Mind maps are visual diagrams used to represent words, ideas, tasks or other items linked to and arranged around a central keyword or idea. Often, colours and drawings add to the visualization.

Using analogies can take your idea-generation sessions to a whole new level of creativity. By comparing your idea to a commonly understood situation helps you explore the idea from a different angle.

This is another technique that can help to save the day when nothing else seems to be working, and can re-ignite the energy levels of groups that are approaching creative burnout. The technique is simple: Ask the group to create a list of bad, terrible, stupid, illegal or gross ideas. This will get participants laughing and re-engaged. Once you’ve generated a list, challenge the group to turn those horrible ideas into good ones by either considering its opposite, or by finding some aspect within a terrible idea that can be used to inspire a good one. As the facilitator, be sure to push your group to generate really bad ideas!

Open innovation can be organized into a more inclusive granting mechanism. In the past, nonprofits and other organizations would fund social enterprises by asking for a written proposal—but combining mentorship and crowdsourcing creates new opportunities and community solutions.