Page 99 - 100 Great Business Ideas: From Leading Companies Around the World (100 Great Ideas)

42/16. FRESH EYE

Bring in someone from the outside who doesn't know any-
thing about the problem, perhaps someone from another
functional area or another company. Or bring in a consult-
ant, someone who is an expert on creativity but not an ex-
pert in your particular field. Such a person may see the prob-
lem with a fresh eye. Not being immersed in the project, the
outsider may provide some new ideas. Try getting a
6-year-old to look at the problem. Children haven't been
socialized not to be creative and will say what they think;
what they think might just be right.

43/17. IDEA BITS AND RACKING

Carl Gregory, author of The Management of Intelligence, sug-
gests that one way of assembling "idea bits," or ideas gener-
ated in individual or group sessions, is to use a specially
designed "racking board." 27 The idea slips or cards contain-
ing the ideas are placed on this racking board for examina-
tion. To construct a racking board you need some small shelf
units with grooves to hold the cards. Alternatively, a mag-
netic device or tape can be used to stick cards to a board or
wall. This technique is like storyboarding (described in Chap-

ter 5), except that with idea bits you begin with
pieces of unrelated information. Idea bits
may be sudden flashes of insight,
notes arising from conversations
or readings, observations, ob-
jectives, information, ideas
produced in a brainstorming
session, new words or phrases,
and so on. Putting them on a rack-
ing board allows you to look at them
and see if there is any pattern to them.

44/18. IDEA NOTEBOOK

You have ideas all the time. They come to
you in the shower, while sleeping, while driv-
ing. Keep a notebook or 3 x 5 cards handy to write
your ideas on. You can examine them later. Once for-
gotten, an idea may be lost forever. So write it down! Now!

84