Build An Innovative Network
Innovative by association. If you want to be more innovative and originate unusual ideas, then surround yourself with people who are innovative as well. Get creative and inspiring people into your social circle and interact with them on a regular basis.
I had a partner for 17 years who when we got together to think of new ideas, products, and companies, we joked that “We could feel the magic!”. And, he was right. When out-of-the-box thinkers get together and are in the zone, there is a kind of magic and a proliferation of great ideas.
Companies and trade associations often take advantage of this magic by creating “Think Tanks”. A Think Tank is a great way to generate new ideas, especially using the techniques outlined above.
If you can’t participate in a Think Tank, bounce your ideas off other creative people. Whenever I get what I think is a creative idea, I first ask my wife. She’s been part of our think tank for three decades. She has a great mind to determine what will sell, what won’t, and how to sell.
Listening to fresh perspectives and seeing your issues in different angles may help you construct your ideas. The re-focus will help you substantiate the problem and narrow
down solutions.Several of the people in my Think Tank network are Pat Sullivan who invented ACT CRM software, Gary Witt, Ph.D. in Psychological Marketing, Sam Wise, the co-inventor of artificial reality and the inventor of the Data-Glove, Gary Thuerk, the sender of the First SPAM Email Message, and Vint Cerf, the inventor of the Internet. Feel that magic!
“The chief enemy of creativity is ‘good’ sense.”
-Pablo Picasso
Lon Safko
Serial Innovator, Keynote Speaker, Trainer, Innovative Thinking
Tags: innovative thinking, creative, creative thinking, Innovation, critical thinking definition, innovation definition, critical thinking skills, creative process
