Thanks to television, humanity is gradually unlearning how to think and invent new things. What for? When the “eye to the world” entertains, and invents itself, and tells itself, and conveniently puts it in your mouth. Due to the uselessness of being creative, this ability atrophies in many. In that case, read below...

How to create new solutions (ideas, thoughts, problem solving…)

1. Examine the circumstances with the issue being resolved

It is necessary to (1) contemplate everything that relates to a topic in which a fresh idea is needed. And also (2) draw on your own or someone else's experience. But before...

Everyone's problem is filtering. As soon as a person sees in front of him, a “color filter” is immediately superimposed on his eyes.

"Filter" - bias, automatic or learned reaction, stereotyped thinking, ...

Freedom from filters - helps to see clearly, openly, objectively.

In general, the analogy with colored glass is complete. Unclouded vision sees Reality better than otherwise. Although the pink glass - everything looks nicer.

1.1 Contemplate correctly. How to look at the world without filters

This is how a child looks. You can recall the state when you did not yet have your own opinion on this or that issue. When everything was not yet divided into white / black, bad / good ...

So look at the new amazing thing. Watch until you start thinking with yourself, rummaging through your memory, thinking about what it should be like.

Eastern school meditation teaches contemplation, alas, for the pro-Western the very idea is not clear. How is it to contemplate? Yes, it's simple - look, feel, admire, but DO NOT THINK, DO NOT CRITICIZE, DO NOT COMPARE ... (turn off "I'm a talker" and "reasoning").

1.2. Remember all your own and others

Recollection also belongs to learning, i.e. previous experience on the subject. But you need to be able to look at memory without filters already.

As an option, or it is the only option if the topic is new: turn to third-party resources. The goal is to gain knowledge.

At this stage, you do not need to forcibly squeeze out a know-how idea, an answer to your required question. More on that below...

2. Don't wait for "Aha!!!". Relax, take a distance, be distracted by others

Don't wait for a new idea. Do not wait and do not squeeze it out of yourself. Forget, relax...

According to a certain nature, a person is arranged in such a way that he cannot simultaneously expect and create. It's like two sides of the same coin: while you're looking at the eagle, you can't see tails.

Perhaps, as you observe, collect new information, at one fine moment, the desired brilliant idea will flash like a light bulb of enlightenment. Do not rush to put an end to this and limit yourself to the like. Perhaps the best idea is around the corner...

Just as our temperaments and abilities are different, the ideal answer to a long-awaited question can come in different ways.

He can come in a dream, the next day, in a month, or maybe in half an hour ...

You can’t distance yourself - get distracted by another topic of life. Sooner or later a new, indeed, new original thought will come.

A bit of biology

How is a thought, a word, an image stored at the physiological level in the brain? Answer: in the form of synoptic connections. Here they learned a new word - a new synoptic connection was formed.

These connections are some kind of brain tangles consisting of synapses, building blocks of the brain. There are a lot of them. Several "bricks" consist of either a word, or a thought, or a concept...

At the same time, this is something that can be felt with hands (real substance, matter, though very microscopic, and hands are also needed to touch them very microscopic).

How does a new idea appear? Thanks to a new connection between similar connections (balls, bricks).

Compared to a smart toy. It's like a Lego constructor: there was a square and a cube in our hands, we connected them - bam, a new figure appeared. But for this you need to have a square and a cube.

Compared to electricity. It's like two contacts. A new thought is formed due to the discharge between them. But for this to happen: you need to have two wires (memory, knowledge of your own or someone else's) and let the current flow, at least on one wire (activate knowledge, by remembering or contemplating).

A step-by-step plan for creating a new thought:

1. Explore
   1. Behold
   2. Recall
   3. Draw on someone else's experience
2. Distance yourself. Give the opportunity to come up with a new idea.

Do not wait for her, do not "squeeze" her out of yourself. She can come at any moment. It is advisable to bring a chair with you. For when she comes: she has not knocked you down with her genius. Joke)

I noticed that the most common question I got in my inbox was "how do you come up with cool new ideas every week?". So I decided to try to answer this question here.

