For enterprises, there is no future without innovation. Since innovation is so important and urgent, many people don't know what to do. The most popular creative course in Stanford University shows us that innovation is not difficult and interesting.

Some people think that creative thinking is innate and can't be acquired through study: if you don't have creative thinking, nothing can help you. The author Professor tina seelig disagrees with this view. She believes that people's imagination can be improved through a set of reasonable training methods and certain environmental factors; Moreover, there are such training methods. As long as some conditions are used reasonably, the innovation ability will be improved.

What training method is that? Let's take a look.

1, associative thinking method

Associative thinking is to connect two completely unrelated things. For example, what do you think of when you associate a desk lamp with food? Table lamp-shaped food, table lamp-themed restaurant, table lamp creative competition to win food promotion activities, and so on. Do you see it? There are many ideas that can create value.

Therefore, we can often play this game with children, friends or colleagues: you say one thing, he says another, and see what new ideas you can combine to practice innovation.

2. Brainstorm (Do you really know? )

A teacher and his students played a game: the teacher told the students not to talk and lined up in a row according to the size of their birthdays within the specified time. At first, everyone thought it was difficult, but after a few seconds, they saw someone start gesturing and finally finished the task. At this time, the teacher said, "Is there any other way?" Then someone thought that they could write it on paper, or take out their driver's license, or draw a timeline on the ground (the person corresponding to the birthday is standing there), or even sing the birthday, because there is no rule against singing.

What does this game show us? People are lazy and often stop thinking when they only think of one way. Brainstorming is to solve the problem of human inertia. It allows a group of people to get together, think freely around a specific topic, boldly put forward various ideas, and then build new ideas on the basis of these ideas.

People often say, "We should use brainstorming." But will it really work? Brainstorming has a very, very important rule: don't criticize, don't judge, write down all your ideas and don't stop easily. Why? Let me give you an example.

A head office of a bank wants to brainstorm on how to improve customer satisfaction. At the beginning of the meeting, one person said, "Let less dissatisfied users". At first glance, this idea is too outrageous. "How can we make fewer users?" The president of the head office wants to get angry. At this time, the host immediately stopped him and asked him to write down his thoughts and said, "Well, this idea is very good. Please continue with the rest." Later, all the people spoke freely and collected many good ideas. Think about it, if the president of the head office criticizes the employees in front, the people behind may not dare to speak easily, and it will not be like this.

Finally, everyone asked the staff, "Why let the less dissatisfied users come?" . She said: "Because many customers who come to our bank now are grandfathers and old ladies who pay utilities, our purpose is to improve customer quality. Therefore, if more VIP counters are opened, the number of ordinary counters will be reduced and queues will be needed. In this way, uncles and aunts who pay utilities will not come. " The president said "this suggestion is very good" and then put it into practice in the industry. Now we can see that there are more VIP counters in banks than before.

There are several common mistakes to pay attention to in brainstorming.

1) When encountering a seemingly stupid idea, some people can't help but comment or even attack, which will actually kill more ideas;

2) When you think of a good idea, just stick to it and start discussing how to realize it. The purpose of brainstorming is actually to collect good ideas, not to discuss whether it is feasible. We need to distinguish this.

3) Too many participants. Facebook has a principle of double pizza. As long as there are more than two pizzas, more people can eat. Generally 6-8 people are better.

4) the question is not good. Questions that are too vague to brainstorm, such as "What are we going to do this time?" ; It's not good to ask too restrictive questions, such as "What gift for Cui Cui". It is better to "How can I make Cui Cui feel that this birthday is the most unforgettable?"

3. Observe carefully and look for opportunities.

Innovation sometimes comes from our careful observation of life and customers.

For example. A company wanted to improve the design of the stroller, so the engineers sat in the stroller for a week like babies and were pushed to the street to experience it. When I came back, everyone was very angry and said, "If I were a baby, I wouldn't want to take this stroller. Why? Because it is too low, I see people's legs and feet, but I can't see my mother's face. I have been pushed forward, and I don't know where I am being pushed. I feel very scared. " So, the improvement plan came out: raise the baby's seat and turn to the mother so that you can interact with her while walking. Therefore, this design is very popular in the market.

This shows us that this innovation would not have happened without careful observation. So, how to improve the observation ability? The author tells us four training methods.

1) is highly sensitive to the environment. You can play a game with your children or friends to see who can remember more things: how many counters are there in the store you just passed, what's in them and so on.

2) Enlarge the details observed in life. After this kind of training, you may become a sketch actor or screenwriter in the future, because they have the skill of "magnifying and observing details".

3) Field trip. Describe the object of your investigation in detail. The more detailed, the better. You will find many things that you have overlooked.

4) Record the inspiration that flashed in your mind in time. If you don't write it down in time, some good ideas will disappear.

4. Create a creative environment

Many companies have similar offices, but a good environment helps to enhance creativity. The simplest and most effective way is to remove the partition, and the creativity will be improved. A person with a stuffy head in the office is not as creative as sitting with everyone. In an open environment, you will be more creative when you are with others.

