Have you been trying to develop ideas for a new product or service? Did you get stuck? Well, List And Twist is a simple technique that might help you out.

The List And Twist technique is one of many that are loosely based on the idea of random stimulation, that is, introducing something unusual to take your train of thought in an entirely different direction.

Here we don’t do anything too radical. Simply think of a product or service that you currently have and apply the words or phrases from the List And Twist checklist and see what they suggest. They may seem strange but they just might jog your memory! For instance I showed the list to someone who was writing a childrens’ book and they were taken by the suggestion of adding a smell! The net result - a scratch and sniff book.

Try it for yourself and see.

Add a step, find other uses, slow down, rearrange the steps, improve the quality, reduce the quality, add motion, add an ingredient, make it easier, change packaging, combine ingredients, align with other product, de-automate parts, make it more extreme, make it more expensive , put some fun in it, substitute materials, find new distribution, change the state, make it self service, combine other processes, change the shape , add more service,
make it a game, put a story with it, celebrity connection, reverse the concept, turn it upside down, purify it, add nostalgia, add smell, add colour, make it transparent

Derek Cheshire is an expert, speaker, consultant and facilitator in the areas of Business Creativity, Innovation and Idea Generation. He is creator of the Innovation Toolkit, and co creator of workshops such as Creating The Difference, Creativity as a Business Tool, Sticky Strategy and The Idea Factory.

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