Random inputs can fuel creative thinking and produce a variety of new ideas.
I'm a bigger fan, however, of using strategic connections to trigger new ideas.
Suppose you are looking for innovative ideas, approaches, and strategies to address your current situation. Beyond random creative thinking, there is tremendous creative thinking power from generalizing your situation in such a way that you can identify comparable situations connected to yours in fundamental, strategic ways.
Armed with these strategic connections, rich possibilities for creative thinking can begin through identifying new ideas from the strategic connection that can apply (perhaps with modifications) to your situation.
Ideas for Finding Strategic Connections
How can you efficiently and effectively go about finding as many strategic connections as possible you can use?
Try working through these twelve creative thinking triggers. They will help generalize your current situation, prompt creative thinking, and suggest fruitful strategic connections.
Simply use the question format below. Insert each creative thinking prompt into the first blank. Then brainstorm as many possible ideas to complete the second blank as possible.
My situation _______________ like _______________ ?
- Acts
- Sounds
- Thinks
- Looks
- Turns into something
- Behaves
- Creates an impact
- Serves customers
- Feels
- Moves
- Communicates things
- Is trying to accomplish something
On your first pass, don’t worry about HOW closely each potential strategic connection fits your situation. After you’ve generated a healthy list of potential strategic connections, you can refine and narrow the list to those that have the best possibilities for stimulating further strategic thinking.
What creative thinking triggers do you use?
This list was my first shot at identifying the creative thinking triggers I seem to use most often.
What other creative thinking triggers can you come up with to expand this list and lead to more robust strategic connections? – Mike Brown
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