People with high Ideation are excited by ideas, and also generate many of them very quickly. Here’s the description of Ideation from the Gallup Business Journal:
“You are fascinated by ideas. What is an idea? An idea is a concept, the best explanation of the most events. You are delighted when you discover beneath the complex surface an elegantly simple concept to explain why things are the way they are. An idea is a connection. Yours is the kind of mind that is always looking for connections, and so you are intrigued when seemingly disparate phenomena can be linked by an obscure connection. An idea is a new perspective on familiar challenges. You revel in taking the world we all know and turning it around so we can view it from a strange but strangely enlightening angle. You love all these ideas because they are profound, because they are novel, because they are clarifying, because they are contrary, because they are bizarre. For all these reasons you derive a jolt of energy whenever a new idea occurs to you. Others may label you creative or original or conceptual or even smart. Perhaps you are all of these. Who can be sure? What you are sure of is that ideas are thrilling. And on most days this is enough.”
I was speaking with a friend with high Ideation, and realised that he generates new ideas at lightning speed. The rates of ideas coming out of him, is like that of bullets coming out of a machine gun – Fast, Furious, and lots of them! So a person with high ideation may have a few challenges:
- Keeping up with the ideas
When he expecting other people to keep up with the rate of ideas that he has, he can get quite frustrated. During our conversation, he realised that he needs to be able to slow down a little, and bring others up to speed with his ideas. Otherwise, others may have difficulty keeping up with his ideas. That can cause others to shut-down, and when his ideas don’t get the due attention, he gets frustrated. - Keeping track with the ideas
He has so many ideas that sometimes he gets lost in his own ideas. Needless to say, his colleagues are even more lost when it comes to his ideas. Not only do the ideas come quickly, they come in multitudes! So he needs to be able to find a way to keep track it. One of the fears he has, is that if he doesn’t act on the idea that he has, he may lose it. So that results in distraction for him. The way to put himself at ease? Simple! Write it down! - Putting Structure to the ideas
Having so many ideas, springing up so fast can be hard to manage. It can be even more challenging when the ideas may still be in it’s infancy stage. So being able to put structure around the ideas so that it takes some shape is very important. And sometimes, disparate ideas can be linked together to fit into a larger picture. Being able to put all the ideas and show how they all fit together can help make it more understandable and meaningful to others. - Communicating the ideas
Once we have structure, we now make it much easier to communicate the ideas to others. Learn what is the best way to communicate and get those ideas across to others. This greatly increases the chances of the ideas being implemented when you are able to help others understand it, and garner greater buy-in.
Do you have high Ideation? How do you manage all the wonder ideas that you are getting?
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Featured Image by Frits Ahlefeldt
