When you buy car insurance, you don’t just accept what the agent is telling you. Most likely, you will ask questions, or will look for better offers by doing research on cheap car insurance quotes for first time drivers. This means that you tend to think outside the box when thinking of your future.
In business, the same principle should be applied because business is all about creativity. If you just follow the crowd, you will be left behind, particularly if you’re starting a new business. Not all common problems are solved by common solutions.
In fact, many known problems still have unknown solutions. It takes a paradigm shift to see what is hidden. Never forget that business is like a chess game in which the first one who makes a smarter move wins.
Quantity Instead of Quality
Many people think that quality is superior over quantity. This is true in some cases, especially if you are referring to a product or a service that you need to deliver. However, quality must not be overdone. There are times that quantity reigns supreme.
One good example is when extracting ideas from other people. If you have a company with two or more people, this would mean two or more brains helping one another to solve a particular problem.
The bottom line is that you should not depend on your own ideas alone. You don’t know that another person you employee or that’s on your team can provide good ideas that may offer the best solution. The point is that you shouldn’t monopolize and suppress idea as it should be shared.
When you let ideas flow, just let them grow. Never mind whether a suggestion is senseless or not. Just let ideas flow as the more ideas you get, the better.
Pick up Random Inspiration
On many social networking sites, it’s common to see some inspirational quotes shared by your friends or followers. At first glance, they seem like useless thoughts depending on how you treat them. However, there are times that similar quotations on your news feed that may touch your heart and open your mind.
This is the power of random inspiration. Even if the thoughts are not directly related to your problems in your business, it makes you open your mind and see the world differently. In your office, you can implement a program or policy in which everyone should have their quote of the day and shared on your bulletin board.
Inspiration should not necessarily come from great motivators of all time. In fact, even a simple gesture of a child can inspire us. It’s how you react to different fragments of ideas.
Set Your Own Parameter
It’s great to encourage free ideas, but too much freedom defeats its purpose. It’s like sailing freely in the middle of the ocean in which you don’t know where you are heading. Sometimes, it’s difficult to extract ideas if you just let people think of everything under the sun.
The best way to stimulate people’s minds is to focus on one subject and go deeper with an idea. If you focus on one specific thing, you will be overwhelmed with great ideas.
Final Thoughts
You don’t have to be the most intelligent person to think of smarter ways to solve every problem. All you have to do is to go beyond your current system of thought by opening your mind and be ready for whatever changes it may occur. In this way, you will be able to think outside the box without being influenced by your belief and prejudices.
