Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Create a mind map star with six points for each of the classic analysis questions: Who, what, when, where, why, and how. Note that the ‘why’ is the most likely to provide relevant insight, and that the ‘how’ can sometimes be a distraction.

Instead of solutions, brainstorm to generate problems. What other issues might need solving? Will there be flow-on effects that require different solutions? What’s a different way of thinking about the problem space?

Use the room you’re in as a visual inspiration canvas by finding references to print and put up on the walls, along with your rough concepts, sketches, headlines, and so on. Try some image searches for related ideas and save the ones you like as stimuli.

How could you combine two or more ideas, techniques, aspects, solutions, or problems? Try writing relevant keywords or ideas down on bits of paper then mashing them up randomly.

Instead of solutions, brainstorm to generate problems. What other issues might need solving? Will there be flow-on effects that require different solutions? What’s a different way of thinking about the problem space?

Use the room you’re in as a visual inspiration canvas by finding references to print and put up on the walls, along with your rough concepts, sketches, headlines, and so on. Try some image searches for related ideas and save the ones you like as stimuli.

How could you combine two or more ideas, techniques, aspects, solutions, or problems? Try writing relevant keywords or ideas down on bits of paper then mashing them up randomly.

Go outside, to a bar for a few drinks, or to the top of a mountain and see how the change of environment changes your perspective. Many people find walking helpful for ideation and stimulus.

Create four quadrants and list Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. S&W relate to internal factors while O&T tend to relate to external aspects. SWOT analyses are usually used for strategic evaluation, but they can also be used to provoke new ideas.

Simply starting the thinking process with ‘What if?’ can elicit a creative response. Try saying it out loud or writing it down several times in a list to hack your brain to think differently. Build upon other ideas by challenging them with ‘what if’ scenarios.