“If you look at the way successful founders have had their ideas, it’s generally the result of some external stimulus hitting a prepared mind.”
Love this article on how to get startup ideas. The answer? In a nutshell, be interesting, engaged, and observant.
I love this quote, too: "Since what you need to do here is loosen up your own mind, it may be best not to make too much of a direct frontal attack on the problem—i.e. to sit down and try to think of ideas. The best plan may be just to keep a background process running, looking for things that seem to be missing."
This quote is a good reminder for me that brute force design thinking exercises are just one approach to innovation work — and often not the most effective. Of equal importance: the tickler file! In other words, keep a running list of the things that inspire you, the things you notice, the weird ideas that pass through your head. Have faith and curiosity about what you notice. Write it down, and revisit it often.