Whilst we can innovate alone, the best ideas are often generated by teams – Read our five tips below to find out how:
1. Relocate – go to a different part of the building a nearby café or even the pub. The more different the location is from your usual working environment the better. And don’t be afraid of distractions – they will provide creative stimulus.
2. Stimulate – use magazines, toys and images to prompt fresh thinking, scatter random items about and let the team fiddle.
3. Continue – don’t stop at the first solution, keep exploring for different and perhaps even better ideas. As the philosopher Emile Chartier remarked, “Nothing is more dangerous than an idea when it is the only one you have.”
4. Stray – penicillin, the telephone and Kentucky Fried Chicken were discovered when their inventors were looking for something else. The truly great discovery might not be what you are looking for.
5. Embellish – don’t play by the rules, go to extremes. Discuss ridiculous and unworkable ideas in order to tap into the team’s creative genius. Once you’ve listed the outrageous ideas it’s easier to work backwards to original and workable solutions.
Not only should this process generate some valuable intellectual property it will also energise and motivate your team. You just need to think of a problem that needs solving and invite the team to spend an hour solving it.