This post will cover the process of finding ideas for my games, but I think it can be applied to just about any creative work as well.

Use limits

Once you know you want to create something, the next step is to decide what to create. However, there are so many possibilities and so many choices to do so that it's hard to pinpoint a specific idea. Because of this, many people change their minds over and over and end up with nothing.

One powerful tool for getting around this trap is the use of constraints. With constraints, you artificially eliminate a lot of ideas, and having fewer options means it's easier to pick an idea. So instead of focusing on your idea, try picking out constraints that you find interesting.

Here are the limits I've used so far to make 12 games:

• Each game must be completed in approximately 7 days
• Every game uses retro graphics that I create myself.
• Each game will follow a theme that I will define in advance (for example: a platformer game)

People might think that having these restrictions makes my job harder, but it's actually the other way around.

Start right now

At this point, you should have a vague idea of ​​what you want to do, but nothing specific. Should you start brainstorming this way to find a great idea? Well, there's one problem: you may never find the perfect idea.

Instead of brainstorming, start implementing your bare idea right now. Do something really simple or get inspired by something similar. Anyway, since you don't know exactly what you're creating, it's likely to end up with something unimportant. And that's okay, you'll worry about making your idea interesting later.

For my platform game, I quickly started coding the most basic elements of the game:

No original ideas were involved. The game was pretty bad, but I had something to play with.

Iterate

Now that you have a finished naked prototype, it's time to improve it. This part may be the most difficult and time consuming to create, but it is also the most interesting.

Here's how it works: have a small idea, implement it, test it, improve it, and iterate again. Some ideas will turn out bad, some will need a lot of tweaking, and others will turn out great. Just keep iterating with new ideas until you have something you like.

I will try to show you this process on one of my ideas that I had for my platformer game:

• Adding coins to games adds interest, so I coded the coins
• Looked pretty but was wrong because the coins weren't used anywhere
• To fix this I changed the rules of the game: to finish the level you must collect all the coins
• Much better but now I had to redo some of the levels to accommodate this change

Just a small idea like "adding coins" ended up completely changing my whole game. You can play my platformer if you want.

Conclusion

Summary: use constraints, start now, and iterate.

With such a system, finding ideas is actually not that difficult. It still takes work and imagination, but eventually you'll have ideas and, more importantly, you'll have something you like.

The best way to come up with new ideas is to be extremely close to failure. The skill of generating new ideas is very similar to pumping muscles. You only grow when you lift heavier weights.

In real life, when you have a gun to your head, you either figure out what to do or you die.

As soon as you cut yourself, you literally begin to gush with ideas. If you don’t have a single ruble left and you are close to eating Rolton again, you start coming up with new ideas.

If you ruined your life, you just have to come up with some way to build it again.

The only time I had to come up with something urgently was when I had no other choice. Life insurance seemed to tell me "you have to find a way out of the situation, otherwise your children will receive this insurance."

I was at the airport when I realized that the business I had been working on for 4 years was worthless.

Or when I was sitting at home at 3 in the morning and thinking that I was bankrupt and that this house would soon be taken away from me ... My brain was thinking how to commit suicide so that no one would understand that it was suicide.

Or when I got divorced, I was lonely and afraid that I would never be able to earn enough money or meet anyone worthwhile again. Or that my kids will hate me. Or that my friends turn their backs on me.

The main problem is this: you are NOT in a state of panic most of your time. Panic is a unique opportunity. Think for yourself, it was in those moments of your life, when everything already seemed lost, that you found a way to solve the problem, to become stronger.

That is why it is very important NOW to find this ability for critical idea generation and this post will tell you HOW TO DO IT.

Everything you had is lost. This is how you feel when all plans fall apart. All those billions of beautiful thoughts have brought you right here. You can no longer trust the old way of thinking. He came, he saw, he lost.

Now you have to come up with a new way of thinking. A new way to generate ideas. A new way to interact with the outside world.

