How to Generate Good Ideas from Zero
If you’re in a creative field, it’s a learned skill to continually generate ideas from zero. Some creatives are much better than others, and sometimes it can be a soul crushing process that requires a few pots of coffee. For anyone not used to ideation, trying to come up with a good idea – whether it be for a new product, business, or even personal hobby – can be grueling and overwhelming.
Don’t give up! We experience this on the regular. Just trying to come up with ideas for blog posts like these can be challenging, especially when you’re first starting out and trying something new. Here we’ll share 5 tips that have really helped us along the way, and hopefully they can help you, too.
Look Inward to Your Personal Experiences.
The deepest well of idea generation is personal experience. If you’re trying to think of a new idea, trying to reach beyond your scope of experience can be insurmountable. Start by looking inward into what you already know: your experiences, hobbies, interests, and even embarrassing learning moments. If you’re trying to generate an idea for a new product, for example, lean into the areas and industries you are already involved in. By working with your current knowledge base, it can be easier to find confidence and to think of an idea based in your unique perspective.
Complain.
This is one area we at Gamii exploit pretty heavily, since we develop products from a problem:solution perspective. Usually, complaints are best kept to yourself, but in this case, think about the things you’ve complained about recently. It’s likely there is an underlying problem that could solved by your unique idea. Whether it’s a product approach, or maybe a creative outlet in your community, or modifying an existing system to be easier to use or interact with. By paying attention to our complaints, we can often tap into good ideas that can have a greater effect for other people as well. Chances are, if there’s something you’ve been griping about, someone else has probably had a similar complaint, too.
Go Down the Rabbit Hole.
If you’ve exhausted your personal experiences and complaints, it may be time to start looking outward to think of something new. Luckily, there is an unending fount of discovery online, if you know where to look. Without being too specific, start searching for topics related to your need or related to things that interest you. Then start reading articles, blog posts or forums and let yourself go down the internet rabbit hole. This can be tricky sometimes because it can be easy to regurgitate something that already exists, but sometimes all you need is a portion of an idea to spur another idea that piggybacks on your personal experiences or even complaints. By exploring with an open mind, you can spark something you never considered before.
Get Curious.
While sparks can ignite an eruption of idea flows, sometimes you may find an area of interest but can’t fully form a complete idea. When that happens, get curious. Position yourself as a journalist, and ask questions, even if it seems naïve. Try to investigate all the angles of a topic or pre-existing idea to discover something new. Believe it or not, a lot of times things are accepted at face value without further question, and you may be the first to uncover something unique based in your own perspective. Even if investigating may nullify the quality of the initial idea, it may expose other avenues you hadn’t considered and allow you to move forward.
Capture Eureka Moments by Logging Them.
One habit Chris (our brilliant engineer) adopted years ago was keeping a single Post-It note in his wallet. This Post-It is covered in his tiny, scrawling handwriting, but it has proven to be an invaluable resource. Every time Chris triggers a Eureka! moment, he logs it on the Post-It. This could be at work, at home, over dinner and drinks, or even waiting in line during an errand. When your mind is clear and focused on something else, some of your best ideas can come through out of no where. Unfortunately, once it passes and your brain finds something else to settle on, it can be impossible to recover later on. By keeping something on you at all times (could be your phone, a notebook, or a simple Post-It), you can keep that idea when you’re ready to start brainstorming. Full disclosure: not every Eureka! moment is a keeper, but again, by tapping into curiosity or exploring a rabbit hole fueled by that search term, it can be enough to get you from zero to brilliant idea.
Another great way to generate great ideas is through discussion! Do you have any tried and true methods that help you think of the next best thing? We’d love to hear about them and maybe even add them to this list! Share this post on Twitter to get the conversation going.
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