Andre Ivanchuk

Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.

— Arthur Schopenhauer

Innovators 2.5% – These are the ground-breakers, the risk-takers, the creative thinkers and entrepreneurs whom by nature are designed to change the world.

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Creativity is what’s needed for Innovation to happen.
Innovation is what could happen as a result of creativity.

Abductive Reasoning is at the heart of Creativity, including Innovation, Design Thinking, and all other methods and visionary goals. The most ground-breaking ideas resulted from looking at a set of seemingly unrelated components.

Abductive reasoning typically begins with an incomplete set of observations and proceeds to the likeliest possible explanation for the set. Abductive reasoning yields the kind of daily decision-making that does its best with the information at hand, which often is incomplete. (Source Link)

Our imaginations follow this type of thinking pattern. It is ideas and thoughts that at first appear absurd and ridiculous. Einstein regularly experimented using this method to explore the world around him.

Action: Using small note cards, write down anything that captures your attention during the course of a week (things, objects, ideas, products/services used, food consumed, tangible, intangible, etc.). At the end of the week, take the inventory of cards and force yourself to find relationships, trends, opportunities and ideas – regardless of how ludicrous that may be.

What was the question asked that inspired the development of Anti Wi-Fi Paint to neutralize radio frequencies. Certainly it was not “Let’s make paint that will neutralize wave frequencies“. The question asked was, “How can we stop radio frequencies from traveling through unwanted spaces and environments?”

The end-results heavily depend on the coining and molding of the right question. Here’s a simple exercise to mold a great question:

• Begin with your initial question/statement – whether it’s a challenge, a problem or an opportunity at hand
• Write it down across the top of a page
• Identify key words in your statement
• Using a Thesaurus, begin to create variations of your statement by replacing the key words
• Statements and questions with fresh perspectives will begin to form. Pay close attention to the variations.

Below is a very basic example to illustrate the point. For a creative entrepreneur and an innovator, each statement opens very different possibilities and solutions:

• How can I travel to Miami more quickly (original statement)
  
• How can I drive to Miami more directly
• How can I fly to Miami instantly
• How can I connect with Miami more instantly
• How can Miami travel to me

A key to generating creative ideas is to train your mind to think in a particular way. Naturally, we revert to safe thinking; our ideas need to make sense; we doubt in our ability; we wonder what others might think. In actuality, we limit the ideas and predetermine their failure.

If the mind is trained to think freely, without boundaries – you will be in the position to generate limitless ideas.

A simple technique:

For the next thirty days, force yourself to come up with outrageous ideas – ideas that may not necessarily make sense at all. The goal is to train to mind to break the boundaries that we naturally set up that confide our idea generation. Note each idea. Sketch it out.

Several pointed to keep in mind:

The journaling is only for you, no one else will see this.
Feel free to explore existing products & services, and look for ways to improve them.
Look at your everyday life, be sensitive to the things that you cannot find a feasible solution to.

“Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.” Albert Einstein

“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” Steve Jobs quotes

Ask more, then ask again. Once you’re finished asking questions, ask why.

I recently had several voicemails from vendors looking to provide their services & products. They were very clear on their name, company, and service/product offered. But when it came time to leave their contact number; it was mumbled, unclear, and quick.

It’s not that difficult to put a little extra effort into a piece of information that is more critical than who you are and what you do. If you’re unreachable, all of the bells and whistles on your product and service are irrelevant.

When leaving a recorder message, slow down on the phone number, take a pause between the area code and the other two sets, speak clearly, and repeat.