Generating new ideas using random word is very effective. These concepts enhance our brain to start evaluating and pop up with new ideas.
How it works
Random Words works in particular by making you go elsewhere for ideas,hence pushes you out of your current thinking rut. It uses the principle of forced association to make you think in new ways and create very different ideas.
1. Find a random word
Find a random word that will be used as a stimulus for new ideas. You can do this in a number of ways, including:
- Look around you. What can you see? Can you see any words? What about things? What else is happening?
- Open a book at a random page. Run your finger around the page and stop at a random point. Look for a suitable word near your finger.
- Ask the people you are with to give you a random word.
- Select a word from a prepared list of evocative words (fire, child, brick, sausage, etc.)
2. Find associations
· Think about other things about which the word reminds you.
· Follow associations to see where they go. Think openly: associations can be vague and tenuous (this is creativity, not an exam!).
· Write it down on a flipchart as your find it.
3. Use the associations to create new ideas
· Now create new ideas by linking any of the associations with your problem.
· Write the ideas as you move on to think out of Stage 2.
Use it to stimulate open and divergent thinking and seek creative new ideas.
Use it to re-ignite creative thinking when you are running out of ideas.
Use it to get people out of a rut when their thinking is still rather conventional.
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