Eight Tips to Unstick Your Thinking

Have you ever worked for a long time on a tough challenge, only to feel that the right answer is just around the corner? Have you ever circled around a problem, only to find the same flawed solutions over and over again? Has your thinking ever been stuck in a rut?

When we get stuck, our brains need fresh stimuli, new perspectives, and triggers that help us gain insights into the true nature of the issue that bothers us. Here are eight surprising ways to feed your brain, refresh your thinking and unstick yourself.

1. Stop working, start playing

When you’ve worked for a long time without finding a solution, and you’re stuck, further work is often a waste of time. Better to stop your efforts and play instead — i.e., start doing things that you enjoy. Go for a hike. Go shopping. Take a short vacation. Play soccer with your friends. Go to a concert or the cinema. Whatever “play” is for you, do it to reinvigorate your mind and soul.

2. Be open to surprises

Pay attention to any unexpected or surprising stimuli in your environment while you play. Sooner or later you will come across things that help you find the right solution. When the Scottish biologist Alexander Fleming returned to his lab from a long vacation, he noticed that a fungus had killed his cultured bacteria. This led to the lifesaving discovery of penicillin.

3. Read biographies of role models

A great way to gain inspiration is to read biographies of leaders in your area. This lets you “get into their heads” and approach your problem as they might. You are likely to learn that, like you, most of them had to overcome hardships, and you can adapt their approaches to your situation.

4. Study old business books

Many modern business books simply repackage existing ideas, giving you “old wine in new skins.” The more you read in your area, the less likely you are to find new ideas and insights. A counterintuitive response to this is to consume “the old wine”: classics in your area. In the area of innovation these might include “Applied Imagination” by Alex Osborn (1953) or “The Act of Creation” by Arthur Koestler (1964). These classics strip away the clutter of the average modern business book, leaving the timeless truths. Learning the fundamentals helps you think differently.

5. Seek advice from unusual sources

In business, when we get stuck, we ask the usual suspects for advice: our friends and confidants, a supervisory or advisory board, or outside consultants. So far, so good. However, when you seek their advice, you get the usual answers. To unstick yourself, talk to uncommon others. Consult with a retired colleague; seek advice from a trainee, or a child; or allow a creativity coach to shake you up so you start seeing your problem in new ways.

6. Meet your most interesting peers

Fred Smith, the founder of Federal Express, once surprised management guru Tom Peters by asking, “Who was the most interesting person that you’ve met during the last year? Because I want to go and meet that person.” Knowing how many people Peters talked with each year, Smith knew he could learn something new by meeting with someone Peters found interesting. Learn from Fred Smith and ask this question when you meet someone who is well connected. Then reach out to those they find the most interesting to learn something new and unstick your thinking.

7. Use virtual networks

Online tools can help you use the collective brainpower of others to give you fresh stimuli. Post your problem on your favorite social networking platform. LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) lets you join a group of professionals in your area who may well be willing and able to help. Although the quality of answers will vary, chances are the answers you get will stretch your thinking.

8. Stop Googling

When we search online, we only read the first few results — and those are what everyone else reads, too. So if you’re stuck, look deeper, and use other search engines to help you unstick your thinking.

Eight tips to unstick your thinking