6 Ways to Generate Great Ideas

In this cutting-edge world, who among us does not want to generate great ideas that have the power to transform their own lives as well as the lives of others? Great ideas have always been the core that produced the world's most significant and influential creations.

6 Ways to Generate Great Ideas

While there is no secret formula or magic trick that makes us creative thinkers, you can try the following techniques to help you come up with great, unmatched ideas:

1. Embrace Failure

When you want to find a new idea to solve a problem, consider your chances of failing first, such as starting with brainstorming. This is known as "inversion theory." The concept of inversion is the same as what you've probably used in math. It is "undoing" a problem by applying the opposite effect.

For example:

45+5=50

50-5=45 (back to where we started)

Let's apply this mathematical concept to problem-solving. Suppose you want to launch a new product. Start by thinking about all the ways your product launch might fail.

Here are some examples:

• Lack of customers.
• Targeting the wrong market.
• Incorrect pricing.
• Failed marketing.
• Incorrect positioning.
• Poor timing.

It’s easy to think of how you might fail. Next, find a possible solution for each of these failures. Such as:

• Proving to customers that your product solves their problems.
• Creating a buyer persona: A buyer persona is a detailed description of someone who represents your target audience. This persona is fictional but based on deep research of your existing or desired audience.
• Testing different pricing strategies.
• Building an audience and marketing strategy.
• Creating a unique selling point.
• Researching industry-related events.

You have a complete list of great ideas to start with, no matter what problem you are facing. Yhere are hidden great ideas that you can discover by following the inversion approach.

2. Travel in a New Way

Travel has always been a crucial component in helping people generate great ideas. Experiencing different cultures and stepping away from your environment teaches you to think differently. Travel expands your horizons, as you gain a better understanding of the world's infinite possibilities when you leave your city, country, or homeland.

Travel breaks down your routines and comfort zones if you are brave enough to push those boundaries. It's in those unfamiliar places that you can find ideas you never knew existed.

However, there is an obvious issue, which is the COVID travel restrictions. The good news is that many travel companies have changed their approach and adapted to the situation to offer you a virtual experience.

Here are some examples:

2.1. Airbnb Online Experiences

You can enjoy unique virtual experiences with Airbnb hosts from around the world, such as going on a search trip in Barcelona or making coffee in Mexico.

2.2. Amazon Explore

It is a live-streaming interactive platform, where you can explore the world and even shop from your computer. Imagine what new ideas will spark as you get up close with Costa Rican wildlife or take a walking tour of Old Quebec City.

2.3. Google Earth VR

If you have a Google VR tool, you can walk the streets of Paris directly after flying over the Grand Canyon.

Is virtual travel the same as being physically present in another place in the world? Of course not, as making a call on Zoom is not like waking up to the sounds of waves. However, you can still open your mind and create some new ideas without needing to leave your living room.

3. The Cut-Up Technique

The Cut-Up Technique is a literary technique where a written text is cut up and rearranged to create a new text. What if you took all your ideas related to a specific topic and mixed them, deriving many new ideas?

This literary technique dates back to the 1920s. Author William S. Burroughs popularized the Cut-up technique in the 1950s, whose popular work Naked Lunch sparked a lot of controversy at that time.

The idea is to take a text, cut it up, and then rearrange it to create a new text. Thanks to websites like Stick Bucket, you can apply this method to any idea. This method is not only a quick fix for getting stuck in your thinking, but it also compels you to view things from a new perspective, which may spark many creative ideas.

4. Follow a Different Approach

It is easy to fall into a certain routine. You have driven your child to school every day for years, following the same route many times until you can do it with your eyes closed, but do not do that. Just force yourself to take a different route that helps train your mind and allows you to generate new ideas. Additionally, be sure that you will find new sites along the way.

Finding a different work approach is difficult since most of us have to work from home during the pandemic. However, you can try other things, like changing your workroom. Before we go any further, we must remind you that sometimes the best ideas originate from the most unlikely places.

5. Learn New Tricks

If you are looking for a fresh approach to an old problem and generate new ideas, examine this problem carefully and figure out how to enhance what you are doing now.

This is not the same as the inversion theory we discussed earlier because instead of looking for answers to expected failure, you are looking for improvement ideas.

Let's say you want to lower your monthly electricity bill and you've asked your family to stop using the water heater and heater. All you did in this case was create a hostile environment. Rather, try hard to get everyone to agree that the electricity bill should be reduced. After that, consider modifying the way you provide your family with feedback regarding electricity usage in the house.

6. Network

You never know where your next great idea will come from, so if you're looking for a quick way to discover them, check out social networks. There, we can get different viewpoints on problems by conversing with others.

It's a chance to listen to others and pick up tips from them since they might have experienced similar things and know how to handle situations. Don't be afraid to interact with people outside of your own world because you can gain knowledge from both their achievements and mistakes.

Speaking with like-minded individuals runs the risk of preventing you from being exposed to diverse viewpoints since well-received ideas frequently result in a noticeable improvement in the current situation.

In Conclusion

Though these tips will undoubtedly help you generate great ideas, you still need to work on them to make them truly useful.

The above-mentioned tips will help you come up with a fantastic list of creative ideas. Which ones will you benefit from, in your opinion? Try these tips until you can discover them for yourself.