IDEA GENERATION -Triggering the switch for those light bulb moments

The light bulb symbol - you know it well: the innovation icon in corporate communications; the animation that pops up over a cartoon character's head when they have figured out how to take over the world or the picture your boss draws on a flip chart pleading for some fresh ideas.  Entrepreneurship & Innovation are two of the big shot buzz words holding their ground in corporate jargon dictionaries but It’s easy to become drained from creative demands & re-hash old ideas & solutions – we have all been in that place where the lights are on but not only are you not home, you are on a beach in another country!

The creative road to great ideas is not usually a smooth, flat one. There are a few things that can happen to prevent great idea formation:

• First Idea Syndrome: I have coined ‘first idea syndrome’ especially for this post because it is something I have suffered from & I’ve seen it affect others too!  You think of a ‘genius’ idea almost immediately after being given the brief & you fall in love at first thought.  Then something happens & you cling to that idea for dear life – it’s the best one you have ever come up with.  Realistically, it’s probably not.  My way to deal with this is to write that first idea down but accept that you are still in an open idea relationship & explore!  Time may be of the essence in most projects but having 3 solid ideas is a good number to aim for.
• Idea Commitment Phobia: Here we have the opposite of first idea syndrome.  You are given a brief & you have lots of ideas immediately.  In fact the ideas will not stop coming.  You are looking for the perfect idea but it just isn't popping out.  Decisions need to be made, you know it is time to commit but the volume of ideas is just too overwhelming!
• Blank Brain: There’s no first idea. There’s no idea overflow.  There is nothing.  The right side of the brain has decided to take a stance against the brief & stubbornly refuses to produce even an iota of an idea!

There are some simple things to cure any of the above idea generation barriers:

• Open Your Eyes, Open Your Ears, Open Your Mind! It’s so easy to become unobservant in this digital world where we walk about with headphones in our ears, barely making eye contact with one another.  The world is literally passing by & so are the ideas!  I recently had to document my journey to work for a course project & part of the brief was to be extra observant of everything on the journey & finally to produce a social commentary from the findings.  Carrying a notebook & sketchbook, I began to get inspiration from the most mundane things & to discover ‘hidden’ gems that I would never have noticed if I was going about my journey in the usual way.  I’m not saying to abandon the headphones completely but just occasionally when looking for that special idea – you would be surprised what ideas can be discovered by just listening to & watching the world around you in real time!
• Make your notebook your handbag/man-bag staple. Wallet-check! Keys-check! Lip-balm-check. (I know the males use that too!) Add a notebook to your list of essentials & make use of it.  If you are to be in observant mode in this busy life you need somewhere to capture the ideas in addition to your packed brain.  Capture anything that seems interesting – you might hear it on the radio or eavesdropping on the bus; you might see it on your walk to work or out of the train window; you might notice it on a wall or in the canteen at work.  Take it down in your notebook & explore it later.  It’s hard to have blank brain when you always have this bank of ideas!
• Deal with the commitment issues – some ideas need to be parked & some expanded. Decisions need to be made for deadlines to be met.  There are a few ways to deal with idea commitment phobia.  Talking always helps especially if you have a tendency to have very off the wall ideas.  Some ideas are beyond scope & sometimes you need a rational chat to help you realize that some of them are just not feasible.  Three is the magic number again – go with the three ideas you are most drawn to & then apply some concept development techniques to make them more realistic.  Morphological matrices & mind maps can help the best ideas rise to the top & come to life.
• Push that idea to the max! When you have committed to an idea, developed it & are almost ready for execution it’s time to take a step back.  You CAN do better!  You can always do better.  A good boss or lecturer will usually point this out to you in the typical ‘compliment’ sandwich fashion.  e.g. ‘It’s good, I like this about it, I think you have something more in you though – are you happy with it yourself?’  At which point, you curse the ground they walk on but then go away & produce something twenty times better & realize they were right all along!  You may not always have the option of third party feedback so sometimes you have to feed yourself the home truths to achieve the very best from your ideas.  The moral here is not to settle – not on the first idea, not on the one you committed to & definitely not on a re-hashed one.
  

Original ideas can be like gold-dust & their inspiration can come from anywhere.  The development takes a little more discipline.  The right execution is what turns them into beautiful finished pieces – whether that is a wonderful work of art or a valuable business achievement.  You could be one golden idea away from world domination..I can see that light bulb shining over your head right now! ;-)

Let me know if this helps & don't forget me when you make it big..