Jump Start Your Creativity

According to Kent R. Davies's article in Aftermarket Business, the following are some ways to inspire yourself to greater problem-solving skills:

Problems are opportunities. You gain insight and increased mental vigor when you mentally turn problems on their head by viewing them as opportunities. Instead of crying in your beer about sharply rising costs, determine why your existing customers keep patronizing you and new prospects continually pass through your door. By casually surveying your customers you might discover that your local advertising is bringing in few new prospects compared to word of mouth.

Let ideas evolve. Do not confuse idea generation with idea evolution. Forced decisions are much less effective than decisions that quietly evolve. You'll increase your productivity by letting your ideas stew around in your subconscious.

Don't dismiss seemingly bad ideas that might very well merit serious consideration. We've all awoken at night with a vexing problem's solution or had a fantastic resolution to a long-term problem bubble to the surface while quietly fishing a favorite stream.

Put problems in context. You may be looking at problems from the wrong perspective. Instead of narrowly viewing your customers as technicians or DIYers, for example, broaden your sales base by viewing them as vehicle enthusiasts. Then you can expand your sales and service volume by inviting them to a vehicle or technology demonstration day.

Creative demos can gain converts for almost anything. For example, a Seattle-based outdoor recreation retailer, Recreational Equipment Inc., used an enclosed glass shower booth so that customers could test their raingear. You might boost a certain product's sales by creating a similar setup.

Give ideas a chance. Even though some ideas might initially seem flaky, they still deserve consideration. Change often seems more difficult than beneficial. Even the best ideas require you and your employees to endure uncomfortable challenges. Implementing a new comprehensive software system might initially seem like a big waste of time because of the effort it takes to learn the new method to enter, save and retrieve data. Given time, though, everyone wins through a simplified process.

Use your team's creative spirit. You don't have a monopoly on good ideas, and you'll be the loser if you don't tap into your team's and your customers' insights. When employees have great ideas, always give them public recognition and extra compensation. Create a culture where employees learn they're free to voice their ideas in a non-threatening, ingenuity-oriented environment.

When given a suggestion, quietly mull it over before getting back to the employee/customer to notify them why the idea is viable or not. Even when an idea won't fly, motivate your team to keep those ideas coming.