Generating Ideas that Work: The Complete Guide to Generating Ideas that Work

Accessing new ideas is a difficult task. Oftentimes, we find ourselves stuck without any new ideas to tackle the next big challenge. Now and then, we need to shake things up to get things moving again. And when it comes to shaking things up, nothing does the job quite like an original idea.

Ideas are powerful and can help you solve almost any problem. Unfortunately, many people fail to come up with creative solutions because they do not know where or how to start. If you struggle to generate ideas as well, this blog post is for you!

Let’s explore why so many people struggle to come up with original ideas and what you can do about it.

What is an original idea?

An original idea has not been seen or thought of before. This means that you are coming up with something that has not gone through the filter of your mind. This will make your ideas fresher, more original and more authentic. There are many ways to generate new ideas but the most effective method is to create a new pathway of thinking. This is what is known as lateral thinking.

With lateral thinking, you are not trying to solve a problem by using the same old tools or thinking patterns. What you are trying to do is come up with something that has never been tried before. When you have an original idea, you have a whole new way of looking at things. This makes solving the problem much easier and more efficient.

How to generate ideas that work

The next step is to “unpack” the idea and break it down into smaller components. This will help you understand the core of the idea and what needs to be done. Once you have unpacked the idea and broken it down into smaller components, you can begin to sequence them. When you are coming up with ideas, you need to start with the end in mind. What outcome are you trying to achieve?

Next, you need to get the details of your idea right. This includes the situation, characters and setting. You need to get this stuff right to have a successful story. Once you have the basic elements of your idea, you need to pick a point of view. This is the perspective or point of view that your story will be told from. What is the main character’s personality? What’s the main conflict? What are the key events that happen in the story?

Now that you have the overall story outline, you can begin to brainstorm potential story ideas. Pick a few that you like and begin to brainstorm their details. When you are brainstorming ideas, you want to stay focused on the end in your mind again. What are you trying to achieve with this idea?

When you have several ideas ready, you can begin to analyze them. What are the core components of each idea? What’s the message of each one? What are the characters doing? What are the setting and events? What’s the core conflict?

It is important to keep in mind that ideas are like everything else in life. You cannot generate enough of them. So, don’t sweat the small stuff. If you find yourself overthinking an idea, just let it go. Focus on the core components and leave the rest behind.

How to build the habit of coming up with good ideas

To generate original ideas, you also need to learn how to spot good ideas. You cannot come up with original ideas every day but what you can do is come up with good ideas every day. One of the best ways to do this is to make a list of crazy ideas. A list of crazy ideas is a list of your bad ideas. You do not need to make your list of bad ideas secret.

Instead, make it public and share it with a friend. This will help you weed out your bad ideas before they go anywhere near being good. Bad ideas are often the result of impatience. They are ideas that are too good to be true. They are ideas that are impossible to do. If you come up with a good idea that seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Why do so many people struggle to come up with new ideas?

The next question you need to ask yourself is why so many people struggle to come up with new ideas. Why do so many people struggle to generate original ideas? The reason so many people struggle is that they are using their current mindset. For example, let’s say that you work in an industry that is facing a major challenge or an issue.

Now, when you look at this challenge, you see only the problems that are associated with it. You don’t see the opportunity or the solution that lies with it. This is a great example of your current mindset. It is like you are looking at a blank canvas and you see only the problems that are associated with it. Your challenge is that this canvas is your main asset and you need to use it to generate new ideas.

The 3-step process for generating original ideas

When you are coming up with ideas, the most important thing is to brainstorm them. The second most important thing is to pick one of the ideas and sequence it from beginning to end. The third thing you need to do is to “dig a little deeper” and unpick the core components of your idea.

When you are digging deeper, you are bringing out the core components of your idea and unpacking them. A good rule of thumb is to “unpack the core components of your idea until you find something new.” When you have unpacked the core components of your idea, you can begin to think of the next steps. The next step is to think of the next events that happen in your story. This is the fun part. You can throw out as many ideas as you want and they will never be “original” until you sequence them.

Conclusion

Finally, generating ideas can be challenging at times. Many factors can lead to the lack of ideas. Sometimes, we are just thinking in the wrong way. We can also be too focused on a specific goal or expect things to happen in a certain way that they usually don’t. Regardless of the reason, it is important to keep innovating and coming up with new ideas so you can solve any problem that comes your way.