Benefiting at work from Brain Based Insights

New ideas come easy, it's recognizing them that's hard at first. Anybody you work with recognizes a great idea after they see it.  But you can wire your brain to capture and create it before it's apparent to others. It might be a book about translating tech jargon into readable text … or a web site designed to share tips for the high-performing mind. The key is to launch your idea into a widget … such as a book outline or leadership proposal … before somebody else does.

Great ideas start at the end … which means you visualize what you’d like to see as polished and ready to roll onto a red carpet. The brain works well to focus on a lofty and finished idea at the outset … and then you’ll find far less frustration when things get sloppy or go wrong … if you can run toward a great end product.

Use your mistakes to improve your process. Remember the Wright brothers did not get that plane into the air on the first try…. They simply added to the aeronautics daily until the thing flew.  The secret, if you get stuck in the mistakes, is to use them as stepping stones to move an idea forward.

For this reason anybody can come up with innovative ideas. Anyone who made mistakes yesterday improve their outcomes today.  It’s simply a question of sticking with the project until it’s in the air so to speak. It's not the fear of failing that blocks people, it's the fear of not launching an idea that's quite brilliant enough. Certainly every innovator feels that freeze, but the brain’s way past paralysis is to see a great product in your mind’s eye, and then to pull it from its abstract frames into living colors … shapes and textures. All with the same calm and confidence it takes to dream the idea in the first place!

Think of it this way: Have you ever created a fun activity, or a new hobby? Ever planned a different holiday? Ate a funny food? Start with the silly things you can do in a day … and you’ll see how easy innovation is. Run from rules!  Your left side of the brain will likely try to demand judgment, and its critical tones create the same kind of psychological blocks nagging managers use to pressure slower workers to get a job done.

Do remember that new ideas hardly ever hide in common places … so prepare for a bit of a search. Play with ideas you’ve always wanted to see in reality. Walk to loosen up. Laugh with a good friend.

Break out of old molds and you’ll give your brain the impetus it needs to start. Forget any deadlines at first and simply open your mind to new possibilities with a fat marker on a large paper. Remember that until your idea turns into a concrete innovation, the sky is the limit. Try out new approaches like kids try on their parents clothes and walk the new feel into your project. If you feel overwhelmed … break the parts into bite-sized pieces. 

Ask two footed questions to guide your ideas into action. What if … you fill in the blanks…? Great questions help you launch even a shakey start ...  and they can also nudge that start along into a winner's circle near the end. Stay specific from the start. If that question is too vague … ask, how this idea or that one ... can connect to a marketable need? Still not there? Then ask … How can I help people to see they have a need first … and then fill that need with my innovative concept. Dream… think … play … and throw what you come up with into a design with no words to help your mind to grasp where you’d like to go. Stay with this part of the process until you can see the next step toward the final product.

Start with a baby step and expect a marathon. The first goal is to get one insight or idea out of your mind and into the beginning of a creative process. It can be any insight, but you have to see it, and jot it down to build on. At this stage I tend to walk-n-watch for something different that will trigger an idea. Throw a search out for one word or concept that intrigues me … such as “rewiring your brain” … and then read a few experts’ comments on the idea.

Still looking? Go for lunch with a friend. Ask that person… if you were wanted to …. How would you start…?  Listen to your favorite radio station and hear your idea in the lyrics, or grab that book of poetry that’s collecting dust and read a few as if they held a clue to a new part of your project.  Laugh at the silly things … it doesn’t matter what these are and you can make them up too – laughter releases enzymes into your brain and that helps ideas to flow when you need them. Once all the magic of an innovative idea moves into focus you’ll soon find yourself wrapping another new idea into your plan.  It's messy at first if it’s great – but your brain sorts out the good stuff so that it works.

Ignore any voice in your head that gets in your way. Have a conversation with a person you admire most … and ask opinions on whatever project part you're doing at the moment.  Throw your ideas into the ring and get a reaction… but be careful not to share visions with negative or cynical people. They’ll kill the work before it gets there. Hit a café or lounge alone and tell imaginary friends what you have in mind.  Jot down a response you might get. Be careful not to mouth the words … or you might find yourself explaining to the waiter what’s going on. If that happens though … ask his ideas too!

Buy a magazine that's as different to your lifestyle ... as wind differs from water. Form an opinion  from the perspective of a person who wants to buy your idea… and a person who hates the thought of your idea. Write a letter in response and defend the greatness of your project to both. Are you warming up to the mind’s unique design for innovation.  Rave about one thing that bugs you at work and then solve it with your creation.  Rant about your ideas for leading a new project at work and then through a proposal on the page to share with your boss. Better still … take the boss for lunch and share your ideas or ask for his. Watch for first impressions… they are often loaded with creative opportunities....

Helen Keller said …”Life is a daring adventure or it is nothing at all….”

Warm up to these words by asking how they’ll play out in your new idea. Rummage through the unused memories and bits of greatness in attics of your mind ... until you spot that special jar.  Rub it a few times and watch your muse rise like a genie hands magic to its master. Innovators simply make better use of stockpiles ... expect the unexpected ... and recycle yesteryears into novelties that refresh new work. Remember both old and new will get your innovation off the ground. Do these warm up and your brain works to put things together … almost on its own.

Here are a few sites to visit to take what you have here to the next level – after which I hope your stop by Brain based Business again -- to share your final results.

To get you started … find ideas here for:

1. A great article
2. Remodeling projects for home or work
3. Innovative small business ideas
4. Fundraising possibilities
5. Great photography tips

Where are you headed with this? Wherever that is … stay on the path til you get there … and you will! It’s how the brain works in your favor!