In addition, the unique office design can also stimulate creativity. For example, an enlarged stone, musical instrument, toy or exquisite handicraft in the company, which usually does not appear in the office, will stimulate the imagination of the team. Also, different concerts bring different effects.

There are seven very important factors in creating a creative environment.

1) Private space: Leave a relatively quiet private space for people to think independently.

2) Collective space: a space that can bring everyone together and is suitable for group discussion, and everyone can chat around.

3) Space for self-expression: put a board beside each employee's desk, where you can post photos, write aphorisms, hang oil paintings or medals, and so on.

4) Talent display space: a movable meeting room or classroom where everyone can give a speech or communicate one-to-many and so on.

5) Participation space: a space that everyone can build together, which can be a small yard, a small forest cultivated together, or even a warehouse.

6) Information space: a space for storing all kinds of information, such as books, magazines and trade publications. Everyone can go in and get useful information.

7) Bystander space: space only for passive observers and listeners. For example, there is a kind of one-way glass, which is holding a seminar and observing at the same time, and it will also have new inspiration.

5. Use constraints to promote creativity

That's how Jobs got the iphone. He asked the Apple phone to have only one key. The designer asked "OK" when he did the four keys, and was scolded back. I almost collapsed when I made two keys, but Jobs insisted, "There must be a key."

Another example is Sony's request that the radio be made into a sawn small piece, and it must be able to fit into this small piece, and it cannot be larger than this, otherwise it will fail. Later, they really made it, that is, the walkman that dominated electronic products for about 20 years.

Compressing time can also make creativity rebound. For example, you can't go to the toilet during the creative period, and you can't hold it any longer. In this kind of emergency, ideas will appear faster.

Also, the less resources, the more ideas. For example, limit the cost to a certain range and not exceed this money. Under this constraint, different products and solutions will also be made.

Of course, sometimes innovation needs to break the shackles. Actually, breaking constraints and binding are the same thing. For example, does express delivery have to be free? Is there a charge for antivirus software? Do children have to go to cram school?

6. Stimulate team creativity

Usually there are meetings to discuss things, and people often object and argue endlessly. Whether this thing can be done or not. For the company, people who think they can do it and those who think they can't have value and contribution, but when they get together, it becomes a war of words.

Every member of the team has great potential. The parallel thinking method (that is, the "six thinking hats" method) is to let everyone participate in the discussion, which can effectively avoid quarrels and conflicts. Let's take a concrete look.

The blue hat represents the conductor. The man in the blue hat is responsible for deciding and directing everyone to wear what hat.

White hats represent data and facts. When everyone is wearing a white hat, everyone only says relevant data and facts. This won't quarrel, because everyone is talking about data and facts.

The red hat represents emotion. When everyone wore a red hat, everyone expressed their intuitive judgment on this matter. I don't think it is reliable. So there will be no quarrel, because everything is intuition.

The yellow hat represents positive optimism. When everyone wears a yellow hat, everyone should share the benefits of this matter, especially those who oppose this matter, and must speak. Even if he only says one thing, he will accept it more easily when he finally reaches an agreement.

A black hat represents caution. When everyone wears a yellow hat, everyone just says why it can't be done, how high the risk is, how difficult it is, and so on. Especially those who support it, must speak.

The cuckold husband (which China people may not like very much) represents innovation. People can say how to change this matter, what room for improvement, and how to do it.

After wearing these six hats, it is easier for the team to reach an agreement, because everyone looks at it from the same angle.

Haier once said that the "six hats" method helped them reduce the meeting time by two-thirds. When the team has a meeting, this method can really reduce the chances of quarreling. Some people say that this is a way of thinking that benefits for life.

7. Make a bold attempt

Edison tried more than 6000 kinds of fiber materials before he invented the electric light bulb. He has a famous saying: I have never failed, and every time I fail, I just rule out an unsuitable material.

Ma Yun said in a speech at Tel Aviv University: "In the past 19 years, we have made numerous mistakes and suffered numerous failures and setbacks. The only thing we can do right is never to give up. " On the road to success, it is inevitable to encounter failure, but this cannot be an excuse not to try. Only by having the courage to try can we bring innovative results.

Finally, encourage everyone to have a sunny attitude.

Stanford University professor did an experiment: students with poor academic performance were divided into two groups, and the experimental group was clearly told that "intelligence is like muscle". As long as they practice more, they will certainly improve. Said nothing to the control group. The learning conditions of the two groups are the same. After a large number of experiments, it is found that the learning effect of the reminded group is obviously better. This shows that our mentality has a great influence on innovation.

Have you found that these methods in the book are all things we can do and practice often, and they are not that difficult. If you believe that innovation can be learned and that innovation mechanism can improve innovation ability, if you often use these seven methods, your life will be full of fun and your team will become different. You can if you want.

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