea is to form the basis of a business project, use literal thinking and make informed decisions. If you are building, say, a marketing strategy, think convergently, and so on. But more often all 3 types of thinking are involved, and the process itself is not linear, does not have a strict sequence.
How do you generate ideas? TOP-3 effective ways
Orderly thinking is great. But where to get options for selection, comparison, consideration from different angles? Do not rely on inspiration and catch ingenious ideas in your dreams: keep 3 secrets – ways to stimulate their generation.
Use new sources of information
Familiar magazines, communities on social networks. A familiar circle of experts, opinions of colleagues and friends whom you trust. The same authors of the books, the same sources of inspiration. This is all well and good, but generating new ideas requires novelty in information sources.
This does not mean that you should give up everything that you used to trust. Just diversify your sources – find new resources, platforms, read new books, communicate with new people. Even if you have to step outside your comfort zone to do this You need new sources of information like air.
Study your competitors, but don’t steal ideas
Plagiarizing or trying to be someone else’s is a thankless job. If you are generating ideas, imitation is inappropriate. But you can simplify the task by analyzing other people’s work. Look at successful competitors in business, science, and creativity. What makes their designs (or creations) special? How do they think? How do you solve complex problems and how do you achieve success ? Take the insight from each example and build it into the foundation of your own idea.
Create a mind map
You can manually, you can use special services (there are a bunch of applications for smartphones, tablets and PCs – they are mostly free and very convenient). The essence of the mind map is to create a kind of tree of ways to solve a problem.
In the center, write down the problem or question. We make branches from them – we offer options. And so on up to the maximum number of possible solutions. After the last option has been written down, look at the entire mind map. Chances are good that the correct solution will be on the surface.
