Do you spend hours thinking about something? Maybe it’s an idea you have a lot of passion for or a nugget of an idea that needs a bit more clarity. Maybe it’s an obstacle you are struggling to get over.
Think, think, think and think some more. Are you feeling stuck in a rut now? Same ideas coming to mind, locked in a thought pattern you can’t shake?
While brain power is great, maybe it’s time to get touchy feely with your idea. Intimacy with an idea can lead to great leaps in thinking. I suggest instead of thinking about your idea or challenge–create it! Grab some duck tape, oatmeal cans, paper clips, toilet paper rolls, and colored pencils and get to work.
This isn’t about making a working model. Instead, this is about letting you work on your idea in a tangible way. The physical act of making a rough prototype will allow you to see your idea in a whole new light. Also, the physical act of making something, unleashes the creative mind bringing you new thought patterns and ideas.
I often take an idea I’m working on and turn it into a rough physical prototype. I take any materials I can find and mash them together. Getting touchy feely with my ideas allows me to play with their possibilities and see the hurdles I missed before.
I’m working on idea for a desktop product that allows people to choose one creative habit to do daily in their work. It works like the spinners on games like Twister. It’s an idea I’ve been thinking about for a while. One of my clients at WhiteWave Foods said to me, “if only my team could practice being innovative daily.” That got me thinking about getting people to embrace creative behaviors which ultimately led to the Creative Spinner. Making the prototype gave me some important insights and saved me a lot of time and money before I went to production. In short, I realized that 6 exercises aren’t enough, I need more. I also realized that the size I was originally considering isn’t big enough. Phew! So glad I got to know my idea before I launched (coming soon!)
Another entrepreneur I was recently talking to told me how a trip to Home Depot for a home repair turned into an idea prototype extravaganza and exactly what he needed to move forward with an idea. See the power of your handiwork?
The next time you’ve got an idea you want to explore or a hurdle you want to overcome remember to get touchy feely. For those of you that dove head first into Imaginibbles, this is part of Create from the 7 Building Blocks To Imaginative Thinking™.
PS- if you whisper sweet nothings into your idea’s ear I promise not to tell!
Share you touchy feely prototypes in the comments section below.
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