I got this data from an Idea Receptiveness Survey.
The most popular choice is to look outside for new ideas (43%) when facing a difficult problem. Only 12% stated that they would continue to try to come up with ideas themselves.
The ‘other’ answers included the following with the first two mentioned several
times:
· A combination of the above
· Brainstorming.
· Post the problem on online forums
· Use stimuli
· Independent consultant
· Ask lots of people
· Pull cross functional teams together
· Look to see what others had tried elsewhere
· Sleep on it
· Research the internet
· Ask anyone with potential expertise in the specific area
I wonder whether there is another method – have a Wiki for Ideas? An IdeaPedia, perhaps. It was one of the suggestions I made to the Project Red Stripe from The Economist which wants to pool ideas and publish them.
Meta: How did I get to writing this post?
Google Alerts on Innovation -> BQF Innovation -> Chuck Frey’s blog -> Idea Receptiveness Survey