10 Methods to Generate New Ideas

1. Brainstorm. The author of this method is Alex Osborne. A group of people actively proposes various ideas, group members try to develop them, immediately analyze them, identifying disadvantages and advantages.

2. Edward de Bono’s “Six Hats” method. In the course of the creative process, a person takes turns putting on six hats of different colors. In white, he impartially checks figures and facts, in black he tries to find negative features, in yellow he analyzes positive points, in green he generates new ideas, in red he can allow an active emotional reaction. And finally, in a blue hat, the results of the work are summed up.

3. The Mind Map method was developed by Tony Buzan. In his theory, emphasis is placed on the fact that the creative process is closely related to human memory, so it is memory that needs to be developed. He suggested writing the key concept in the center of the sheet, and writing all the associations that need to be remembered on the branches coming from the main word. Ideas can also be drawn. The creation of such a map helps to come up with new associations, the image of the map is much better remembered.

4. Synectics. Author: William Gordon. In his theory, the main source of new ideas is the search for analogies. First you need to select an object and draw a table for its analogies. Direct analogies are written in the first column, indirect analogies are written in the second, for example, signs of the first column. Then the goal, object and indirect analogies are compared. Example: the object is a pencil, the task is to expand the assortment. The direct analogy is a three-dimensional pencil, its negation is a flat pencil. The result is a pencil bookmark.

5. Method of focal objects from Charles Whiting. This method combines the features of different objects in one subject. Example: a candle and the concept of “New Year”. New Year means a holiday, sparks of sparklers, this also applies to a candle. If you grind a Bengal candle into powder and add it to wax, then a “New Year’s” candle will come out with a sparkling crumb inside.

6. Morphological analysis, proposed by Fritz Zwicky, lies in the fact that the object under study is divided into components, from which the most significant characteristics are selected. Then they are changed and they try to put them together again. The result is a new object.

7. Indirect strategies. This method was invented by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt. For this method, you need a deck of cards with commands, for example, “unleash your anger”, “steal the solution”, etc. The person draws the cards and follows the directions.

8. Method “Bus, bed, bath.” It is based on the belief that new ideas not only lurk in the depths of our subconscious, but also burst out, you just need to release them, that is, do not interfere with their appearance. A new idea can come to mind in the most unusual place.

9. Decryption. To do this, you need to take an incomprehensible inscription in a foreign language, for example, hieroglyphs. A person who solves the inscription at this moment can have a variety of associations in his head.

10. Trap for ideas. In this method, it is necessary to record absolutely all ideas, you can write them down on a voice recorder or in a notebook. And then, if necessary, return to them.