Blank Ideation (WheelShare) (The Creativity Explorer. Episode 147)
Blank Ideation is when you let yourself ideate an idea all the way without ever thinking of executing it. Like you are shooting blanks. The purpose is not to “hit” something, it’s just to practice the process.
Like last night, when I (in a dream!), came up with an idea of a wheelchair ride-sharing service.
Instead of electric scooters scattered across town that people can rent by the minute, there should be electric wheelchairs.
The advantages of wheelchairs over scooters are:
More comfortable to sit
Safer to sit than to stand.
Easier to learn.
A bonus advantage would be that the city would be full of people in wheelchairs normalizing the sight of a person in a wheelchair.
Another advantage would be that older people could use the wheelchairs, and they would never jump on an electric scooter.
I even dreamt up the name: “WheelShare”.
When I woke up, I started thinking about the business model (Governments should be offered to buy credits to give to old people), the logo (two smiling, happy, wheelchairs next to each other?), the slogan (“Roll with us!”), etc.
It was not a long process, perhaps ten minutes, mostly with me lying in bed and while having breakfast.
But the purpose of Blank Ideation is not to create greatness or to spend a lot of time on it.
It’s to practice the art and skill of developing ideas.
So when you do get a great idea that you want to take all the way to finished product launched you are already used to the process.
And also because Blank Ideation is a lot of fun!
To, just for the heck of it, develop a whole business plan on the back of a breakfast napkin is just so enjoyable. Loads of fun without any of the work.
So enjoy some Blank Ideation during these holidays before you go back to the hustle and bustle of “regular life” when much of your creative energy will be used to solve everyday problems.
Fredrik Haren – The Creativity Explorer.
30
Dec