You are in a crisis. Time to change. Time to become GENERATOR OF IDEAS.

Everyone knows the expression “second wind”, when you have already been running for a very long time and somewhere beyond the point of no return, you suddenly again find the strength to continue moving.

400,000 years ago people didn't run for fun. They didn't have sneakers or fancy shorts.

400,000 years ago people were surviving. And you either ran to overtake the prey, or you ran away from the angry lion. You were the prey. And you needed this “second wind”, because otherwise you would have simply died.

The same concept applies to the brain. The moment you are ready to die, a second wind opens up. Ideas, experience, hidden unexplored possibilities of the brain and hormones that geneticists have yet to explore.

But the second wind does not open unless you are in good shape. If you're not already used to long-distance races.

That is why it is very important to practice generating ideas now. If this skill atrophies, then at the right time you will not have ideas.

How long does it take for this skill to atrophy? The same time it takes for the muscles in your body to atrophy: two weeks with no new ideas. Atrophied.

If you lie in bed for two weeks and do not move your legs, then you will need to go through rehabilitation in order to walk again.

Many people need thought therapy. Not so they suddenly come up with something cool now (though maybe you can), but so they can come up with new things when they need to: when they're stuck in a closed car, when a fire breaks out in their house when they get fired from their job, when a loved one cheats on them, when money runs out or an important client leaves, a business is taken away, or when they fall ill.

IDEAS ARE THE CURRENCY OF LIFE. Not money. Money exists until you lose it. But good ideas buy experience, even better ideas, better experience, time, save your life. Financial well-being is a side effect of the "second wind" of your idea generator.

Whoa! It's been a great introduction. Depending on where I post this entry, some people will write TL;DR, which means many bukaf, niasilil. These people can stop reading right now. This is fine. I'm not mad at you. I also write shorter posts. I even sometimes draw comics for you.

I write about the internal idea generator quite often as my "daily practice". Every day I have to check off the work that I have done for physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health.

And in the process of doing this, I usually have a large number of questions that I try to answer. If you have any questions, please contact us and we will try to answer them together.

Sometimes people ask, “Did you really come up with good ideas just because you could do it before?”

ANSWER: I was hysterical because I had not a penny left in my pocket, I was alone and there was no ray of hope.

Now, 1000 words of the promised cheat sheet for becoming an idea generator.

Below I wrote about what I do and what works in my case. If you have something to add to this list, write in the comments, I will be grateful for any advice.

1) What does it mean - "Idea Generator"

You will be like a superhero. It's almost a guaranteed spot in the Justice League.

In any situation you find yourself in, you will have a thousand ideas. You will know what to answer, no matter what question you are asked. At every meeting, you will go beyond the usual so much that you will find yourself on another planet. If you find yourself on an empty road - you will find a way to get to civilization, if you need to urgently earn money - you can find 50 ways to do it, and so on.

After I began to train my "idea generator", it was as if I discovered the source of magical power. Do not believe? this is normal. Or do you think that I screwed it all up here for the red word. Indeed, it happens that I do not have any new ideas. But that only happens when I stop doing what I'm about to talk about now.

Try it yourself. I'm not trying to sell you this. I don't even want to convince you to try it. I'm just sharing my experience. It's like part of your brain is opening up to a flood of new things, good and bad.

Where do these new things come from? I don't think about it, and I don't care either. But I am using this.

In early 2009, I desperately needed it. I was either busy looking for a girl, trying to start a business, or both. And I also lost all my money in the stock market and the bank took my house (until I personally saved the stock market, I wrote about this in my book).

Every evening, I would take waffles and a bottle of wine and start jotting down ideas. That was until I began to eat right and stopped drinking (5 sober years) and I wrote down 10-20, including the most stupid ideas.

And you know what? It worked.

2) How to start idea generator training?

Take a small notebook. The one usually used by waiters. Walk to the nearest cafe or Starbucks. Maybe read a cool inspirational book for 20 minutes. And then just start jotting down ideas. What ideas? Wait. The key idea is to write down 10 ideas.

