Business owners, design thinkers, creative people, inventors and even the average office employee all encounter this once in a while: They run out of good business ideas. While some are able to bounce back and regain their composure with a vengeance and come out firing away with even more amazing nuggets, there would be those who find a hard time getting back on track. This seems harder to deal with than the fact that you might have run out of ideas momentarily.
This could be frightening. For entrepreneurs and creative people who thrive on new ideas for innovation, this is the main thing that keeps them going. Allowing the slump to go on could definitely affect work and business but there is a way out of this. Keep in mind that not because you’ve run out of ideas at the moment means you’re done for. You still have your memory quite intact. There are things you need to remember once you feel stumped thinking about new business ideas. Bring them all back so you could get back on track. Read on:
- Remind yourself about what you are
You might have been a thought leader all these years and might have also forgotten about that somehow along the way. This isn’t saying that its time for you to live in the past, rather this is a way to reassess your performance as a leader. Being authentic with your people about how you wish to know how you are as a leader encourages people to be just as motivated to go through more positive reevaluation about themselves as work collaborators. It takes a leader and his people working together to create solutions based on good ideas. Reacquainting yourself with what you could do and how better you could ideate transmits a vibe that usually reenergizes creativity.
- Bring Brilliant People Together
Sometimes it’s all a matter of exposing yourself or your team to people with brilliant ideas that could bounce off on everybody else. Remember that before you became what you are right now, you probably hobnobbed or worked together with the brightest minds that your career opened up to you. Doing so with the kind of online technologies we have right now has become much easier. Engage in online discussions with thought leaders and amazing people with brilliant ideas. Encourage your team to do the same. Association is inspiration. What rubs off tends to provoke likeminded brilliance.
- Have some Fun
All work and no play is what you already know about because you’ve probably heard that adage countless times along the way to wherever you might be now. In fact, that’s probably why you’ve sapped the well dry. Lighten up. Enjoy the ride. Take some time away from the virtual PBX loop. It’s a thought desert right now, yes. Ride on some more and soon you could bump into something so hilarious it makes you laugh and get a flash of a great idea at the same time.
- Do some Revitalizing Rituals
Sometimes teams get into a rut simply because there are too many unwritten codes that get in the way of their thinking methods. Somehow these unwritten codes jam interpersonal communications and discourage open exchange of views. When this happens, it’s time to have the team do some soul-searching rituals that could remind people about their professional promises as creative people. Craft a written code that encourages the following:
- Dream big and break some rules if necessary
- Listen well so that you could open doors
- Trust more to be trusted more
- Go forward and pay it forward