I was reading a friends blog post the other night, and it reminded me of something I learned during an innovation coaching session.

If you are feeling uninspired, take yourself out of your normal space.

Here are a couple of ideas:

1) Wear something different to work. Dress up. Wear a hat. Wear bright colors (if you normally wear black).

2) Bring something to play with in brain storming sessions. This could be lego toys, pictures, flash cards, magazines, or anything that can provide stimuli.

3) Take the meeting outdoors! There is nothing better than a little fresh air, or ocean views. Take your meeting to the beach, or park, or to a coffee shop – somewhere different than your typical meeting place. One of my old colleagues took his team meeting to a pre-school!

4) Put yourself in anothers shoes. Ok – not literally. But sometimes by looking at another industry or culture, etc. great ideas can come flowing. Hang out a friends business place for a day, and see how things are done around their office. Inspiration comes from many places!

By now, I hope you get the idea. Basically, you can start to think a little differently, if you are in a different space with different stimuli!

Here is the link to my friend, Alison’s, blog post. She crossed company lines for a weekend of training, and I bet she learnt a lot more than what was taught to her in the class 😉

What do you do for inspiration?