Do a reversal

Turn the book-selling problem about face. Imagine you sell too many books. Or imagine you’re not in business to sell books. Instead, people have to remain inside your store to read their books. Do these absurd notions give you any ideas for increasing sales?

Example: If customers were sequestered inside the store to read books, you’d provide them with chairs and comfortable accommodations. So perhaps this concept is valid for a real-world store. And maybe you’d sell coffee, tea and pastries too, all the better to keep real customers in the store, browsing through books that they might then buy.

   Exaggerate

Blow the circumstances of your problem out of proportion.

Example: Your business is so poor that you have to give away books to attract customers to your store. This notion suggests the real-world incentive of giving a customer a free book for every $150 of books purchased.

   Use exposure

Leave your problem for a while. Walk down a strange street or into an unfamiliar store. Relate your observations to your problem.

Example: You walk into a toy store. The games and stuffed toys inspire the notion of sectioning off a corner of your store as a play area for children. This would free parents from the distraction of managing their children while browsing for books.

   Cross-fertilize

Sometimes you can be too familiar with your business to recognize a solution to a problem. Seek advice from someone with a different outlook on life. Talk to an expert from another field.

Example: A friend of yours, who lived with Native Americans for years, relates his experience with Indian storytellers. This notion inspires you to develop a series of public readings of short stories in your store. You might even offer a children’s storytelling hour.

   Use random words

Open a dictionary. Run your finger down the page until you come across the first noun. How does this word relate to your business?

Example: You open the dictionary to the word “perfection.” You associate this word with spiritual fulfillment. This inspires you to inquire of local churches whether you could stock specialty books for their members. What other special interest groups might want to order books?

When you use these techniques, you won’t need a da Vinci, Wright or Ford in the office. You and your employees will set free your latent potential for solving problems, just like the geniuses you can be!

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