blah blah blah. We all get stuck at times. It's so easy to reheat leftovers or microwave a frozen meal, but startups require fresh ideas.
Whether you feel stuck in a rut or want to cook up something new, here are some innovative ways to break existing frameworks:
𝗦𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲. People outside your industry are unconstrained by the same legacies and conventions yet they've likely solved similar problems. Also, taking the time to explain the situation sometimes helps you to discover a new solution in the process.
𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗳𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. Mired in constant stress, fiction provides an outlet to free your mind and consider new options. Many novels have leaders struggling to change their circumstances and wild depictions of new inventions.
𝗦𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗿. Digging into an issue and asking "why" uncovers clues to a mystery. For instance, say two employees keep fighting. In talking with both, you discover they actually want a new role. If they are valuable to the company, define new roles for both of them, which may lead to years of productivity.
𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. Instead of big ideas, radically change only one aspect of your process. Chefs do this all the time, switching one ingredient to create a signature dish. Try to spice up your client delivery and internal operations and gauge reaction to see if that change worked.
Creativity can inspire a product, market, or team to reach the next level. Be open to trying different approaches and discover new, delicious opportunities.
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Thanks to Nathan Furr, Jeff Dyer, and Kyle Nel for their article, “When Your Moon Shots Don’t Take Off” which inspired this post.
Photo by Johnathan Macedo who can be found here: