Page 74 - 100 Great Business Ideas: From Leading Companies Around the World (100 Great Ideas)

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Generating

Creative
Alternatives

A Quick
Guide to
My Favorite
Techniques

INDIVIDUAL TECHNIQUES 101

BOO R CREATIVE
PROBLEM
G ENERATING ALTERNATIVES SOLVING
TECHNIQUES
Creativity is necessary for survival in today's environment. All hotels,
once you get outside of the truly five-star hotels of the world, are the 59
same; the product varies only in the color of the lobby. To survive,
innovation is the key.

—Michael Leven
Former President

Days Inns

One of the easiest and quickest ways of increasing the level
of innovation in an organization is to develop its members'
skills in generating alternatives as part of the problem-solving
process. There is nothing particularly "mystical" about these
skills. People tend to think that having really good ideas is
possible for only a few, and that the rest of us, who don't
have special "intuitive" talents, cannot be creative. Nothing
could be further from the truth. This chapter and the next
one present a large number of creative techniques for gener-
ating alternatives. Some may be utilized by individuals, oth-
ers by work groups, many by both. These techniques will
produce results quickly and easily for virtually anyone who
is willing to take the time to learn them and use them.