From prehistoric-day cavemen to current-day toddlers, people love to draw on walls and now there's a small robot that can transform any vertical surface into a canvas, and erase it in a matter of minutes. Using four erasable markers and installing with just two nails and a piece of wire, the lightweight Scribit can turn  any wall into a work of art—your art- literally over and over again. The project was met with such excitement that it was 100 percent funded on Kickstarter in two hours and went on to raise $1.6 million in the next 30 days.
 
But like any BIG idea, it didn't come out of nowhere. In fact, Scribit represents the evolution of multiple ideas since 2001. Led by MIT Professor Carlo Ratti, the team at Scribit credits no less than six previous products that came before it and served as inspiration including a vertical plotter at Cornell University and a robotic bartender called Makr Shakr.
 
The 17-year evolution of Scribit demonstrates something discussed in Idea Magnets--that big ideas can be elusive.
 
One way to overcome this is to stop asking people for big ideas. Instead, asking big questions is the key. Rather than your team being stuck thinking that they need to be in precisely the right mental state to start thinking creatively, allow them the space to quickly discard any ideas that aren't ultimately productive. That willingness to throw away ideas can remove the attachment to ideas having to be "good" or meet certain criteria.
 
Here are a few additional questions that can start the idea-generating dialogue:

• What would be bigger and bolder than anything we have ever done, so bold that we might not even be able to pull it off?
• What new and radical things are the smartest people and organizations (regardless of industry) doing that you could do too?
• What can you do that is completely opposite of anything typical or expected?

Tara Baukus Mello is the Creative Strategist for Idea Magnets, the brand. She served as the consulting editor for the book Idea Magnets.
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For more creative wisdom, sign up for blog updates or buy Idea Magnets on Amazon.

Photo courtesy Scribit.

Forget about knowing programming or accounting or learning the latest software, being a creative thinker could be one of the most highly-coveted job skills in the future, says billionaire investor and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.
 
With 60 percent of occupations having at least 30 percent of work activities that could be automated currently, remaining competitive in the workplace of the future will be less about learning straightforward skills and more about creative thinking, said Cuban in a recent interview with  Bloomberg TV.  "When the data is all being spit out for you, options are being spit out for you, you need a different perspective in order to have a different view of the data." As a result, being a "free thinker" is going to be a highly-valued job skill.
 
While the trend toward automation continues to march forward, here are three actions you can take right now to boost your creative thinking skills from Mike Brown's new book, Idea Magnets: 7 Strategies for Cultivating and Attracting Creative Business Leaders.
 
Do an Annual Inspiration Inventory.
Don't wait until you feel uninspired to try to figure out what inspires you. Instead, do an "inspiration inventory," when your batteries are fully charged. Take 10 minutes and go Brainzooming to craft some notes on what inspires you. Think about the people, activities, times of the day and week, situations and locations, which rejuvenate and inspire you. Write them down. Circle or otherwise highlight the ones that make you feel the strongest creatively. Later, when your creativity is low, use this list as an action plan to make it flourish.
 
Determine Where You Stand Creatively
For most people, creativity ebbs and flows throughout each day, as well as through each week and, over longer periods of time. The Inspiration Inventory exercise should have helped you identify the specific times when you are more likely to experience max creativity, so now it's time to assess where you stand overall, in terms of your creativity. Rate yourself in terms of: accommodating new thinking; challenging your personal perspectives and diversifying your experiences. What are your strengths and weaknesses in these areas? Where can you improve? Take note and look for opportunities to grow in the areas where your creativity is the weakest.
 
Discover What You Don't Know
There are things we all need to know that we don't know we need to know. In other words, keep the knowledge that you don't know everything you need to know front and center in your mind. To discover what you don't know, find three people who have a different background from you or different interests. The key is to find people that are very different, even opposite, from you. Then take the time to intently absorb their perceptions and ideas. Understand how those differences were shaped in their lives. Think of them and what you have learned when your creativity is lacking and ask yourself how these people would approach your current situation. 

Tara Baukus Mello is the Creative Strategist for Idea Magnets, the brand. She served as the consulting editor for the book Idea Magnets.
 
For more strategies, sign up for blog updates or buy Idea Magnets on Amazon. 
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Idea Magnets Robot illustration courtesy Faith Williams, a 12-year-old Idea Magnet.