Design a Better Business

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BECOME A CREATIVE GENIUS

We all have ideas. Sometimes the ideas that pop into our head keep us up at night – ideas we feel we must follow to the end; they must be executed. Surely they’re the best ideas ever. But the truth is: as good as they may be, ideas are limited. Impact is only created when ideas become additive and expansive: more is better.

IDEATION

You know that idea you came up with in the shower? It’s probably a great one. Yet, it’s also just one of many potentially good ideas for solving a problem or addressing an unmet need. In other words, there is no one single right solution (or idea) for any problem or unmet need.

Ideation is about generating a lot of ideas quickly. Big ideas. Bold ideas. Feasible ideas. Impossible ideas. Even crappy ideas. It takes a creative, optimistic mindset and the ability to use the right side of the brain to build on your – and everyone else’s – shower idea without evaluation or judgment.

DO IDEAS COME FROM A MAGICAL, PARALLEL DIMENSION?

At the end of an ideation session, it’s not uncommon to have a wall of 500+ sticky notes, each with a uniquely interesting idea. This will become the fuel for generating future options.

WHERE DO IDEAS COME FROM?

We all have random has ideas that pop into our heads at random ideas as if they’re coming from some magical, parallel dimension (or the shower). Some people, however, seem to be able to come up with “good” ideas more frequently than the rest of us. Are these people creative geniuses? ...