How to help somebody generating ideas?
Depending on who is somebody and what he/she wants.
What is needed? Mainly one topic you are interested to generate ideas. It could be a problem, an area of development, a passion, a hobby... anything! In fact it could be always the same topic, as always you can be thinking new ideas about it.
Personality, process, product, environment...
Personality: Somebody with interest, with motivation, with confidence on the ability that everybody has to think and generate their own ideas.
Process: There are several tools or techniques to generate ideas, such as brainstorming, analogies, random, questions, visualization, changes, free writing, etc. and different combinations among them. This process can be done online in a one to one basis.
Product: Different type of products require some type of specific knowledge. (Can you imagine solving a maths problem without previous knowledge about it?). Sometimes is better not to have the knowledge to produce something different.
Environment: Today we have a very easy access to information with the internet. At the same time, we have some overload of information and expert opinions that can stop our own thinking, thinking that other people have better ideas than ours, forgetting that our ideas can be the best ideas for ourselves. Or even not having time to think!
It is clear that an environment with information (ideas to “play” with), games, encouragement, is a positive influence for generating ideas. A bit of structure might be needed for the efficiency of the process. Issues about language, time, finance, fears or tiredness and lack of motivation can have a negative impact.
But in our busy schedules, even with the motivation and the knowledge of how to generate ideas, we might need a reminder. Not only a reminder of the importance to innovate or a reminder of techniques to generate ideas, but a reminder of the enjoying, the mystery, the fun, the feeling of generating your own ideas, your own thinking.
When thinking about my experience facilitating a group to generate ideas, also I think about the possibility of doing it on a one to one basis. This could benefit anybody by having some flexible support to generate ideas, as in one hour from anywhere we could have a conversation online through skype. In this session we could discuss exactly what you want. Possible options:
· A session in which I propose techniques and you do them privately in a notebook for yourself, and we discuss just what you think about it and how to adjust them to your interests. This could guarantee your privacy and your intellectual property as you don’t need to tell me anything about the topic you are thinking about.
· A session in which we can have a discussion online in which I use facilitation skills such as open questions, summaries, affirmation or reflection in order to encourage to develop your own ideas (not by giving advice but by facilitating your thinking process).
· A session in which you can dedicate time to think about something and I can help you to analyse the steps you follow and suggest changes.
· A session in which we can use something like google docs to share the same document and we can write comments at the same time. I could be typing questions or activities and you could do them and keep the document for yourself to continue working on it during and after the session.
Think about it as a more interesting activity than reading books, browsing internet, reading your email or searching for information, as you are constructing your own knowledge by building upon your own ideas based on your own experiences and motivation. Fascinating!
If you are interesting in having support to generate ideas or if you have any suggestions on how to do it in different ways, or how people would like to be supported, you can send me an email with your suggestions.
Depending on who is somebody and what he/she wants.
What is needed? Mainly one topic you are interested to generate ideas. It could be a problem, an area of development, a passion, a hobby... anything! In fact it could be always the same topic, as always you can be thinking new ideas about it.
Personality, process, product, environment...
Personality: Somebody with interest, with motivation, with confidence on the ability that everybody has to think and generate their own ideas.
Process: There are several tools or techniques to generate ideas, such as brainstorming, analogies, random, questions, visualization, changes, free writing, etc. and different combinations among them. This process can be done online in a one to one basis.
Product: Different type of products require some type of specific knowledge. (Can you imagine solving a maths problem without previous knowledge about it?). Sometimes is better not to have the knowledge to produce something different.
Environment: Today we have a very easy access to information with the internet. At the same time, we have some overload of information and expert opinions that can stop our own thinking, thinking that other people have better ideas than ours, forgetting that our ideas can be the best ideas for ourselves. Or even not having time to think!
It is clear that an environment with information (ideas to “play” with), games, encouragement, is a positive influence for generating ideas. A bit of structure might be needed for the efficiency of the process. Issues about language, time, finance, fears or tiredness and lack of motivation can have a negative impact.
But in our busy schedules, even with the motivation and the knowledge of how to generate ideas, we might need a reminder. Not only a reminder of the importance to innovate or a reminder of techniques to generate ideas, but a reminder of the enjoying, the mystery, the fun, the feeling of generating your own ideas, your own thinking.
When thinking about my experience facilitating a group to generate ideas, also I think about the possibility of doing it on a one to one basis. This could benefit anybody by having some flexible support to generate ideas, as in one hour from anywhere we could have a conversation online through skype. In this session we could discuss exactly what you want. Possible options:
· A session in which I propose techniques and you do them privately in a notebook for yourself, and we discuss just what you think about it and how to adjust them to your interests. This could guarantee your privacy and your intellectual property as you don’t need to tell me anything about the topic you are thinking about.
· A session in which we can have a discussion online in which I use facilitation skills such as open questions, summaries, affirmation or reflection in order to encourage to develop your own ideas (not by giving advice but by facilitating your thinking process).
· A session in which you can dedicate time to think about something and I can help you to analyse the steps you follow and suggest changes.
· A session in which we can use something like google docs to share the same document and we can write comments at the same time. I could be typing questions or activities and you could do them and keep the document for yourself to continue working on it during and after the session.
Think about it as a more interesting activity than reading books, browsing internet, reading your email or searching for information, as you are constructing your own knowledge by building upon your own ideas based on your own experiences and motivation. Fascinating!
If you are interesting in having support to generate ideas or if you have any suggestions on how to do it in different ways, or how people would like to be supported, you can send me an email with your suggestions.
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