3) Why a small notebook?

A small notebook will fit into your pocket and you can quickly take it out to write something down.

It's too small for you to start writing a novel in it, or even a paragraph. As a matter of fact, it has been specially thought up to write down the list. And that's all it takes, a list of ideas.

The waiter's notebook is a great excuse to start a meeting. Someone will sooner or later tell you "double whiskey and burger", and someone might even laugh at such an obvious joke. They'll melt the ice and you can put in your two cents.

Notepad is very cheap. You can buy 20 pieces somewhere for 500r. You don't need a hipster moleskin to come up with a great idea.

Oh yes, I forgot to give another reason why I wrote down my ideas in a small notebook. Once a man who looked like he was going to kill me approached me with a bottle in his hand and asked me for money. I took my notebook and said “can I take your order”, after which this guy left.

4) Why 10 ideas?

If I said, “Write down 10 ideas for a book you can write,” I bet you could easily write 4 or 5. I can write 4 or 5 myself right now. But after 6 things get more complicated. You think: “mmmm…. What other options are there?"

This is exactly the point where your brain starts to work. You may have noticed that muscles do not begin to grow if you do not sweat in the gym. Metabolism doesn't speed up until you work hard. The body will not break down fat and create muscle if you do not work hard in the gym.

The same works for the brain. Somewhere around the 6th idea, your brain starts to tighten up. This means that he begins to create something new. Break through this barrier. Come up with 10 ideas.

5) What if I can't come up with 10 ideas?

Here's a lifesaver for you: if you can't come up with 10 ideas, then come up with 20 ideas.

6) But if I can't come up with 10, how can I come up with 20?

For an obvious reason. You're pushing yourself too hard. Perfectionism is the biggest enemy of your idea generator. Perfectionism occurs when your brain tries to protect you from harm. Because he is afraid that you will come up with something stupid or something that can make you feel pain.

Starting a profitable business that will surpass the glory of Google or Facebook is the dream of almost every young person of the 21st century. Even successful businessmen strive to launch more and more new projects, but as soon as it comes to creating this most ingenious new business, enthusiasm is shattered by harsh reality. There are a huge number of questions from “How to find an investor who will invest in an idea?” to “How to promote a business?”.

We have collected 15 working ways for you to help.

1. SIMPLIFY THE COMPLEX

For some reason, many manufacturers believe that the more features a product has, the wider the target audience will be. Accordingly, the more money you can earn on it. But often too much functionality scares off a potential buyer. Just imagine, you go to the store to choose an ordinary kitchen knife for cutting bread, and you are persistently offered to purchase a Swiss folding knife for 42 items.

Sometimes it will be enough to simplify the product, make it more specialized in order to get the thing in demand. Just think about what products you use often can be simplified. What features do you want to remove and which ones you want to keep? And after that, you can safely release a new product that will definitely get its customer.

2. CREATE MORE IDEAS

The more ideas, the more chances that one or more of them will turn out to be really interesting and working. Perhaps one of them will make you a real millionaire and provide the life you have always dreamed of.

"The best method to generate a good idea for a business is to choose the strongest one."
Evgeny Deineko

Create as much as you can! But do not immediately grab onto and try to implement them all. Set aside time to generate ideas. For example, one month. During this time, try to sketch the maximum number of ideas.

And after that - another month to critically analyze these ideas and choose among them one that seems the most promising.

3. BE CREATIVE

Creativity allows consciousness to be liberated and create new unusual and non-standard things. Engaging in music, painting, dancing, or any other creative activity allows you to let go of your imagination. And you will be surprised how many wonderful ideas your mind can create after such creative sessions.

4. READ FORUMS AND SPECIALIZED INTERNET COMMUNITIES

This is the perfect place to find new ideas that people really need. At the same time, forums can be very diverse: from specialized publics for startups to small forums for designers or housewives. In almost any forum you can find a section where you can take ideas.

Just define your target audience for which you want to work - artists, firefighters, students - absolutely anyone. You can do the math for the selection, or you can just pick at random - anything will work here.

