getFreshMinds.com | Ideas so fresh--they should be slapped!

What to do when your well runs dry.

Thanks to MarkKelley for the photo.

There's no doubt about it.  Times are tough right now.  The economy is tanking, jobs are insecure, and the holidays are right around the corner.

This is probably one of the hardest times to think of ideas.  After all, the more stressed people are, the less able they are to think creatively.

Unfortunately, just because it's hard to think of ideas, that doesn't mean that you can just forget about creativity until times are better.  In fact, now's the time when great ideas are needed more than ever!

So what do you do when you need to come up with a mind-blowing idea... and you're coming up blank?  (Especially when there's a deadline and your boss is on your back?)  What do you do at those times? How do you manage to come up with innovative ideas when your well has run dry?

The answer comes from a similar strategy used in drilling for oil. 

You see, companies used to drill for oil by going straight down.  For a long time, they used percussion drilling - which basically means they hammered away at the ground to get as deep as they could get.  But, no matter how hard they hammered, the well would eventually bottom out and the oil would dry up.

Then, companies turned to rotary drilling, where drills would churn down to the earth, making a deeper hole.  That was more efficient, since they could get further down and reach more oil.  Drilling further down wasn't the best solution though, because eventually the well would go below the oil and hit rock bottom.

The real breakthrough came, however, when drilling companies realized how much they were missing.  You see, oil deposits can stretch for miles - but when a drill went straight down, the well was only tapping oil from the immediate vicinity.  

So, the oil companies changed their tactics.  Instead of drilling down for oil, they started drilling diagonally and even horizontally!

This "directional drilling" has several advantages:

• It provides access to a large-cross section of a well, instead of just a narrow, vertical shaft.
• It makes it possible to reach oil deposits that can't be reached vertically - like those under a town or a lake.


• It reduces the number of times oil rigs need to be moved.  When one well runs dry, another can be drilled in another direction (instead of moving to a new spot).

Drilling horizontally opens up new oil resources that would otherwise go untapped.  In other words, it can make dry wells fruitful again.

As creative thinkers, you can benefit from the exact same strategy.  When your well goes dry, it's likely because you've been heading relentlessly in the same direction and drawing ruthlessly on your resources.  This is the first thing people do when times are tough. 

The the oil companies can tell you why: it's because drilling straight down is a lot easier.

But that well will eventually run out - and probably right when you need it.  That's why it's important to be able to think "directionally" as well.

So here are three ways you can start drilling your idea well horizontally:

1. Take a break and do something different for a while.  Sometimes giving your brain a break will result in tons of creativity.  That's why so many people get their best ideas when they're doing something else.
   
   But if that's not an option because you need ideas now...
   
   
2. Use a creativity technique designed to break you away from your normal thinking pattern.  The Random Word technique, for example, will stretch your brain in many directions when it tries to associate a completely unrelated word with your challenge. So when you're stuck, try some Lateral Thinking, or get a Whack on the Side of the Head.
   
   But if you feel like you're totally out of ideas and just want them to be given to you...
   
   
3. Make your challenge generic and steal ideas from other areas.  Velcro came from the hooks that stuck burrs to a dog's fur.  Roll-on deodorant uses the same technology as the ballpoint pen.  Figure out what you need to accomplish, and look for others who are doing the same thing... somewhere else.

All three of those strategies will take your mind to new places and will break through your mental block.  They work because they're not hammering away in the same direction over and over again - they're drilling out a new direction of thinking.

So, even when times are tough and your idea well seems like it's reached rock bottom, it doesn't mean all hope for creativity is lost.  It simply means you need to get rid of your tunnel vision and start searching in other directions.

A new way of looking at dessert

I used to work in a restaurant where we were always pressured to sell desserts to guests.

Problem was... after a big meal, not many people had room for dessert.  Especially not the huge desserts that my restaurant carried - that were too way rich for just one person to eat.

Don't get me wrong; the desserts were amazing and I highly recommended them. 

But it's hard to convince someone to spend $4-5 on an extra treat when they're already full.

So, I really love the new desserts at Applebee's.  They're small, shot-glass sized versions of their regular desserts.

