Strange times call for new ideas

When the Institute for the Future called out ‘novel and adaptive thinking’ as one of those skills we’d need right about now ... do ya think they knew just how much we’d need it?

The use of the word ‘novel’ may have become a little tainted (you know, the novel coronavirus and all).

So could we say unique? Or clever? 

The thing is, these strange times call for new and quite different ideas. 

We know the clichéd group brainstorming thing doesn’t work. 

We’re better off keeping an ideas book, capturing flashes of brilliance as they arrive. 

Or getting hands-on with an idea and prototyping it, to see how well it actually works. Although getting as practical as we can as soon as we can is a totally new concept for some people. 

- Part of a team? 
Know how to bring your clever. 

- Leading a team?
Know how to bring the clever out in others. 

- Running your own show? 
Look for opportunities to use your clever .... anywhere, any time. 

Almost anything goes!

These strange times need our unusual ideas and thinking. Be braver about that. 

Hold on the judgement that what you’re thinking isn’t ‘good enough’. 

We won’t know the value of an idea ... until it’s put into practice anyway. 

Keep an ideas book

Better still, curate an ideas book. Or even ‘work’ your ideas book.

When there are ideas and thoughts swirling about your head, what do you do with them? Try to wrestle with them? Try to ‘sort them out’ or get them into some semblance of order?

If your ideas are up there, mixing with all that other stuff like the inner critic, the self doubter, the small player ... it may not be the best space for our ideas to prosper or grow.

We trash and dismiss them, minimize and trivialize them.

Get your ideas out of there, quick!

Put them somewhere else ... to externalise them. Then you can work with them.

- As part of a habit or routine.
- As a source of inspiration and motivation.
- As a place of refuge and comfort.

Mostly, as a reminder of the possibilities and capabilities of the human mind .... without the weight and distraction of all that other stuff!

Get started on an ideas book.

And if you’ve already got one... share a photo of it below👇🏾- I’d love to see it!

Do you like ideas and creativity? Give this post a like and share it to encourage others.

You have an idea : now what

Think there are few original ideas?Let’s see how we can work to make an idea our own.

▶️ Ideation
A flurry of ideas or just one, is enough to get working on a project or creative task.

Ideas aren’t always original, aren’t truly our own or unique so we need to ‘work’ them some more before pressing ‘send’ or ‘publish’.


▶️ Exploration
What’s the history of this idea? Has anyone else written on it, published or created it? How original is your thinking? Do some research. (Or is your Google button broken?)


▶️ Extension
If you like the idea and want more of it, don’t copy it ... extend it. Do more thinking, reading, talking and developing. Take the idea further. This will require some work and it’s the point where some of us check out or seek a short cut.


▶️ Execution
Uniqueness and originality can often be found in the way things are done. Once an idea is explored and extended, then work on how it can be published or put out into the world in this new and improved form.


To advance your career, grow a business or build a brand, originality is absolutely worth the work.

Where ideas come from

Have you experienced cryptomnesia?

It’s where we mistakenly believe a current idea is our own creation when in fact we’ve ‘encountered it previously and then forgotten it,’ (American Psychological Association)

What the heck?!

So some of our blindingly great ideas aren’t that original?

Correct. We’ve gathered them from other places, forgotten about them, woken up one day and thought we’ve had a genius moment!

It's known as 'inadvertent plagiarism' or 'unconscious plagiarism'. And of course there’s outright plagiarism too. 😡

When our ideas have similarity to others, we could be experiencing cryptomnesia, unaware of the sources of our thinking.

We end up replicating existing ideas or we’re influenced by them (unknowingly) when we’re sorting and filtering our thoughts.

The world needs us to be more creative, to solve tricky problems and adapt to changing circumstances.

It’s worth the effort then to be more original ... and it’s also worth the effort to sharpen our own originality so we all diversify the idea pool.

How to be original

In a world of noise, how do you be unique? How do you bring your originality to market through your ideas, products and services?

Some people think they don’t have anything unique to say.
Others believe their ideas aren’t that special.
And others are worried that what they are doing is too similar or close to what others are doing.

Copying is unfortunately too common and not cool.

As much as we might love the work of other people (and wish it were our own or that we were like them), we need to discover, explore and then express our own originality.

The world needs us to be original.

Because the world has a big diversity problem - in workplaces, online content, social media, events and publications the world over.

There is too much same/same.

It is time for more diverse and interesting ideas, and they are needed today more than ever.