The top 5 idea accelerators for job and career

Ideas are the raw material for innovation and the future.

Those who can think creatively and inspire colleagues make their organization more successful – and enjoy career benefits. Berlin creative expert Bernhard Wolff advises not only to further educate oneself professionally, but also to learn creative techniques as soft skills. Here he presents his personal top 5 most successful idea accelerators for job and teamwork. The Fun Factor "If it’s not fun, why do it?" Jerry Greenfield of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream coined these words – and spoke to many people's hearts. If it's not enjoyable, why should I do it? Creative processes in teams are rarely successful if people are not having fun. When organizing team or project work, make sure that the fun factor is not neglected. Assemble your teams in a versatile and mixed way. Allow people room for informal exchange, incorporate shared experiences into the work process, reduce control and rules, seek inspiring environments, and reward even crazy ideas and suggestions. This creates motivation and an atmosphere of innovation. The Journey to the Future "How exactly should our products or services look in 2030 to still be successful then?" This question concerns many companies. The year 2030 is a meaningful reference point, as this temporal distance allows the imagination to run wild – and is still tangible. Take a creative journey to the future with your team. Take a look together at the megatrends and specific trends in your industry. Then try to apply the relevant trends to your products. This works best when you form small groups of 5-7 participants each, brainstorm for half an hour in these groups, and finally put the ideas on paper as scribbles. Present the results to each other afterwards. This creates a lively exchange of future ideas. The Name Brainstorming As a customer and consumer, I don't want products with boring names. I appreciate so-called "speaking names" that reveal something about the product to me – and emotionally take me on a journey. For example, a personal consumer loan is a sober matter. But if this loan is associated with an experience, for example, a festive wedding celebration, it becomes emotionally charged and conveys the benefit: as a "Wedding Bliss Loan." Take three names of your products or services for the next team meeting. And ask yourselves together: With which situations and emotions can we associate these products or services? And how could the names be formulated to address and excite customers concisely? Such brainstorming about the product is invaluable. Employees discover completely new perspectives and unrecognized benefits in things they have been selling in the same way for years. Celebrating Instructive Mistakes Creative people try a lot of things. And that means: creative people make mistakes. And not just a few mistakes, but many more mistakes, even much more than the boring ones who always play it safe! Therefore, in particularly innovative companies, there is a so-called "error culture." Errors are welcome when they arise in the search for new ideas, when they are signs of courage and not clumsiness, and when they are learned from at the end of the day. There are even companies that celebrate the "Mistake of the Month." Sounds crazy. But if you celebrate the mistake of the month with a twinkle in your eye, it is much easier for colleagues to admit to mistakes rather than cover them up. "Fail fast, fail often" is the mantra of US entrepreneurs. An entrepreneur who does not have at least one decent failure to report is hardly taken seriously as an entrepreneur. Conclusion: The biggest mistake you can make is not making any mistakes. The Bridge Builder Principle Innovations arise at interfaces. Because at interfaces, thoughts can meet and fertilize each other. Therefore, the more contacts you have, the more ideas you can produce. Networks ensure the innovation capability of individuals, teams, and organizations. That's why if you want to become a top innovator, you should work intensively on your networks. However, forget about networking with like-minded people. Stop telling each other the same stories over and over again and confirming the same perspectives. Instead, build bridges – to other teams, other industries, other areas of life, to people with different ways of thinking. It has been proven that employees have particularly good and applicable ideas when they maintain informal contacts in the job across so-called "structural holes." These holes are mainly departmental and functional boundaries. So, it's not about the number of contacts, but about the breadth and versatility. The Start-Up Help Before you struggle too much with not having any creative thoughts: Let yourself be inspired by other creative minds! Look for start-ups: Their diverse ideas and concepts are the perfect inspiration. Google for startup competitions and innovation awards. Then you have the best ideas on the most relevant topics in sight all at once. Also suitable as a source of inspiration are the TED Talks on www.ted.com. Under the motto "Ideas worth spreading," you will find short and imaginative lectures on future-relevant topics. Bernhard Wolff is an expert in creativity and communication. He works internationally as a keynote speaker and moderator. His Think-Theatre GmbH has co-created over 500 conferences. He has already been a guest speaker at SuisseEmex, the Swiss Innovation Forum, and the Alpensymposium. His current book "Please Invent the Title Yourself - 157.5 Successful Idea Accelerators" has been published by Gabal Verlag. The 6-20-1 Method for Large Groups If you are looking for an effective and motivating creative method for a larger group, here it is. I have developed this method for my work as a moderator and speaker and have had the best experiences with it: Participants network with each other, generate a variety of ideas, and present the results to each other in the plenary. "6-20-1" stands for "six participants spend twenty minutes generating ideas on a - very specific - creative question." First, present the creative question to the plenary. This naturally depends on the content of your conference. Here are a few examples: "If our success story were a movie, what would it be called?" or "With which product will we delight our customers in 2025?" or "What profession do we still need to invent for our industry?" Then divide the plenary into small groups of six participants each. A standing table is available for each group. On it are notepaper, pens, a large cardboard, and a few markers. The participants introduce themselves briefly, start brainstorming, and record their best idea on the large cardboard. A group spokesperson brings this cardboard back to the plenary. And then comes the showdown: Each group spokesperson presents the idea in a 1-minute lightning presentation. And at the very end, you can let the participants choose the idea of the day through an applause vote. I always look forward to the presentations of the groups at the end. Not only because of the ideas, but above all because of the enthusiasm of the participants and their pride in their own creativity. The 6-20-1 Method Define a relevant, creative question. Divide the plenary into groups of 6 participants each. Give each group 20 minutes for idea generation. Each group spokesperson presents the best idea. Facilitate the whole process with fun and enthusiasm. To the profile of Top100 Speaker: https://www.speakers-excellence.de/redner/bernhard-wolff-rueckwaertssprecher.html You might also be interested in: https://www.speakers-excellence.de/se/blog/kreativitaet-2/