8 little-known but vitally important brainstorming rules

If you want to achieve extraordinary success in 2023, you need to think in extraordinary ways.?

Relying on common or habitual approaches to brainstorming will yield results that are distressingly similar to what everyone else is able to generate.

That means if you want to differentiate yourself and make a dent in the universe, you need to elevate your thinking.?

To think at this level, you need to understand how your creative brain works. Here are some little known, but critically important, rules to help you maximize your muse:

Think laterally: We tend to be very habitual thinkers. In other words, our thinking tends to follow the same well-worn, rutted paths. Like a seam of minerals that has been over-mined, it tends to get played out. Following these paths of thinking leads to a diminishing rate of return. To elevate your thinking, you must think in new directions.

Brainstorm longer. Dig deeper: Many people think they can rely on the ideas that pop into their minds when they're brainstorming. There's only one problem with this approach: our top of mind ideas tend to be of limited value. Try to brainstorm for at least 30 minutes. This will force your brain to move beyond its superficial ideas toward those that lie at the periphery of your thinking. Write down every idea, no matter how ridiculous it seems. It could become a stepping stone to an idea that elegantly solves your problem.

Don't stop brainstorming when you uncover the first "right" answer. It's a natural human tendency. Christian Busch, in his excellent book, The Serendipity Mindset, uses this colorful analogy to explain it: "The mind works a bit like a sperm and egg: The first idea gets in and then the mind shuts. But our tendency to settle on first conclusions leads us to accept many erroneous results and to stop asking questions."

Seek unique stimuli: To uncover new ideas and possibilities, we need to cultivate new experiences and stimuli, ask more creative questions and search in new places for inspiration and ideas we can adapt to our needs. Some suggestions: Read something new - outside of your normal reading patterns. Visit a museum or art gallery. Take a day trip to somewhere you've never been.?

Arrange at least one conversation per week with people in your network - or with thought leaders with whom you'd love to connect. Share experiences. Explore ideas. Don't underestimate the value of random conversations. Here are two examples where they have paid off - big time!

Mark Schaefer, one of the most brilliant and enduring marketing experts for several decades, opens up his schedule several times a year to have back-to-back 20 minute discussions on any topic with his blog readers. He describes these sessions as "great fun!"?

I have no doubt that they give him an unbeatable finger on the pulse of the marketing zeitgeist. I'm confident they also inspire him with new perspectives and ideas that he wouldn't have otherwise thought about.

Another colleague, Matt Giaro, schedules one-on-one conversations with every student of his courses. Every. Single. One. These meetings enable him to target his offerings precisely to their deepest needs - and are undoubtedly an excellent source of new course ideas.

Question assumptions: Our brains are full of assumptions - thinking shortcuts that operate below the level of conscious thought. We don't even realize they're there. But they are, coloring our thinking.?

Often, our assumptions limit the range of potential solutions we can imagine. If you want to think divergently, you must first question your assumptions.?

Sharpen your serendipity radar: Open your mind to unexpected observations and connections. They're all around us. Once again, Christian Busch helps us to see what was previously just outside of our conscious awareness:

"What if we could broaden the range of what we expect? Then, increasingly we will see the connections and come to understand that unlikely things are happening all around us, just waiting for us to take advantage of them."

Seek out new problem-solving approaches: Yes, that requires you to move out of your comfort zone. But that's where the Big Ideas tend to hide, according to Busch:

"Creativity is born when we are forced to abandon the physical and mental tools that we are familiar with and find new ways to work or think. People usually display the highest degree of creativity when they use problem-solving approaches that they do not routinely use."

I've suggested this resource here before: Thinkertoys by Michael Michalko is a one-of-a-kind collection of creative thinking and problem-solving techniques, delivered in a fun, whimsical and eminently approachable style. Read my review of it here. Buy it from Amazon here.

In closing, if you want to make a bigger impact this year, you need to maximize your muse. Lazy thinking is a non-starter.?

Which of these rules will you adopt to expand your imagination and your range of possibilities?