Then identify the needs of the audience. On these same forums, topics are often created where members of the forum discuss problems and questions. You just need to thoroughly comb through them - and a heel or two of ideas will appear by themselves.

5. SHARE IDEAS

“If you have an apple and a friend has an apple, you exchanged and you got one apple each. If you have an idea and a friend has an idea, you exchange and you get two ideas each. Exchange ideas - it's beneficial for everyone."
Evgeny Deineko

Of course, if you create a new interesting idea, then there is always a fear that it will be stolen, that someone will use it for their own enrichment, and you will be left with a nose. But in fact, this happens very rarely. Sharing ideas allows you to hear the other person's opinion of it - which is often very helpful. People who hear about something for the first time often come up with valuable comments that the originator of the idea might not even have been aware of. In turn, this allows you to improve the product and make it more useful.

Share your ideas - it's easy!

6. WALK UNKNOWN ROUTES

If the brain receives a lot of new information, it analyzes it in the usual way. And often, to create something new, you just need a fresh look at familiar things. Walking a new route can give you thoughts that might spark new ideas. Plus, this is a good way to unload the brain from everyday activities and just relax - combine business with pleasure.

7. PUT YOUR IDEAS INTO A NOTEBOOK

The human brain forgets up to 85% of information 24 hours after receiving it. And this means that 85% of the created ideas can remain in yesterday's day, without a chance for implementation.

Once you have an idea, do not shelve it - at least write it down in a special notebook. And the written down idea is not going anywhere, and you can return to it at any convenient moment.

There is a wonderful example in modern business history. All the top companies of Richard Branson were required to carry a notebook for their ideas. Later, 10 of the top 11 became millionaires and multimillionaires. Write down your ideas - it's helpful.

8. LOOK FOR EVERY POSSIBLE WAY TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM

You have created a good idea, but the solution is already on the market? Do not despair and switch to something else. Try creating a different solution to the problem.

It is possible that your solution will be simpler, cheaper, clearer - there are many options why it can become more popular and widespread than the existing one.

9. EXPLORE NEW AREAS

Don't stop at just one area. Even if you are successfully running a business, for example, selling children's clothing, what prevents you from mastering a related business? And the combination of two dissimilar areas in general can create a new direction for business in which you will become the first and only representative.

10. STAY UP

Any novelty is an unplowed field for new ideas. Follow the news in science, business, management - in all areas of knowledge that interest you. Indeed, among the new products, a product or service can be hidden that will blow up the market and become super popular.

Whoever owns the information owns the world. And it is this knowledge that will allow you to be one of the first who can occupy a new niche in a new industry.

11. READ BOOKS

There is nothing to say here. Reading has always been one of the best and easiest ways to charge you with new thoughts and ideas. It doesn't matter what book - science fiction, business, detective or drama - while reading, the brain works to the maximum, so ideas are born simply and a lot. It is important to write down these ideas right away because they are quickly forgotten.

12. CURIOSITY IS YOUR WEAPON

Take an interest in the world around! Often, some insignificant information about everyday things can lead to the creation of a powerful idea. Ask questions, be curious, learn new things - and ideas will not keep you waiting.

13. STRIVE FOR THE IDEAL

There are hundreds of objects around each person. And 95% of them can be made better, easier, more convenient. There are very few items that can be called perfect. But every imperfect object can be improved, brought to that very perfection.

Many people would be happy to purchase a familiar product that has become more convenient, simple or aesthetic. You just need to choose one imperfect product - and make it really perfect.

14. WALK OUT OF THE AIR

Fresh air, active pastime are essential components of the active work of the brain. A 15-minute walk allows you to recharge your batteries for the whole day. In addition, the saturation of brain cells with oxygen helps to think faster and more clearly.

This is especially true for people with a sedentary lifestyle. Go outside and you will see how your well-being improves. And to stimulate the brain, take a notebook with you and make a couple of interesting notes.

15. LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKE

A successful product solves one or more customer problems. Collect your problems and see how they can be solved in the simplest and most convenient way. Perhaps it will be possible to find a universal way that will help not only you, but also hundreds of other people who are faced with similar difficulties?

If yes, then you are already on your way to creating a great product that will be in demand among buyers.

As you can see, coming up with an idea is easy enough! But this process can be brought to automatism - when the most insignificant thought will create dozens of ideas on which you can really earn money. Train your brain to generate business ideas and master a number of effective techniques for creating a new business and improving an existing one on the course « » . Register now:

A PHOTO Getty Images

Let's immediately check how creative you think.

Without hesitation and quickly name the poet, body part and fruit. Just read on after.

Most Russians will remember Pushkin or Yesenin, a nose or lips, an apple or an orange. This is due to a common cultural code. If you didn't mention any of the answers, congratulations: you are a creative person. If the answers matched, you should not despair - creativity can be developed.

Pitfalls of creativity

To make a discovery, you need to study a lot: understand the subject and not reinvent the wheel. The paradox is that it is knowledge that prevents discoveries.

Education is based on clichés "as it should be" and on a list of "as it should be" prohibitions. These fetters hinder creativity. To come up with something new is to look at a known object from an unusual angle, without prohibitions and restrictions.

Once a student at the University of California, George Danzig, was late for a lecture. There was an equation on the board. George thought it was homework. He puzzled over it for several days and was very worried that he had submitted the decision late.

A couple of days later, an excited university professor knocked on George's door. It turned out that George accidentally proved theorems that dozens of mathematicians, starting with Einstein, struggled to solve.

The teacher wrote the theorems on the blackboard as an example of unsolvable problems. Other students were sure that there was no answer, and did not even try to find it.

Albert Einstein said: “Everyone knows it's impossible. But here comes an ignoramus who does not know this - it is he who makes the discovery.

“Everyone knows it's impossible. But here comes an ignoramus who does not know this - it is he who makes the discovery.

In 1951, psychologist Solomon Asch asked Harvard students to "test their eyesight." To a group of seven people, he showed the cards, and then asked questions about them. The correct answers were obvious.

Of the seven people, only one was a participant in the experiment. Six others worked as decoys. They deliberately chose the wrong answers.

The real member always answered last. He was sure the others were wrong. But when it was his turn, he obeyed the opinion of the majority and answered incorrectly.

We choose ready-made answers not because we are weak or stupid. The brain spends a lot of energy on solving a problem, and all the reflexes of the body are aimed at preserving it. Ready-made answers save resources.

We automatically drive a car, pour coffee, close the apartment, choose the same brands. If we thought about every action, we would get tired faster. But to get out of a non-standard situation, you will have to fight with a lazy brain.

Standard responses do not move forward. The world is constantly evolving, and we are waiting for new products.

Mark Zuckerberg would not have created Facebook if he was sure that forums are enough for people to communicate.

Making chocolate in the shape of an egg or pouring milk into a bag instead of a bottle means breaking the stereotypes in your head. It is this ability to combine the incompatible that helps to come up with new, more convenient and useful things.

Collective creative

According to research by Northwestern University in the United States, over the past 50 years, the level of discoveries made by groups of scientists has increased by 95%.

The reason is the complication of processes and the increase in the amount of information. If the inventors of the first airplane, the brothers Wilbur Wright and Orville Wright, assembled a flying machine together, today a Boeing engine alone requires hundreds of workers. If earlier the business consisted of one or two trading shops, today companies own points all over the world.

When people express ideas, you can not criticize, ridicule and intimidate the authorities

brainstorming method

In Guided Imagination, Alex Osbourne described brainstorming method.

During World War II, Alex Osborne served as an officer on a ship carrying military supplies to Europe. The ships were defenseless against enemy torpedo attacks. On one of the voyages, Alex invited the sailors to come up with the craziest ideas on how to protect the ship from torpedoes.

One of the sailors joked that all sailors should stand on board and blow on a torpedo to knock it off course. Thanks to this fantastic idea, underwater fans were installed on the sides of the vessel. When a torpedo approached, they created a powerful jet that "blowed" the danger to the side.

