Generating Ideas to Overcome Business Downturn

Creativity Strategic Thinking

Creativity and Innovation - Sometimes, we end up in a situation that despite the need of coming up with some innovative ideas to drastically change the present quandary, nothing is coming to our mind that may have a radical effect.

It happened unexpectedly! Your business was doing pretty well. Sales were good.

Customers were more or less satisfied.

但是一个美好的早晨你开始注意到销售开始减少！

You decided to take preventive steps. You have been in this type of situation earlier too but have managed to overcome.

Not this time! This time it’s as if you have hit a wall.

No matter how you try, things don’t improve.

You realise that you need to come up with some innovative ideas to drastically change the present quandary, but nothing is coming to your mind that may have a radical effect.

Sounds familiar?

该怎么办？

在生命的各个方面，在一点或另一个方面，我们最终在一个类似的情况下，我们迫切需要新的想法，但不能产生它们。

虽然我们是孩子们的事情有很多不同。

一个孩子的心灵是一个伟大的发电机，有时是狡猾的，但总是一个丰富的创意供应商。

Over time, due to the lack of enough lateral thinking, predictable lifestyle, educational system emphasising on memorising and judgemental society we slowly start to lose our innate ability to produce innovative ideas.

A huge truck loaded with containers got stuck under a bridge of a small road. The problem was just in a few millimetres. This has created a traffic jam. Drivers were coming out of their cars.

横向思维

All had been thinking about what to do.

没有人有一个解决方案。

A kid was passing by on a bicycle.

He stopped to see what the hullabaloo was about.

After observing the situation, he immediately proposed the truck driver to deflate the tires to the extent that it could pass through easily.

Conventional Thinking

解决方案相当简单，但成年人与其传统思维过程无法产生它！

无论您是否需要新的营销理念，创新产品，故事情节，或者需要找到问题的解决方案，以下方法都将帮助您点燃您的创造力并产生结果。

指定您的目标

If you are working on achieving a goal or objective, specify it in well-defined terms. This means describing your present situation and what you are planning to achieve. If you are working on a problem, define the problem as clearly as possible.

If your sales are diminishing, the possible problems could be a competitor launching a better product, your product's quality needing improvement, the clients are considering the price too high, your salespeople are not performing as needed.

You will be amazed to see how deep you might have to dig in order to outline the problem accurately, but it is worth the work.

Define and Visualise the Ideal Outcome

Once you are certain about the objective and defined it as precisely as possible, the next step is to clarify the expected result.

如果这是一个问题，请定义是否解决了结果。如果您的销售额下降，结果可能会增加对现有客户的销售，扩大客户范围，开设新的利基等。

想象在一个可量化的结果和准确e manner. Use all four elements of visualisation to stimulate your brain. These are clarity, length, intensity and frequency. The clearer you can see the picture of the outcome, the longer you can visualise it with earnest desire to achieve it and the more often you see this, the better our chances of generating more innovative ideas to attain the goal.

Gather Information

一旦您知道您想要实现的内容以及您站在围绕此问题周围的所有相关信息的地方。这通常需要进行广泛的研究，例如阅读额外的相关材料，分析市场，寻找统计数据和其他数据，参加研讨会和公约，与专家交谈等。

事实可能是特定于您的行业，或者它们可能是通用的，您可能会从互联网和其他许多来源中取回。

每次您为知识库添加新的和相关信息时，您会增加大脑提出全新理念的能力。

Avoid Stereotyping

由于我们的感知，我们通常无法产生原创想法，因为我们的感知太偏见了。克服这一点，你必须开始提问。不要害怕问愚蠢的问题。亚里士多德曾经说过，当你问一个愚蠢的问题你得到一个聪明的答案。

我们可以询问六个普遍的问题。这些是什么，在哪里，何时，如何，如何，为什么和谁。要将问题缩小到更多基本部分，您应该先向这些问题提出这些问题。通过询问这些问题，最终，您将会提出更重要的问题。

Think Out of the Box

Forget about the conventional method you use to find a solution for good! The old method of thinking will bring the same old answer. Out of the box thinking helps you get to the root of the problem.

您可以通过询问问题来实现这一目标。这是一个创新演讲者Elaine Dundon在她的书中的创新种子说：“创造性的思维始于伟大的问题，而不是答案。伟大的创意思想家留下了这个问题而不是匆忙找到立即解决方案。

They ask more questions than the average person and are comfortable in the often uncomfortable situation of not immediately having the answer."

Try Absurd Combinations

Innovations are combinations of old ideas. Walkmans are a combination of headphones and tape recorder. Deodorant rolls are a combination of pencil and fragrance. The Internet is full of ideas borrowed from offline businesses.

Try associating irrelevant, absurd and ridiculous things, industries, and geographical areas to the problem or goal. Ask a what-if question, like: what if I add this to my problem, what if I start from the end not from the beginning.

These associations and questions will force your imagination flow and spark incredible ideas. "Imagination is more important than knowledge. For while knowledge defines all we currently know and understand, imagination points to all we might yet discover and create" said Einstein.

放松并忘记你正在努力的问题

Once you have done everything possible to generate ideas, it is time to relax and let your subconscious mind to work on the problem. Leonardo Da Vinci knew this very well: Every now and then go away, even briefly, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgement will be surer; since to remain constantly at work will cause you to lose power.