incredible ideasDid you notice before, that some people think differently from the others, and they see common things from other perspectives. We call them design-thinking people. They make innovations and find non-standard solutions of complicated tasks. Having such people in your team is a great advantage, however you can also develop this skill in yourself, as Bernard Roth says in his book ‘The achievement habit’.

Design thinking is a set of general practices that is effective in problem solving, personal growth, interpersonal communication, public relations and leads you to a more satisfying and productive life. So first thing you need to understand is – you have a power to achieve anything in your life; you have enough energy to change the world around and to break the limits.

out_3Get out of the box

Common answers appear from the common questions. In you can’t find a proper solution – try to change the question. This is often a key to success. While broadening your mind you will explore yourself and new things around.

 

Here are some tips to train your design thinking skills:

  1.    Observe more about what is going on around you and keep wondering. Most of incredible ideas come from the routine life, but you need to take some time for observing instead of rushing with others.
  2.    Always ask yourself ‘what if?’ in any situation. Some ideas might appear crazy but that’s how it should be. What if there is no gravity? What if there is no building? What if there is darkness? What if he can’t move? What if we change the world? Example: If you have a task to change electric lamp, how will you complete it? Design-thinking people will probably ask: what if we don’t use electric lamps? Hmm
  3.    Doubt in obvious. Are you sure that all surrounding objects are exactly the same as you see them?  
  4.    Don’t be afraid of experiments and actions. Often a fear to lose blocks out-of-the-box thinking. To create an innovation you sometimes need to try 50 times with another less successful ideas.
  5.    Team based collaboration is more effective. Few creative thinkers are usually more effective in collaboration than a single one. So look around and gather people, who are ready for the opportunity challenge.
  6.    Provide supporting and empathizing atmosphere. Only teams where nobody is afraid of expressing stupid or crazy things can generate great ideas. Encourage empathetic attitude towards people’s behavior and habits; again, it is about observation and discovering. Open new opportunities in yourself.
  7.    Be ready for the mess. Yes, design thinking is not neat. Mess will follow your mind, your workspace and PC. Good idea is to record all team meetings in order not to lose valuable thoughts.
  8.    Be patient in problem solving. Each problem is a new opportunity, but it takes time to find your way to success. Not always smart decision will appear so fast, be ready to remain in the problem space until the right questions are identified.
  9.    Draw more. If you need to make a complicated decision take paper and pencil, use your imagination to draw schemes to make the algorithm visual.
  10.   Designthinking always requires commitment to lifelong learning. Do not stop dreaming, exploring, traveling and learning.

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Thinking out-of-the-box is a lifestyle. It means taking full responsibility of your life, and everything that happens with you. Are you ready to build your future and to enjoy your present?

Take the command of your life.

Be Gera-creative.

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