Here's why it's brilliant:

The small size makes it seem like a treat, not an indulgence.
Dessert is not a waistline-ruining decision, it's a fun way to end the meal.

They're only $1.99 instead of $4. 
That's much easier to justify.  Plus, it's an easy way to sample desserts without the risk of getting one you don't like.

No more arguing over which dessert to buy.
If he wants death by chocolate and she wants the strawberry cheesecake... not a problem!

The mini desserts are just cute! 
Look at them!  Don't you want one?  I do.

I bet Applebee's sells a lot more desserts this way than they did before.  Definitely a good idea!

Why Ford deserves to fail.

There's a lot of talk about the Wall Street bail-outs.  $700+ billion dollars to rescue financial institutions from a crisis they created themselves. And that probably won't be the end of it.

But there's another bail-out that people aren't talking about much - but probably should. 

Not long ago, while flying home from Germany, I read a small article buried in USA Today about how American automakers are begging Congress for a bail-out of their own.  They want $25 billion in loans to upgrade their plants for production of more fuel-efficient vehicles.

Recently, the House authorized this loan, and it will go into effect soon.  And automakers are already talking about wanting another $25 billion next year.

Ford's CEO has been saying it's not a "bailout", but a lot of analysts believe that things could be touch and go for US automakers without the $25 billion.  So, you can draw your own conclusion there.

When I read that article, and when I looked up more information about the bailout, I had a strong reaction.  "Let the US automakers go down," I thought.  "They certainly deserve it!"

(I know they're an essential industry in the US, but hear me out.)

US Automakers have been digging their own graves for years.

They have absolutely refused to innovate and come up with new ideas to stay competitive - all the while spending millions on lobbyists who whine to Congress that if automakers are forced to meet new standards, it will destroy them (and their workers.)

US automakers have been so successful at resisting change that their vehicles get barely better gas mileage than in the 1970s.  In fact, the average mpgs have been going down in the last few years!

Please don't even try to tell me that it's impossible for them to make significant improvements.  Other industries have made huge strides in the same amount of time.

The laptop I'm writing on right now (which hasn't been new for a while) has more computing power than the giant room-sized computer that sent Apollo 11 to the moon in 1969.  My phone is a lot smaller than the monstrosity my parents made me carry "just in case" in high school.  As for my music collection, I can now carry it in my pocket.

Maybe it's true that the internal combustion engine has reached its limit, but that is no excuse. 

If innovators had simply focused on breeding a faster horse, the car never would have been invented.  It's about figuring out a better way to accomplish the same purpose - not giving up and letting the world pass by.

Honestly, what has Ford done lately?  Everyone knows of their innovative assembly line--but that was nearly 100 years ago.

What have they done in the last 10 years that is remarkable?  What about the last 20?  Simply supersizing their vehicles does not count as innovation.  Anyone can make something bigger.  That doesn't take fresh thinking.

In fact, all I ever hear from Ford and the other US automakers is their whining about the market being tough.  And how buying American is the patriotic thing to do (for people who love our country.)

Who else isn't impressed?

The fact is, Ford has chosen not to be innovative. 

And by doing so, they've dug a big hole that they're now scrambling desperately to get out of.  And they expect us to help them - which we will mostly likely continue to do because their (well-deserved) failure would hurt a lot of people.  Apparently 1 in 10 workers in the US depend on the automakers.  (Can we say hostages?)

If Ford came out tomorrow with a strong call to innovation, saying,

We are going to use this loan to really do something remarkable.  We are going to exceed the new MPG standards by 2015, instead of 2020.  By 2020, we will have done even more. We're going to do this because we want to be a world-leader again.

Then I'd feel a lot better about the US government loaning them the money.

But we all know what is going to happen. 

Ford will beg for this hand-out and then proceed to make incremental improvements only after their competitors have paved the way and Ford is forced to do so by law. 

They'll continue insisting that new regulations will ruin them, and threatening to destroy the lives of their workers if they don't get more hand-outs. 

Then next year, they'll get another emergency "loan" and the cycle will repeat itself.

I really want to be more optimistic about Ford, and I'd love to feel confident that they (and the other US automakers) are going to lead automobile innovation into the future.

But unless they radically change from seeing themselves as victims to being proactive innovators... I don't think that's going to happen. 

