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When you want people to be creative ask them:

n Why is this a problem to you personally?

n In an ideal world how would you like the solution to look?

n What would you do if this were a life or death situation?

n If money, time and resources were no object, how would you
proceed?

n What limits your power to act?

n What assumptions need challenging?

n What metaphors spring to mind when you think about this
problem?

n If the people involved were say, animals, what animals would they
be?

– Why those particular animals?

n If you made up a story around this what would it be?

n Who do you need to carry with you to make your preferred solution
work?

– How can I help to get the important people on board?

n Have you tried to just stop thinking actively about this problem
and let your unconscious mind deliver a solution when it is ready?

– Have you thought about leaving it to your unconscious, but
asking for a solution by a certain day or time? (Research shows
that with the common “tip of the tongue” memory lapse if you
put the problem of remembering to one side, but specify a time
by which you want your brain to deliver, you will find that your
mind easily achieves the stated deadline. You remember on
schedule, quickly and without effort.)

n Why not just relax and let go for an hour or two and see what
happens?

n Did you know that when top people in creativity find themselves
wrestling with a problem, like Edward de Bono, they just put the
problem to one side and go for a stroll? De Bono goes to the
toyshop in the mall. (The toyshop is a wonderful place to get great
ideas about anything to do with engineering from new medical
equipment to a major civil engineering project. Toyshops are not
the only source of ideas. The bubble chamber that was used to
follow and identify sub-atomic particles resulted from dreaming
over a glass of Bud!)

n Where do you think you might be inspired if you went there in a
relaxed state of mind?

– What is stopping you from going?

122 Key management questions