1.
Believe you ARE creative.
Everyone
has good ideas and yours just may be the next great breakthrough. Try to
avoid these self-limiting thoughts:
-
That’s
not the right answer.
-
This
is silly.
-
I’m
not creative.
-
This
is wasting my time.
-
What
if this idea sounds stupid?
-
What
will others think of me?
2.
Come prepared to the ideation session by researching the topic matter.
The
facilitator should tell you in advance what the subject matter will be and how to
plan for the session. Whether this is collecting competitive information, studying a
trend, or just being well rested, do your best to prepare.
3.
Don’t judge or “prematurely evaluate” other participant’s ideas.
Actively
listen to other ideas and remove the inclination to immediately judge the
idea. You’ll have plenty of time to shoot down ideas later. Here is a
list of idea killers to think about to avoid “premature evaluation”:
-
That’s
stupid!
-
We
tried that.
-
It
costs too much.
-
We
can’t do that.
-
It’s
not our responsibility.
-
That’s
not practical!
-
That’s
not our problem.
-
We
don’t have the resources.
-
Let’s
not change.
-
That’s
a lot of work.
-
The
“boss” won’t go for it.
-
There’s
no budget.
-
Customers
won’t like it.
-
Let’s
wait.
-
We
don’t have time.
-
We’ve
never done that.
-
No
one else is doing that.
4.
Don’t stop looking for ideas until the time is up, even if you’ve run
out of ideas.
Some
of the best ideas come after it seems the "idea well" is already
dry. Keep looking and connecting with
other thoughts until you find that “Eureka!”
5.
Be prepared to have fun and help create a positive environment.
It
has
been proven that a stress-free setting is far more conducive to
generating more great ideas than a tense environment. Keep it light
and fun to get the best results. If you have to leave the office to go
somewhere stress-free, do it!
Done
© 2009 Planning Innovations Inc. |