It drives me crazy that we keep giving US Automakers a life-raft every time they dig themselves in over their heads.

Companies should be rewarded for being innovators, and should have to face the consequences if they choose not to create the future. They shouldn't entrench themselves in the past, while holding the lives of their workers as hostages.  It makes me furious that the US automakers do this.

In my opinion, there are so many more effective ways to use this money. 

• What if we spent $25 billion to retrain autoworkers and invest in education?  Then, when the Big 3 threaten to cut jobs, workers will be able to get better ones and help the US economy in the process.  (And the Big 3 would lose their hostages.)
• Or what if we offered a series of big prizes for innovators who come up with drastic improvements for automobile technology?  First challenge: $100 million for whoever can come up with a 100+ mpg car that can be mass produced.  Contests can do a ton for innovation.
• What if the US government created a Manhattan-style project with the money and recruited the top engineers in the field to create the automobiles of the future.  Ford, GM and Chrysler could send their top inventors over in return for use of the technology.

But instead, we're handing over an obscene amount of money over to an industry that has done nothing to deserve it, and who will only squander the funds.

Absolutely infuriating!

Feature-packing is not the way to innovate.

Right now, we live in a world where people always want more.  More functions, more capabilities, more buttons, more speed, etc, etc.  And some of the technology coming out is truly amazing.   

There are cell phones that probably have more processing power than the computers used to send Apollo 11 to the moon, remote controls that control half the electronics in a house, refrigerators that monitor their contents and communicate with their owners by emails.

Those are all really cool innovations, and they're great.  More is a good thing because it has opened up more possibilities than people could have dreamed of only a couple years ago.

The problem is that many people and companies seem to believe that that is the only way to innovate.

But I'd like to challenge that idea that more is always better.

Quite honestly, more features can be a big pain in the @$$.  Try operating that television remote intuitively, or take a look at the textbook-sized manual that comes with a modern cell phone.

Too many people think that products have to be packed to the brim with features to be innovative.  

After all, people don't just want a phone, they want to carry a mini computer that can record quality video, store thousands of hours of music, surf the web, and send a spaceship to the moon.  Right? 

But the fact is that products that do everything can't do everything well. There are always weird overlaps, and difficult operating procedures to learn, and trade-offs.

That's why you'll never hear a one-man-band that's as good as a real band.

Then why do many companies still insist on cramming features into an object?

Because feature-packing is the lazy way to innovate. 

It's easy to take everyone else's ideas and shove them all together in a single device.  Of course there are logistical issues to deal with... but that's always a lot simpler than actually thinking of something new! 

So, next time you see a product advertised that can do everything, don't let yourself be taken in and fooled that real innovation went into its creation. 

It's not something new.  It's just more old things in a new, smaller package.

Be first, or be forgotten.

In the world of innovation, precision always loses out to speed.

People always remember who was first: Neil Armstrong, Secretariat (above), John Hancock.

But just try asking people who was the second person to step onto the moon, or which racehorse placed second in the 1973 Kentucky Derby, or who was the second person to sign America’s Declaration of Independence.*

It’s the same with new products and services. Being the first to market allows a company to define their niche in the minds of customers. Waiting to launch until perfection is achieved can cause a company to miss that all-important chance to be the one everyone else is evaluated against.

In some cases, the first product to go successfully to market can even create the vocabulary people use to refer to all products in that niche. People “Xerox” their documents, they blow their noses on “Kleenex” and when they need to write a short note that can be easily removed, they use a “Post-it”.

There are now many producers of copy machines, face tissues and sticky notes, but the first brands still stick in the minds of consumers.  Even though they may not be perfect, the winners are almost always the ones that distinguish themselves first.

* Buzz Aldrin, Sham and someone so unacknowledged that I can't even find their name!

Keep it simple to convince people of the value of an idea!

Coming up with ideas isn't always the problem.  Most people have come up with a great idea, only to have a horrendous time getting anyone interested in it.  (Even when the idea truely is fantastic!)

Guy Kawasaki, who is no stranger to pitching new ideas, explained last week why a lot of ideas wither and die when they're presented to others:

In the venture capital business, many people think that a short pitch is thirty slides and a short business plan is fifty pages. My how they are mistaken.

