Ideas are everywhere. Ideas can sometimes be a problem that just needs an answer. Inherent in every problem you face everyday is an idea that can change the world. Solutions are simply ideas that someone stayed and thought out after hours/days of deliberate ponderings. o current and budding entrepreneurs.
Ideas are sparked into existence usually by some independent and unexpected factor; they don’t come just because we will them into existence. Having an eureka moment is more probable when we decide to shift from routine and convention. When we do things we would not normally do, go places we have never being before or carry out routine activities differently.
Simply put, according to Andy Boynton, co-author of The Idea Hunter, “Almost all ideas can be found in the world around us”. So how do you go about positioning yourself to become an idea conduit? Here are a few tips that will get you out of your innovation rut and help you think creatively again.
1. Write down Every Potential Idea Down
You are not perfect, no one is. This implies that in the course of your life, you must have failed at something, anything. I failed in countless businesses before I finally succeeded with an e-commerce startup. Perhaps in your business, you have abandoned a job/activity, ignored it or failed to address it in an effective manner.
Keep an ever-updated list of your shortcomings and failings, as each is a potential opportunity/idea. No matter how weird it sound, any idea has potential to make you millions. A lot of people have become ridiculously rich by selling their weird ideas to people.
Ideas are everywhere. Ideas can sometimes be a problem that just needs an answer. Inherent in every problem you face everyday is an idea that can change the world. Solutions are simply ideas that someone stayed and thought out after hours/days of deliberate pondering.
When you jot down every idea that come across to you. When you pay attention to every details, problems and issues that arise around you, you’d find that you’re never dry of ideas.
2. Observe Foreign Locations, Cultures and People
Today we use grills, gas cookers, electric stoves and grills among others to prepare our edibles. In some third world countries, all they have is firewood and an occasional kerosene stove or two. We both arrive at the same product – food – albeit to varying degrees of efficiency and quality.
People all over the world, in different cultures from your own will always have things that they do different from you. This human and cultural variety provides a very wide pool of ideas. Take your time to observe people of other cultures, notice the way they approach problems, the principles and methods they apply towards problem solving. You will likely pick up a thing or two.
If you have to visit such places physically, plan a trip during your vacation, meet the people, participate in their culture and relish their diversity. Besides the stress-relieving attribute of taking vacations, there is the promise of the stimulation of your mind when you visit new environments.
The idea for Disneyland’s Magic Kingdom was born on such an expedition, when Walt Disney visited Tivoli Gardens, one of Europe’s oldest amusement parks. Remember, exploration and observation are the mothers of creativity and innovation, so explore like Walt Disney and prepare to reap the benefits.
3. Try to Draw a Lesson from Every Situation and Facts
Every failure has a lesson inherent in it. Learning from every situation is a habit. It’s a habit every entrepreneur should imbibe for maximum learning and progress in profession.
Everything that happens to you, good or bad, likely has something that you can take away from it. It could be a lesson or an idea, whatever the case; we should always keep all our senses peeled to realize when these moments come our way.
For example, I now deeply value being sober whenever I come across drunk driving accident statistics. I stopped drinking early in life because of these statistics and other situations I fell into.
It takes responsibility to learn lessons from every situations and facts. This habit makes an entrepreneur a person of numbers. The more lessons you draw from happenings around you, the more motivated, articulate and better you become in life and business. There is no guarantee that this will work all the time, but like they say, practice makes perfect.
4. Feed your Curiosity
Many times, we tend to glaze over stuff in the course of everyday life. A lot happens around us but our addiction to routine has left us as oblivious as can be. We just get up in the morning, go about the day as usual and retire for the day.
Thousands of inventions that we enjoy today will never have seen the light of the day if their inventors were not curious people. Take your time to notice the details around you that conventional behavior has always kept you from seeing.
Walk down that dirt path to see where it leads, pick up that crumpled paper on the ground to see what’s written on it, never be satisfied with a textbook answer or solution; always ask why of yourself and other people. The curious person owns all the insights gained from observation and exploration, both in life and in business.