Looking to get ahead of the competition, but short on ideas? Use these easy approaches for generating new ideas to help overcome your creative challenges.
Regardless of industry, there's a good chance that someone within your organization is looking for ways to leapfrog the competition. But revenue growth and increased market share are difficult to meet without further penetrating existing markets, exploring different categories or somehow changing the game. Today, success depends on how creative or innovative you are in dealing with the dynamic needs of your customers. And with more dollars shifting to the online channel, developing a game-changing digital strategy becomes critical.
So how can you leverage creativity to build a digital strategy that stands above the rest? Here are three simple tips to get creativity flowing:
Tip 1: Ask open-ended questions
Asking open-ended questions leads to discovering unique ideas. Sometimes figuring out and articulating the problem can be the toughest hurdle. In order to solve a problem, you need to believe the problem is solvable. As a society, we are wired to jump to the negative. If you feel a problem is not solvable, then chances are you will not be able to solve it. One way to convince ourselves that a problem is solvable is to state the problem in the form of an open-ended question. These questions leave room for thinking and provide white space for exploration and connections. Start by stating your challenge from as many perspectives as possible. Use statement starters to capture your problems, such as:
"How to...?"
"How might...?"
"In what ways might...?"
"What might be all the..."
For example, if I say, "I can't meet the deadline," then I am putting up a roadblock. But, if I rephrase that as, "What might be all the ways in which I can meet the deadline?" then my mind is freed to explore options to meet the deadline.
Here are some steps to follow when conducting an open-ended question exercise in your organization:
- Step 1: Concentrate on the challenge you are facing. Use Post-it notes to capture as many problem statements as possible. Remember to use the statement starters. Try to capture at least 35 problem statements.
- Step 2: Lay out your problem statements so that you can see each one. Choose the statement that will best help you meet your challenge.
As you generate problem statements, you may notice that asking open ended-questions helps to clarify the problem. Once you have alignment on the true problem -- the one that will help you meet your goal once solved -- then you can come up with many options for solving the issue.
When HumanaOne, a leading direct-to-consumer health insurance company, wanted to enhance the online purchasing process for their consumers, they developed dozens of problem statements for their online experience. Ultimately, the statement they chose to answer was, "How might we create an online experience that builds confidence in the insurance decision-making and buying process?"
By defining the problem this way, HumanaOne sparked new thinking that ultimately led to the development of an innovative and easy-to-use online guided selling tool, called PlanPointer, which transforms the confusing process of choosing health insurance into a compelling online experience.
Tip 2: Use forced connections
When using open-ended questions, chances are you'll struggle to come up with 35 problem statements. Research has shown that more ideas produce better solutions. According to Alex Osborn, the creator of the term brainstorming, "quantity yields quality."
So, what techniques are there to help you strive for quantity? One way is to make associations (or forced connections) between seemingly unrelated concepts.
Forced connections work like this:
- Step 1: Think of a problem statement you would like to solve. Now, take a look at the picture below:
- Step 2: Focus on what you're seeing in the picture and what you're feeling. Write down four observations about the picture.
- Step 3: Using the observations of the picture, think about your problem statement. What ideas does this give you for solving your problem?
- Step 4: Capture your ideas. Strive for at least 35.
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