I have been researching ways to become more creative in my life. I am sharing the following list of tools I have put together that can be used to increase your creativity as well. These tools might help with new business or product ideas, or angles on established idea’s, etc. Hope it might be helpful to someone.
Note – Creativity is nothing if action does not follow it.
Brainstorming – A popular tool that helps generate creative solutions. When used with a team, Brainstorming can combine the diverse experience of all team members. Brainstorming asks that people come up with ideas and thoughts that can at first seem to be a bit crazy. Some of the ideas become original solutions to the problem you are trying to solve while others may spark additional “more creative†solutions to the problem. While brainstorming, no ideas should be discounted or criticized as they may lead to better additional ideas. Ideas should only be evaluated after the brainstorming session.
Reverse Brainstorming – To use reverse brainstorming, you start with one of two “reverse†questions.
Instead of asking, “How do I solve or prevent this problem?†ask, “How can I possibly cause this problem?â€
Instead of asking, “How do I achieve these results?†ask, “How could I possibly achieve the opposite effect?â€
Putting reverse brainstorming into action:
1) Clearly identify the problem or challenge, and write it down.
2) Reverse the problem or challenge by asking the above two questions
3) Brainstorm the reverse problem to generate solution ideas.
4) Once you have brainstormed all the ideas to solve the reverse problem, reverse these into solution ideas for the original problem or challenge.
Reverse brainstorming is a good technique to try when solutions to your original problem are difficult to identify.
SCAMPER – Used to generate ideas for new products and services by encouraging you to think about how you could improve existing ones.
With existing products, use the above prompts to generate creative ideas for developing new products or improving current ones.
Example Questions
Substitute
Combine
Adapt
Modify
Put to another use
Eliminate
Reverse
Please feel free to add to this list.
Note – Creativity is nothing if action does not follow it.
Brainstorming – A popular tool that helps generate creative solutions. When used with a team, Brainstorming can combine the diverse experience of all team members. Brainstorming asks that people come up with ideas and thoughts that can at first seem to be a bit crazy. Some of the ideas become original solutions to the problem you are trying to solve while others may spark additional “more creative†solutions to the problem. While brainstorming, no ideas should be discounted or criticized as they may lead to better additional ideas. Ideas should only be evaluated after the brainstorming session.
Reverse Brainstorming – To use reverse brainstorming, you start with one of two “reverse†questions.
Instead of asking, “How do I solve or prevent this problem?†ask, “How can I possibly cause this problem?â€
Instead of asking, “How do I achieve these results?†ask, “How could I possibly achieve the opposite effect?â€
Putting reverse brainstorming into action:
1) Clearly identify the problem or challenge, and write it down.
2) Reverse the problem or challenge by asking the above two questions
3) Brainstorm the reverse problem to generate solution ideas.
4) Once you have brainstormed all the ideas to solve the reverse problem, reverse these into solution ideas for the original problem or challenge.
Reverse brainstorming is a good technique to try when solutions to your original problem are difficult to identify.
SCAMPER – Used to generate ideas for new products and services by encouraging you to think about how you could improve existing ones.
- Substitute
- Combine
- Adapt
- Modify
- Put to another use
- Eliminate
- Reverse
With existing products, use the above prompts to generate creative ideas for developing new products or improving current ones.
Example Questions
Substitute
- What materials or resources could be used to improve the product
- Can you use this product somewhere else or as a substitute for something else?
- What other product or process could you use?
Combine
- What would happen if you combined this product with another, to create something new?
- How could you combine talent and resources to create a new approach to the product or service?
Adapt
- How could you adapt or readjust this product to serve another purpose or use?
- What other context could you put your product into?
- What else is this product like?
Modify
- How could you change the shape, look, or feel of your product?
- What could you add to modify this product?
- What could you take away to modify this product?
- What could you emphasize or highlight to create more value?
- What could be strengthened to create something new?
Put to another use
- Can this be used in another industry
- Who else could use this product
- Can you recycle the waste from this product to make something new?
- How would this product behave differently in another setting?
Eliminate
- How could you streamline or simplify this product?
- What features, parts, or rules could be eliminated?
- How could you make it smaller, faster, lighter, or more fun?
- What would happen if you took away part of this product?
Reverse
- What would happen if you reversed this process or sequenced things differently?
- What if you try to do the exact opposite of what you’re trying now?
- What roles could you reverse or swap?
- How could you reorganize this product?
Please feel free to add to this list.
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