Inspirit Personal Growth

 

Innovative thinking is a gift that some people are born with, but it is also something that can be learned.  Why would you want to?  Well, it’s something that can help you out in many aspects of your life. You can use innovative thinking to create a new outfit, come up with a good business idea or create dinner.  Innovative thinking goes beyond what you can see. It is imaginative, it is the ability to look beyond the obvious. It is creative and it is different. An innovative thinker can look at something ordinary and see the extraordinary.

Innovation is about invention. It is about being able to come up with something that nobody has come up with before. Being an innovative thinker means you have a mind that does not quite work like the logical, down-to-earth mind that the majority of people have.

 Innovative Thinking Skills

 For many people, learning how to be an innovative thinker can be a struggle. It can help to recognize the skills that make the process easier:

•  Being able to look at something in a different way. If you can look at a pencil, for example, and see it as something more than something to write with, then you are on your way. Take that idea and run with it. You might not come up with a great invention from it, you can use this brainstorming exercise to help develop your innovative thinking skills.
• Being able to look at what others have done and see a need for improvement. If you can recognize things that are not quite perfect or that have the potential to be better, then you can be an innovative thinker.
• Being able to weed through piles of information to get to the good stuff. If you can easily take a bunch of nonsense and make some sense out of it (like some of those plr articles), then you can be an innovative thinker. Recognize that innovative thinking involves a lot of nonsense and being able to get to the heart of things is a true skill.
• Being committed. Innovation requires a lot of commitment. If you are the type of person who can commit to something and who does not give up, then you are a prime candidate to be an innovative thinker.

 You probably already have many skills of an innovative thinker. All you need to do is recognize that you have it in you. You can be an innovative thinker and use that ability to come up with many inventions and ideas.

 How Innovative Thinking Works

While thinking, in general, is usually not very well structured, there is a general structure that can help when working with innovative thinking. You have to have some path to follow so you can take something from an idea to an invention.

 Define the Situation -  Look at what you are working with and define what is needed or what your desired outcome is to be. You  have to know where you are going so define what you want the final outcome to be.

 Gather Information -  Get some background information by finding out what others may have already tried. By gathering information, you are able to avoid repeating others mistakes or you may possibly find an idea that you can work with to improve upon.

 Brainstorming  -   Anything goes in this step of the process. There is really no room for logic. Sometimes innovation is born from an idea that seems unrealistic. A good example is cell phones. At one point people would have thought it was crazy to be able to walk around and talk on the phone no matter where you are. Today cell phones are a life staple.

 Make a List – After coming up with ideas you can then begin to go through them. Weed out those that are not going to work for one reason or another. Make a list of the most promising ideas. You are going to move on to work with these and develop them more.

 Evaluate  -  Now you evaluate your list and develop these raw ideas further.  You will likely see some emerge as being the most likely to work. You will also be able to get rid of a few more ideas.

 Implementation – You should now be able to define your final solution. You can begin to work on implementing the idea and making it a reality.

 So now you know some of the skills and the process needed, decide exactly how you will use this thinking to better yourself and the world around you. All you have to do is start working with your innovative thoughts and you will be on your way to an improved life for yourself and those around you.

 

This article is adapted from the e-book “Innovative Thinking Secrets Exposed”.  Visit the website below to claim your free copy.