Linus Pauling, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1954, and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1962, once said: “The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas.”
It sounds like a simple strategy, but it turns out to be a great deal more difficult than it sounds. Here are a few ways you can try to increase your capacity to come up with new ideas.
New ideas require looking at problems or challenges from a different perspective. This can help you see relationships you may have previously thought unlikely. This is known as associative thinking. Associative thinking is a crucial component of using asset-based approaches to creating change. As you uncover people’s skills, relationships, and talents, the best ideas often emerge by considering how to connect two or three seemingly unrelated assets. This skill is at the core of creative leadership.
If you survey all of the capacities you have to leverage, you have to be willing to identify potential relationships between things which at first glance appear to be unrelated. Then ask yourself, “What if?”
Appreciative Inquiry is another good way to stumble upon new ideas. Generative dialogue serves to create community by forming new relationships. It also generates ideas with a future focus. Asking questions always yields new ideas because every person will have a unique response to a question (Read more about Appreciative Inquiry here).
Songwriters are often asked whether they start with the lyrics, or the melody. Their responses remind us that songwriting is not necessarily a rigid process. Sometimes it is a single lyrical phrase. Other times it is the tiniest piece of a chorus. A common thread among many songwriters, however, is that they write down these bits and pieces as soon as they come to them, or maybe record a short voice message to return to later. This is a good habit.
Ideas can be fleeting. Make some type of note that you can return to. Some creative people keep a notepad at their bedside. As they lay down, and the noise of the day begins to clear their mind, a moment of clarity can reveal itself. They write their insight down, so it doesn’t get lost.
Finally, remember that not all ideas are gems. Two or three bad ideas might simply be covering up a magnificent one. Ideas hide in serendipity. They can come from deliberate attempts, but they can also be happy accidents. So keep your eyes and ears open.
Leading Differently 