10 ways to beat a crisis of ideas

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

They will help in the case when there is no inspiration, but you need to make a "wow" by Monday.

1. Just start doing something

The hardest part is getting started. It happens that before a new task we are bound by fear, then we literally fall into a stupor. Especially if we have a responsible project that cannot be done according to the usual scheme. The main thing is to overcome the “fear of a blank slate”. If you have done this, the process is started, it will be easier further.

You don't have to jump right off the bat: try to test the waters, for example, study what has already been done in this area, or read something on a related topic. You can watch videos, search for visual references, or write down associations that come to mind. So you give yourself a psychological start.

2. Change the environment

We love to take the path of least resistance, and that's okay. But only when it's not about creative solutions. The fact is that our brain puts all the incoming information into patterns: of course, this greatly facilitates our life, but prevents us from generating new ideas. Try to step out of your comfort zone - change your environment.

How does your working day usually go? Coffee, small talk with colleagues and 8 hours at the computer? Try to break the usual scenario: work in the park, having a picnic, or go to a cafe with a laptop, leave your phone at home and not be distracted by instant messengers, or maybe sit on pillows on the floor.

You can change not only the environment, but also the way you work: if you are used to typing on a computer, try scribbling thoughts by hand in a notebook or sketching ideas that come to you.

3. Create the mood and recharge yourself

Sometimes you just need to rest. Perhaps the crisis is emotional exhaustion and overstrain: the brain refuses to work further. Instead of agonizingly squeezing ideas out of yourself, try to relax and return to work with renewed energy: doing sports or yoga, taking a bubble bath, chatting with friends, or simply lounging on the couch with a TV show.

The main thing is no "motivating kicks" and self-accusations. Do not try to pull yourself out of the swamp by your hair - this is unlikely to give productive fruits. Pamper yourself and remember: a stupor cannot last forever, you just have to go through it.

4. Look for ideas on the side

Difficult to complete a task when you are short on data, isn't it? But if all the inputs are in place, and the solution does not come to mind, try looking for ideas on the side. You can read an unexpected book or article: be it Pelevin's science fiction novel, the theory of the origin of species, or a horoscope in a glossy magazine.

Communicate with an absolutely "external" person: he does not cook in your topic, which means that he can look at the problem with a fresh and open eyes. Ask what algorithm it uses - maybe it is worth transferring it to your task area?

5. Check the problem statement

If inspiration still does not come, check if the task itself is set correctly - whether its conditions and the problem that lies at the root of your dilemma are defined. Why does it require a solution? What will change when it is resolved? Whose life will this affect? By the way, why hasn't this problem been resolved until now?

Perhaps going back to basics will clarify your understanding of the problem and allow you to find the right algorithm. And looking into the future, where the problem has already been solved, will open up prospects and allow you to dream a little. Perhaps a mental breakthrough into the future will tell you how to solve the problem in the present.

6. Add some play to your work

Any business, even the most beloved, ceases to bring pleasure when it turns into a formal duty: all paths are beaten, the moves are known. Try to bring a playful element to the work. It gives you a sense of excitement and energizes you emotionally. Imagine that your job is a computer game with levels where you are the central character.

With each idea, you can move to a new level, come up with a reward for winning or penalties for an unfulfilled KPI. Always look for new incentives and don't be afraid to experiment.

7. Use creative techniques

The three key points of each methodology are focus, generation, and filtering. By going through these stages, you have a full-fledged creative session.

Sometimes the stupor begins at the first stage: for example, you were instructed to come up with a "wow", and you do not even understand what that means. To avoid this, formulate the problem: the more precise the focus, the easier it is to come up with something new.

Generation techniques help to develop as many hypotheses as possible in the shortest possible time. There are provocative techniques at work here - try to move away from everything that is familiar to you and get a set of absurd ideas: from a flying apartment to a talking plane.

Finally, you need to pick the best solution and land it - that's what filtering techniques are for.

Lateral thinking, TRIZ or the CRAFT technique will help to generate new ideas.

Lateral thinking

Our brain puts all the incoming information into patterns. This greatly simplifies life, but prevents you from inventing new solutions. The essence of the lateral technique is to overcome formulaic thinking.

How do provocative ideas work? Let's say we are working on a restaurant concept. Why do people go there? Not to eat at home. Okay, let's focus on this aspect and apply an inversion technique, like this: "People go to a restaurant to eat at home." This is how we got a lateral tear.

To ground an absurd idea, let's try to highlight its main principle or indisputable advantages. What associations does the word "house" evoke? Warmth, comfort, the opportunity to relax. So maybe open a restaurant in the apartment? Or decorate the hall like a kitchen? Serving food from the "home menu"?

TRIZ

The essence of the TRIZ system is to eliminate contradictions that inevitably arise in the course of solving any problem. For example, we need to get a messenger: the message in it should be convenient for transmission, which means it should be simple, but at the same time it should look “like in real life” - that is, detailed and complex. After all, we do not speak in templates.

How can we make one object - in our case a message - simple and complex at the same time? We can embed ready-made response templates into the messenger - "I'll call you back later", "Busy now", "Yes, everything is super!" or "We need to make edits" - or come up with a system that will record messages under dictation.

CRAFT

Another way to get a cool idea is to use the CRAFT technique (stands for Creative Algorithm Framework & Tools, it can be translated as "creative algorithms and tools"), developed at the IKRA school.

Here we will work with social models, that is, with the forms of relationships that we meet every day. A business incubator, a culinary club, a festival, a workshop, a smoking room or a break are all relationship models.

Try to transfer them to your task and see what happens. For example, you need a bar concept where everyone will come in beautiful clothes. Let's think about where you can meet a lot of smart people.

Is it a theater or a circus? Fashion show or Academy Awards? A 20s themed party? What happens if you transfer these models to your bar? For example, think over a cultural program or thematic events for guests of the institution. Maybe this will affect the menu or the interior?

8. Apply the "5 Whys" technique

This Japanese technique allows you to get to the heart of the problem, rather than floating on the surface. You need to take your problem and ask the “why” question five times. It's simple.

Friends and colleagues are angry with me. Why? I am constantly late. Why it happens? Because I don't have time for anything. Why? Because my schedule is too tight. Why? Because I don't want to be alone with myself. Why? Because asking yourself is too difficult.

It turns out that it’s not a time management textbook that will solve the problem, but a dedicated vacation or psychotherapy session.

This principle can be applied to any task.

9. Change the problem conditions

Conduct a thought experiment - for example, imagine that you were given a million dollars to solve a problem. How will you dispose of them? And now - that you have not a penny. What changed? How would you solve the problem if you had 15 minutes for it? Big team or are you alone?

Each such experiment, even if it does not provide a ready-made solution, shakes the brain and makes our consciousness more plastic. And if the solutions obtained in fantastic conditions can be “grounded” on your real problem - bingo, you are on the right track!

10. Reduce the degree of perfectionism

Perfectionism is more likely than a faithful helper. If you strive for perfection and are afraid of getting imperfect results, you will never start - fear stops you and constrains your thinking. We begin to be afraid of absurd ideas, discarding everything that has not been tested by experience and risks being imperfect.

Plus, perfectionists spend more time at work: instead of just doing well, the person re-checks the work done over and over again. You are unlikely to achieve the best result: sometimes you just need to catch the idea, let go of yourself and your doubts.