Thoughout the history of man ideas that originally sounded ridiculous often become the basis for major discoveries and inventions to the benefit of all mankind.
In 1946, Darryl Zanuck, then head of 20th Century Fox, predicted: “Video (television) won’t hold any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night.”
An 1868 New York newspaper reported that: “A man has been arrested in New York for attempting to extort funds from ignorant and superstitious people by exhibiting a device which he says will convey the human voice any distance over metallic wires so that it will be heard by the listener at the other end. He calls this instrument a telephone. Well-informed people know that it is impossible to transmit the human voice over wires.”
Challenge your assumptions continually. Assumptions can easily turn into stumbling blocks. Are your assumptions true and absolute, or they false and misleading?
A major obstacle to creative thinking is the fear of criticism, the fear of ridicule, scorn or rejection. Humans are conditioned from infancy to seek and value the approval of others and if we feel a new idea will trigger laughter or cause us to feel foolish afterwards, we just keep our mouths shut.
Be prepared to suggest ridiculous approaches to a problem or obstacle. Be as silly as you can. This approach often triggers creative breakthroughs.
Having a clearly defined purpose stimulates creativity. Intensely desired goals, clearly defined with detailed plans for their accomplishment, act as a continual stimulus for ideas to achieve them.
Write out a clear description of the end result or goal. Think about it, using your creative imagination to visualize it. Project your mind forward to the picture of the realized goal and then look back to the present. Be clear about the goal, yet be flexible about the process.
Record your thoughts. Let the ideas flow. Don’t worry about the order or the clarity because you can organize them during the planning phase. Take your ideas and organize a plan to achieve the purpose. Work on the plan, updating it, changing it, adding to it as you think of new ways to work toward the goal. The more clearly defined and keenly desired your goals, the more of your natural creativity will be released for goal attainment.
Work the plan with a confident, expectant attitude believing the plan is a logical, practical solution to achieving the purpose. The most creative people have a relaxed attitude of confident expectancy that causes their minds to function in original and imaginative ways. Be absolutely clear about your goal. Write it down and make a plan to achieve it. Think of different ways you could accomplish it.