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If you work in a creative industry, the most important skill that you can possibly learn is how to generate ideas. Most people have the notion that you have to be some kind of genius to come up with “genius” ideas. This is patently false. We all create fantastic ideas almost constantly, it’s just that we have a hard time recognizing that fact when we really need to. This guide will help you get a handle on the process of idea generation and maybe help you come up with your next big innovation.

Identify Your Problem

The biggest sticking point that people arrive at when trying to come up with an idea is that they have an unclear concept of what their problem really is. What are you trying to accomplish with this idea? What type of quantifiable goals are you trying to achieve? From designing a new Web 2.0 super-app to generating a new advertising campaign, you need to have a clear picture of what you want to do.

“I want to create a social network that will attract college age students who are interested in graphic design.” is a much better problem domain than, “I want to get rich.” When trying to come up with an idea, the first step should always be to get as clear a picture as possible of what you want to accomplish.

Overkill

After you understand your problem domain, start writing down solutions. The problem most people face is that they believe they need to come up with the best possible idea the first time. In most cases, your “best” idea will be a combination of many failed ones. Just start brain storming.

Even if something sounds ridiculous there might be elements of the idea that you can draw on later on. If you think you’ll need three concepts, work as if you’ll need ten. Force yourself to think outside of your comfort zone and you’ll find that ideas will start coming to you more easily. The most important thing is to write everything down. Your mind is a horrible place to store ideas. The devil’s in the details and details require pen and ink.

Best of Breed

Now that you have your long list of potential ideas, it’s time to start being selective. Eliminate concepts that simply can’t work, and decide what it is that you liked about them. Leave yourself with both the concepts that can be created and a list of the good facets of those concepts that can not be. Maybe you can’t get 50,000 people for your marketing focus group, but you might be able to get 500. Keep what works, and adjust those things that don’t to get them to work.

Drop It

Now that you have your list of great ideas and you feel that you are just one big push away from solving your problem, drop it. Put down your pad, close your mind map and walk away from the problem for the rest of the day. Do your best not to even think about it. When you spend a lot of time brainstorming solutions to a problem, you tend to start suffering from myopia. Walking away from the problem gives your mind time to process everything that you have worked on, and gives you an opportunity to regain perspective.

Second Pass

With your brand new perspective, it’s time to go through your list again. Now for the hard part, run your ideas by friends, family, colleagues or anyone else you can find who is willing to sit down and listen to you ramble. Some people are afraid of allowing others to see ideas that are still in incubation, mostly because they feel that if someone they respect disapproves of them that must mean the idea is destined to fail. This is simply not true. Getting fresh perspective on an idea can help you refine it, not only that but explaining your ideas to others allows you to get a better understanding of what you were trying to accomplish in the first place.

Take external advice with a grain of salt, but be sure to take it. Use it to whittle down your list.

Take The Plunge

By now, you probably have a feel for the idea which really fires your imagination. It’s time to throw caution to the wind and put your thoughts into action. You can spend a lifetime refining an abstract concept to a fine point, but the absolute best way to improve an idea is to act upon it, see how it turns out and then make the adjustments that should become obvious.

Web 2.0 Roundup

MindMeister

A mind map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks or other items linked to and arranged radially around a central key word or idea. It is used to generate, visualize, structure and classify ideas, and as an aid in study, organization, problem solving, and decision making.

Ahem, in layman’s terms that means that a mind map helps you organize thoughts. MindMeister is the Web 2.0 answer to creating mind maps. Sign up for a free account and create up to 6 mind maps which you can collaborate on with others. Use this tool for collaborative idea generation and organizing abstract thoughts. It won’t help you come up with ideas, but it might help you refine them.

Here are some general tips that you should live by when coming up with ideas, they have been drawn from Jack Foster’s book, aptly named, “How To Get Ideas”.

• Become Idea Prone
• Set Your Mind On A Goal
• Be More Like A Child
• Get More Inputs
• Screw Up Your Courage
• Rethink Your Thinking
• Learn How To Combine

And most importantly, Have Fun!