Are you waiting for a brand new idea?

 

Every cat has a favourite tree!

Are you waiting for a brand new idea of developing one?

There’s nothing more frustrating than trying to think of a brand new idea. It often feels as if the more you think about it the more elusive it becomes.

It’s not that everything has been done before; it’s just that ideas evolve and build upon themselves.

The first step in idea generation is to accept that the chance of coming up with a totally unique concept out of the blue is practically zero.

If you don’t believe us, sit down and try to think really hard to come up with something absolutely and completely new and innovative. If you can we’ll be amazed!

When you get bored with this, how about looking at stuff that exists already?

Rather than looking for an idea - why not let the idea come to you?

 

Let’s build an idea tree!

An idea tree can help you visually deal with the frustration of trying to remember and aide you in the process. It also gives you somewhere to record those little flashes of inspiration as they hit you! You can build your tree in Canva or just use a piece of paper.

• You see or hear something that sparks an idea in your imagination. Pick on anything that bugs you, a product or service. That’s your ground level at the base of your tree.
• You get the ‘Hey what if..?’ moment, and start your tree growing. That’s your tree trunk.
• The first few ideas come to you. Add them as your first branches.
• And those ideas spark more ideas. Add little branches to the branches you have already.
• You feel inspired and those ideas spark yet more ideas. Keep on adding yet more branches.
• If a branch line dries up and dies, don’t worry! Abandon it and follow another branch.
• Don’t think too deeply about it, add everything that pops into your head. Nothing is too silly or too expensive.
• Combine branches if you like.
• Finally, your tree bears fruit in the form of a ‘Eureka!’ moment!

Here is a large version of our tree.

Try it for yourself

Do have a go at drawing your own tree… it really works for idea generation!

All the images in our Collection are clear backed high-resolution PNG files so are suitable for websites and social media posts. If you incorporate them into your idea tress it’ll give you an even more visual reminder.