Taken from "Why Didn't I Think of That?, these ten creativity rules will help you overcome obstacles to discovering new ideas!
 

Creativity Rule 1

Capture ideas whenever and wherever they come to you. May of our best ideas are "free," often coming to us when we're relaxed and not consciously working on a problem. Record your ideas immediately.

Creativity Rule 2

Model openness and acceptance of ideas. Watch your verbal and nonverbal communication. Much of our response to others' ideas is communicated nonverbally.

Creativity Rule 3

Redefine your problem in many ways. Ask yourself "Why?". Many times we set out to solve the wrong problem. Challenge your assumptions.

Creativity Rule 4

Go outside of the problem area. Look for connections from other areas for solving problems. Ask yourself, "What ideas can I get for solving this problem from a completely different world?"

Creativity Rule 5

Develop creativity habits. When working on a challenge or an opportunity, ask yourself: "How else can I do this?", "What if..?", "How can I use something that doesn't fit with this at all?"

Creativity Rule 6

Separate your imaginative thinking from your judgmental thinking. When generating ideas, don't criticize your own ideas or the ideas of others. After you have generated a number of ideas, then evaluate them, but don't try to generate and evaluate at the same time.

Creativity Rule 7

Evaluate ideas by considering the Pluses or strengths of the idea first; then list the Potentials in the idea; then list the Concerns (PPC). When you determine your concerns about an idea, phrase your concerns as you would phrase a question or problem statement. This way your mind will immediately begin to look for ways to overcome the concerns instead of disregarding the entire idea.

Creativity Rule 8

When working to solve a problem, set a quota of at least forty ideas. To get new ideas, it is important to stretch beyond the obvious ways for solving a problem. The more ways you have of accomplishing your goal, the greater are your chances of doing it.

Creativity Rule 9

We are all creative, but realize that creativity requires practice and development as any other skill does.

Creativity Rule 10

Look at problems as opportunities. Every problem we encounter has something to teach us. As Richard Bach, author of Illusions said, "There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hand. We seek problems because we need their gifts."

 
Roger Firestien: Creativity Consultant ............... ............... ............... ...............