The more slides and pages that you need to explain your business, the less likely you will succeed. Truly, the best pitches and plans require nothing more than one page or a picture to explain them.

It's true!  The harder an idea is to explain, the less likely it will get others excited about it! 

For example, when I was in grad school, my entrepreneurship class was split into groups and then challenged to come up with a business idea and a business plan. 

As expected, most groups launched into furious planning.  They came up with intricate schemes to form business, and planned out their business actions for years to come.  Their business plans stretched far over 25 pages.

Ours didn't.  Most of the students in our group were international students, who had noticed an interesting issue that plagued all the international students in our residence. 

Basically, the tap water wasn't safe to drink, nearby shops were expensive (a 1L bottle cost almost the same as a 6-pack elsewhere), the closest grocery store was over a mile away and made deliveries only for purchases of over $40, (and the delivery truck came when it wanted and just dropped off purchases in the communal entryway if the buyer wasn't there to pick them up!)  Most importantly though, six 1L bottles of water are HEAVY and most students bought at least two 6-packs a week!

So, our group created a service that would purchase 6-packs of bottled water in bulk and deliver them at a specific time either once or twice a week to the student residence.  To add some more revenue, we also offered vital, non-perishable essentials like toilet paper.  (Because who wants to walk over a mile down a busy street carrying a 24-pack of toilet paper?)

The business was in-demand - since over 150 car-less international students lived at the residence.  It was low-risk - since we offered only non-perishable items that everyone needed.  It was viable - since we could make bulk purchase and therefore make money by charging the same price.  It was a no brainer for students - since it made their lives much simpler without costing more.

And, it was easy to explain and understand! 

We called it KIS Enterprise: for "Keeping it simple."  Our business plan was 4 pages.  Our presentation was longer (since all members of the group had to speak in the presentation for a grade), but it was to-the-point and clear.

The other groups presented 25+ pages about their businesses, worked really hard to explain why their hair-cutting sports bar was in demand (ok, I made that one up, but a lot were very complicated), and had overwhelming Powerpoint presentations.

Not all of them convinced us about their business idea, despite the tons of research they had obviously done.  Not all of them did well on their grade, either.

But our teeny business plan and snappy presentation was so successful that that we not only got A's, the head of the student organization at the University approached us afterwards about making the business real.

Of  course, not all businesses can be explained in four pages - and they shouldn't be. 

But if someone with an idea can quickly and simply explain why their business solves a genuine need, they are much more likely to get support for that idea than if they compiled 50 pages of supporting documentation.

"Keep it simple, stupid" is a great phrase to remember when coming up with ideas.  Because, if an idea's worth can only be understood after tons of explanation, it's highly likely that potential customers won't get the message either.

Do you doubt that anything is possible?

Anything and everything is possible. Do you doubt that?

Then consider that 20,000 years ago, animals were either sources of food or competitors to humans. Today many animals are daily companions that share their lives with their people.

15,000 years ago, all humans had brown eyes. Today, eyes can range in color from bright blue to green to hazel to violet.

5,000 years ago, there was no easy way to move heavy loads around. Today, almost everything that moves has a wheel.

1000 years ago, poor eyesight was an irreversible, crippling handicap. Today, most vision problems can be corrected either temporarily or permanently with glasses, contacts or laser surgery.

600 years ago, books were written by hand and literacy was only for the elite. Today, an original fiction book is published every hour.

200 years ago, the only way to capture an image was through drawings or paintings. Today, a picture can be taken with the push of a button on a camera.

150 years ago, transportation was by human or animal effort only. Today, many Americans drive more than they walk.

100 years ago, humans were bound to the ground. Today thousands of people fly around the world.

50 years ago, a computer filled an entire room. Today, many people keep one in their bedroom.

10 years ago, people wanting to listen to a large variety of music needed to carry around bulky cases of CDs. Today, a player holding thousands of songs can fit easily in a pocket.

Still doubt that anything is possible?  Just wait!

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Where and when the best ideas happen.

Idea Champions just put out the results of a poll they did asking people where they get their best ideas.  The answers are interesting - ranging from getting ideas while "mowing the lawn" to "using a creativity exercise".