We have probably heard about brainstorming, perhaps even used it. But they definitely forgot about the main rule of brainstorming: when people express ideas, one should not criticize, ridicule and intimidate the authorities. If the sailors were afraid of the officer, no one would joke - they would never have found a solution. Fear stops creativity.

Proper brainstorming is carried out in three stages.

Training: identify the problem.

Creative: prohibit criticism, collect as many ideas as possible.

Selection: analyze the results, select 2-3 ideas and apply them.

Brainstorming works when employees of different levels participate in the discussion. Not one manager and subordinates, but several department heads and subordinates. Fear of looking foolish in the face of superiors and condemnation from a superior makes it difficult to express fresh ideas.

You can't say it's a bad idea. You can’t reject an idea because “it’s funny”, “nobody does it like that” and “how are you going to implement it”. Only constructive criticism is helpful.

In 2003, Charlan Nemeth, a professor of psychology at the University of California, conducted an experiment.

265 students were divided into three groups and offered to solve the problem of traffic jams in San Francisco.

The first group worked on a brainstorming system - no criticism at the creative stage. The second group was allowed to argue. The third group received no conditions.

The group where the participants debated during the discussion came up with 20% more ideas than their opponents. After finishing, each member was asked if they would like to add a couple more ideas. Members of the first and third proposed 2-3 ideas each. The girls from the group of debaters named seven ideas each.

Evaluate each other's ideas should not be colleagues, but a third, disinterested person - then brainstorming will work

Criticism-argument helps to see the shortcomings of the idea and find clues for the implementation of new ideas. Brainstorming doesn't work if the discussion is subjective: you don't like the idea, but you like the person who said it. And vice versa. Evaluate each other's ideas should not be colleagues, but a third, disinterested person. The problem is finding it.

Three chair technique

Walt Disney came up with the solution - he developed three chair technique. The great cartoonist brainstormed like this:

There is a non-standard task. Imagine three chairs. One participant mentally takes the first chair and becomes "dreamer". He comes up with the most fantastic methods for solving problems.

The second sits on a chair "realist" and describes how he would bring the ideas of the "dreamer" to life. The participant tries on this role regardless of how he himself relates to the idea. His task is to assess the difficulties and opportunities.

The last chair is "critic". He evaluates the proposals of the "realist". Decides which resources can be used in a manifestation. Weeds out ideas that do not fit the conditions, and chooses the best one.

The application of this method takes 15 minutes of working time. The main thing in any collective method is to listen to the group member. Each thought is a step on the way to solving the problem.

The Recipe of a Genius

Creativity is laws, not talents. This is not the ability to see a table of chemical elements in a dream. These are specific techniques that help stir up consciousness.

If you feel like you can't think creatively, then your imagination is sleeping. You can wake him up. There are many methods, schemes and theories for creative development. It doesn't matter which method you choose for yourself. There are general rules that will help in any creative search.

Clearly articulate. A properly asked question contains most of the answer. Do not ask yourself: "What to do?" Imagine the result you want to get and think about how you can achieve it. Knowing what you need to get in the final, it is much easier to look for the answer.

Fight prohibitions. Don't take my word for it. The problem is not solvable if you tried and failed. Do not use ready-made answers: they are like ready-made products - they will solve the problem of hunger, but they will do it with less health benefits.

Combine the incompatible. Come up with something new every day: change the route to work, find common ground between a raven and a desk, count the number of red coats on the way to the subway. These strange tasks train the brain to quickly go beyond the usual and look for suitable solutions.

Respect colleagues. Listen to the opinions of those who are working on a task near you. Even if their ideas seem absurd. They can be the impetus for your discoveries and help you move in the right direction.

Realize the idea. Unrealized ideas are worth nothing. Coming up with an interesting move is not as difficult as putting it into practice. If the move is unique, there are no tools or research for it. It is possible to realize it only at your own peril and risk. Creative solutions require courage, but bring the most desired results.

For more details, see the Big Plans website.