Four Questions To Generate Innovative Ideas

Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, and Richard Branson, are the names of brilliant people who seem to never run out of brilliant ideas, business models or new product designs that always grab the public's attention. Innovation is like breakfast for these people, something that seems commonplace and routine.

Many people saw them as exceptions, rare people who were destined to be born great. But apparently not, there is good news from Rowan Gibson, author of "The Four Lenses of Innovation: A Power Tool for Creative Thinking", he believes innovation is a matter of perspective, and that anyone can jump-start their ability to innovate.

The secret is to see the problem through one of four "lenses" creative thinking. Well, if you want to spawn innovation, try asking these four questions, and who knows a brilliant idea will come up soon:

1. How can I challenge conventional wisdom and disrupt the status quo?

The first lens of innovation challenges deeply held beliefs, or general assumptions. Elon Musk is a great example. "Look at what he did with Tesla," said Gibson. “Detroit experts say he will never be able to build a high-performance electric car, get people to buy it, or build enough electric charging stations. And he can never sell directly to people on the internet.”

He challenged all these assumptions and gave the industry a shock and he did the same in the rocket industry. So next time you want to be more innovative, try to question the things "everyone" knows. You may end up shaking up the industry.

2. How can I harness the power of an upcoming trend?

Jeff Bezos before he was on Amazon, was on Wall Street. He read about the explosive growth of the internet and wondered what kind of business would make sense in the context of that growth. The report is publicly available. Anyone can read it.

So try to look at the world with an eye for upcoming changes in politics, lifestyle, technology and other domains. Think of a business or product that could trigger that change. To find answers to the questions that lead to innovation, Gibson says. "Innovators can read signals. They can see there's an approaching tsunami that now looks like ripples."

3. How can I take advantage of what is already there and create new opportunities from it?

So try to do the same. Try to see the world from the customer's point of view. What they need, troublesome points in their lives, or annoying little problems. Richard Branson is a perfect example of this approach, Gibson says. He owned a small record store in London, and now owns this empire with 400 companies in different industries. Every single company, and every individual has a set of skills and assets. It's just a matter of how we cultivate these skills and assets, then develop it into a business empire.

4. What customer needs are not or have not been met?

Consumer research is helpful, but entrepreneurs need to think further. Entrepreneurs must be able to meet customer needs, even when consumers themselves do not know that they need it. They don't know they need an iPod, Airbnb, Uber, or Nest, but look, once these services are launched it turns out that many people find it helpful.

Steve Jobs was an expert at figuring out what customers need before they know they need it. So try to do the same. Try to see the world from the customer's point of view. What they need, troublesome points in their lives, or annoying little problems.