Page 89 - DMGT521_PROJECT_MANAGEMENT

Project Management

Notes Are messages like these popping up more and more in your workplace? Faced with complex,
open-ended, ever-changing challenges, organizations realize that constant, ongoing innovation
is critical to stay ahead of the competition.
This is why we need to be on the lookout for new ideas that can drive innovation, and it’s why
the ability to think differently, generate new ideas, and spark creativity within a team becomes
an important skill. You need to work actively on building and cultivating this skill, and it can be
done!

Often, though, we make the mistake of assuming that good ideas just happen. Or worse still, we
get caught in the mind trap that creativity is an aptitude; some people have it, others don’t. Then
there is the other self-defeating belief – “I am not intelligent enough to come up with good
ideas.”
These assumptions are rarely true. Everyone can come up with fresh, radical ideas – you just
need to learn to open your mind and think differently. This article shows you how to do so.
1. How to Generate New Ideas: Standard idea-generation techniques concentrate on combining
or adapting existing ideas. This can certainly generate results. But here, our focus is on
equipping you with tools that help you leap onto a totally different plane. These approaches
push your mind to forge new connections, think differently and consider new perspectives.
A word of caution – while these techniques are extremely effective, they will only succeed
if they are backed by rich knowledge of the area you’re working on. This means that if you
are not prepared with adequate information about the issue, you are unlikely to come up
with a great idea even by using the techniques listed here.

Incidentally, these techniques can be applied to spark creativity in group settings and
brainstorming sessions as well.

Notes Ideation is the creative process of generating, developing and communicating new
ideas, where an idea is understood as a basis of element of thought that can be either
visual, concrete, or abstract.

2. Breaking Thought Patterns: All of us can tend to get stuck in certain thinking patterns.
Breaking these thought patterns can help you get your mind unstuck and generate new
ideas. There are several techniques you can use to break established thought patterns:
(a) Challenge assumptions: For every situation, you have a set of key assumptions.
Challenging these assumptions gives you a whole new spin on possibilities.
You want to buy a house but can’t since you assume you don’t have the money to make a down
payment on the loan. Challenge the assumption. Sure, you don’t have cash in the bank but
couldn’t you sell some of your other assets to raise the money? Could you dip into your
retirement fund? Could you work overtime and build up the kitty in six months? Suddenly
the picture starts looking brighter.
(b) Reword the problem: Stating the problem differently often leads to different ideas. To
reword the problem look at the issue from different angles. “Why do we need to
solve the problem?”, “What’s the roadblock here?”, “What will happen if we don’t
solve the problem?” These questions will give you new insights. You might come
up with new ideas to solve your new problem.

In the mid 1950s, shipping companies were losing money on freighters. They decided they
needed to focus on building faster and more efficient ships. However, the problem persisted.

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