It's a very good survey, and they do a good job analyzing the different states of being that people find themselves in when they're at their creative best.  You should go read it here.  (It's only 15 pages.)

What really amazed me is how many people come up with their best ideas when they're doing something completely different.

Many people said they come up with ideas best while:

Daydreaming Driving Commuting to and from work Doing something that feeds your soul When you least expect it Walking Being in nature Late at night Surfing the internet Traveling Vacationing Showering Having fun Relaxing Working with your hands Reading books outside your field Early in the morning Dreaming (at night) Taking a break Laying awake in bed Just before sleep Just upon waking Exercising On a plane

Waking up in the middle of the night Hanging out with friends Doing nothing Meditating Doing anything mindless Joking with friends Taking a bath Any repetitive physical activity In the bathroom In the kitchen On a train Gardening Jogging or running Just after exercising At a concert On the toilet Riding a bicycle Swimming Brushing your teeth Drinking anything with alcohol Playing a sport Mowing the lawn Shaving In a bar Organizing things

There are two ways to look at those results.

Either in horror.  ("Eeek!  That means that I can forget about trying to think of ideas... it's obviously not the best way!")

OR, by realizing that those ideas don't come from totally stopping your thinking - they come from putting your brain in a different situation with different stimuli.

Let's face it, it's tough trying to think of great ideas while sitting at the same desk day after day. New ideas come from combining new information in new ways, and doing something completely different is a good way to start your brain in a different spot.

So, this survey doesn't mean the death of deliberate creative thinking.  (Phew!)  It just shows that our brains need variety to function at their best.

(Hat tip to Innovation Tool Weblog for the link to the Idea Champion survey results.  Thanks Chuck!  You were right about the survey being a good read!)

Forget about an idea marathon.

If you're like most people, you do your creative thinking in bits and spurts. When you need ideas, you jump right into thinking about it, and go as hard as you can for as long as you can.

In the end, you end up with a bunch of ideas--and then get to sit back and relax.  At least until you need to be creative again.  Then the cycle repeats itself.

There's nothing wrong with that.  It's fast, it's fun and it's easy.

Idea sprints are fabulous.  Nothing can beat the rush of having tons of ideas exploding so quickly into being!

Idea marathons, however, aren't so great...

Not long ago, I wrote about how committing to coming up with 100 ideas for a single challenge in one sitting is probably one of the most painful mental exercises you can do.  Completing that list definitely isn't something that you can just do on a whim. 

Making a list of 100 is no flash of brilliance, it's a test of sheer will.  A challenge to see if you can keep putting one foot in front of the other for as long as it takes.  It is a marathon.

"But wait!" You're probably asking about now.  "Wasn't the marathon created to honor a Greek hero who died after running that distance?"

It sure was! 

Lucky for all of you though, I've recently reconsidered my support for an idea marathon.

I now recommend that everyone does a idea ultra-marathon!

You can thank Ben Casnocha for this, by the way.  He pointed me to an interview in Runners' World with a man who has been running ultra-marathons for 25 years.

Tim Twietmeyer, who has won the grueling 100 mile Western States Endurance Run five times, confesses that running a 50 mile race takes 3 times the effort of a 26 mile race.  And he says a 100 mile race takes 3 times the effort of a 50 mile race.

I'd say this holds true for coming up with ideas too.  That 25th idea will come a lot quicker than your 50th idea... and those last ideas will definitely be a struggle.

But Tim and many other ultra-marathoners agree that a 100 mile race can actually be easier on their bodies than a regular marathon.

Why's that?  Because in a marathon, runners go at a constant pace on pavement for around 4 hours.  That's really tough on their bodies.

In an ultra-marathon though, runners change it up.  They vary their pace--sometimes even walking a bit, they stop at aid stations to refill water bottles, they eat. 

The course frequently goes over varied terrain... even up and down hills!  All those things help by requiring different muscles to move into play--which is huge.

Idea ultra-marathons are easier in the same way.  If you're simply focusing completely on coming up with ideas for a challenge, you'll get exhausted pretty quickly.

What you need to do is to consciously change it up.

