Be Curious
You cannot be innovative unless you are curious about life, about what happens around you. Resolve to start looking at your experiences differently. Constantly questions things that happen to you. Why did it happen that like that? What would need to be done if I wanted a different outcome? What would that outcome be? How could that outcome be achieved?
Open up your eyes and your mind and start being curious.
Be Open to New Ideas
Being open to new ideas means putting yourself in situations where you can receive stimulation. You may not be seeking inspiration or a solution to problems but make sure you are regularly mixing with other business owners. Get into networking groups; seek out people who can give you fresh insights even if they are not within your sector or industry; read magazines and journals which are unrelated to your business.
Be Just Plain Weird!
Innovation rarely happens if you act within accepted norms. Deciding that something can’t be done because it has never been done will not win you any prizes. Being innovative means being prepared to act against accepted or conventional wisdom; being prepared to challenge the unchallengeable is the way innovators succeed. In a nutshell … go against the crowd and be weird
Be Ready
Innovative ideas can strike at any time of the day or night or in any place. Don’t assume that ideas will pop up when you are sitting at your desk. As we saw in the previous point y their very nature innovative ideas are weird so expect them to surface in weird places! To capture them before they fall into the recesses of your mind always carry a notebook, Dictaphone, or PDA.
However outlandish the idea may seem write it down and resolve to look at it when you are in your most innovative frame of mind!
Be Persistent
Being innovative means being persistent. Whilst you may find a solution to your problem immediately but it very rarely happens that way. Solutions are out there, it just how long you are prepared to wait for them to appear.
Be Willing to Share
Whilst an innovative idea can strike and you can immediately take action invariably it takes someone else to fill in the missing pieces. Don’t stumble around in the dark; find someone you can trust, someone who has the qualifications necessary to help move your idea forward.