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Want to get your creative juices flowing? Try one of these tactics:
View the problem/product/desired result from a different seat on the bus: In other words, how would a 6-year-old child view it? A librarian? Truck driver? College student? Someone who uses a wheelchair for support? By putting yourself in many different people’s shoes, you can begin to see the situation differently.
Do a 180: How would the product talk about itself? Or describe how it works? It sounds crazy, but again, sparking creativity is all about thinking differently. What would the competitive product tease your product about? Who knows what you will uncover?
Personify it: If your product or service was a person, who would it be? A man? A young girl? How would they behave? What would their personality be like? What would be their favorite book? Movie? What are they afraid of?
Get out: Most people brainstorm and try to spark their creativity in the same work environment that they are in every day. One of the best ways to inspire some new thinking is to be in a new place. Go to a park and take a walk. Go play at a toy store. Visit a museum. Play a kind of music you would normally never listen to. Stimulate your senses.
Ask why: Make an assumption about what you are working on. Then ask why. And answer it. Then ask why. And answer that. Then ask why. And so on. See where it takes you. Then, when you cannot go any further, make another assumption and do it all over again.
Play: Have a paper airplane contest. Create a putt-putt course in the office. Play charades. Sometimes you have to give yourself permission to be creative, and being playful is a great way to bring that part of you to the surface.
Okay….your turn. How do you get creative?