Do some fast bursts of brainstorming to see what ideas pop into your head.  Then squeeze some additional ideas out.  Then try a creativity exercise or two to jump-start your brain again.

If you need to, take a short break.  Don't start something else, but give your mind a little time to recover.

And just like the ultra-marathoners, you'll be in bad shape if you don't give yourself time to eat and stay hydrated.

Changing it up is the key.  You'll gain nothing by forcing your brain full speed ahead into exhaustion.   By varying the intensity and the focus, however, you'll come up with ideas a lot easier, and won't be brain-dead when you're done.

That doesn't mean it's easy.  It's still an ultra-marathon!  But it can definitely be done.

So, anyone want to get started?

Squeeze out more ideas

 Years ago, when I was competing in creative problem-solving competitions, our team would spend hours learning how to come up with fresh ideas in a hurry.

This wasn't just for fun.  We were going towards a goal.

Midway through the year, our team would go to a regional competition where 1/3 of our score would come from creative thinking exercise that we had to solve on the fly.

The seven of us would walk into a nondescript room with no idea what we were going to be doing. 

The judges would read us a challenge--which could be everything from creating a non-verbal communication method, to building a weight-supporting tower, to thinking of all the unusual things we could that were green.

We'd have 2-10 minutes to think about it, and then we were on.  We had a limited time to present, and unique, creative solutions were worth more point-wise than common, everyday ones.

Less than 30 minutes later, we'd be back in the real world. 

Unsurprisingly, those 30 minutes were incredibly important.  An entire 6 months of hard work could be thrown away in a minute if someone froze up.

So we practiced and practiced and practiced again.  But that wasn't enough to take us to the next level because it's way too easy to rely on the ideas everyone thinks of when you're under time pressure.

In response, our coach came up with an "evil genius" method of teaching us to search for the best ideas.

(It was evil because we hated her for it.  It was genius because it worked.)

During practice, she'd give us a creative challenge.  We'd do it, but if our team didn't score high enough on creativity, she would make us do the whole thing all over again.

With no repeated answers.

It. Was. Awful. All our ideas were out on the table already.  And we needed more.

You know what happened? 

We would start off like we were slogging through molasses--in flippers. Nothing would come out, no matter how hard we tried to squeeze something (anything) out of our brains.

Then, as the true desperation set in, someone would just throw a completely zany idea out there because they couldn't think of anything better.   Then someone else would.

And suddenly, it was easier to think of new ideas again because we were all headed in a different direction.

Amazingly, we were always able to come up with a bunch of totally new ideas when we were repeating the challenge. 
 

However, those sessions also why I winced badly when reading Litemind's article, Tackle Any Issue With a List of 100.  Luciano Passuello, author of Litemind, advocates creating a list of 100 ideas to solve a problem in a single sitting.

It sounds like torture.  It probably is. And I didn't know if I should recommend it...   I don't want to be like the wicked, evil creativity coach who made us all want to beat out heads on the table.  I actually want people to like me!

But you know what?  I had to do it.  Because this strategy works.

Here's why:

• When you start listing ideas, you first write down everything you've already thought about.
  
  This clears out the backlog of ideas we normally keep in our heads.  Luciano projects that you'll get about 30 ideas this way.

• After we run out of available ideas, we start struggling through the muddy recesses of our brain.
  
  That's when we begin snatching at every possible connection and any pattern we can find.  This is the warm-up, and it's definitely tough: it can take as many as 40 hard-won ideas to get past this stage.

• Then, the magic starts to happen.
  
  The last 30 or so ideas are easier to come up with, and more "out there" than the middle set.  This happens because our brains have gotten rid of all the "easy" ideas, and are used to stretching further for new possibilities.
   

But just as my creative problem solving teams eventually prevailed--even when our evil coach made us do the same challenge 3 or 4 times--making a list of 100 ideas is definitely possible. 

It just takes the dedication (or fear of a coach) to keep pushing forward through the mental mud until the ideas start flowing again.

So, try it.  Read the article, sit down with a blank sheet of paper and a new pen, and start writing. You'll definitely hate me for it... but afterwards you'll be very amazed at how many ideas you can squeeze out of your brain.

And if you practice squeezing out extra ideas regularly, you'll be able to come up with better ideas when you really need them.