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Often we think of having to change the mindsets of others, but what about our own? Shouldn’t we be challenging our own ideas as well as the ways of having ideas? The following list applies to both solo and group working:

1. Develop a wide range of experiences and interests. The richer the experience the wider the range of possibilities. Why not take a different route home or try a different bus?
2. Become aware of your own blind spots i.e. things that you do not think about consciously or sub-consciously.
3. Step into the shoes of all your stakeholders, even those with extreme views.
4. Try different techniques, mix up your ways of holding meetings, generating ideas etc. Keep the same ones and you will build up systematic blind spots or gaps in your thinking.
5. Try different modes of thinking. If you are naturally intuitive then try to be rational. If you are working in groups then change the balance of the group. If you are familiar with NLP representational systems then work with a different one.
6. Challenge of all of the ‘givens’. Many organisations do things because they have always been done like that. There are not always as many regulatory constraints as there might at first appear!
7. Adopt alternative viewpoints. Try being your boss, secretary, spouse, the family pet or even an inanimate object.

Derek Cheshire is an expert, speaker, consultant and facilitator in the areas of Business Creativity, Innovation and Idea Generation. He is creator of the Innovation Toolkit, and co creator of workshops such as Creating The Difference, Creativity as a Business Tool, Sticky Strategy and The Idea Factory.