11 Ways to Find Inspiration When Running Your Business
When seeking inspiration, there are countless places you can turn to explore diverse perspectives and innovative ideas. For example, books, conferences or podcasts that cover topics both within and outside of your industry can provide fresh insights that can be applied to your own business challenges.
Whether they’re in a “rut” or just looking for new ideas to enhance their workflows, it’s important for business leaders to find reliable sources of inspiration to guide them. Below, a panel of Rolling Stone Culture Council members explain where they turn to for help with creative problem-solving or creating new products in their businesses and how other leaders can follow suit.
Look Outside Your Industry
I completely move away from my industry and look outside for new things. It’s important to remember that inspiration can come from anywhere and that it’s important to keep an open mind when looking for new ideas and perspectives. By looking outside of your own industry or field, you can gain valuable insights and inspiration that can help you to create something new and innovative. – Candice Georgiadis, Digital Day
Get Inspired by Other Inventions
I always look at the inventions around me. I ask myself: What was the spark? What made someone say that we can fly, go to space and so forth? These achievements show us we mere mortals can achieve greatness. This quote from the show The West Wing is spot on: “Every time we think we’ve measured our capacity to meet a challenge, we look up and we’re reminded that capacity may well be limitless.” – Heidi Pellerano, CONCACAF
Find Examples That Work
Seeing is believing, so finding inspiration means seeing the new venture I want to pursue being similarly put into action elsewhere. Whether through a person like a mentor or a project or campaign, I connect with the minds involved. I could either find encouragement in my process or learn an entirely new approach. – Cynthia Johnson, Bell + Ivy
Look for Inspiration Within
Inspiration comes from one’s own work. Creative, “new” thinking and creating new thought patterns are tools to be exercised through practice only. If one works hard enough, one learns to look for inspiration within by facing new challenges every day. – Jacob Mathison, Mathison Projects Inc.
Read About New or Trendy Products
I turn to edgy, culture-focused content for unique perspectives on random topics. By reading about new or abstract concepts, I often find that it shifts my thinking to be more spontaneous. Hit some original blogs, follow unique content creators and seek out the creative outliers. One thing will lead to another and you’ll find yourself in an unexpected inspiration utopia. – Brad Canario, Auxly
The Rolling Stone Culture Council is an invitation-only community for Influencers, Innovators and Creatives. Do I qualify?
Allow Inspiration to Find You
Inspiration is not like a flight. There is no scheduled departure or landing time. You have to allow inspiration to come to you. I’ve found inspiration and creativity come to me when I’m not carving out time to “find inspiration.” It often finds me on a walk, in the shower, when I’m thinking or when I’m doing something completely different. – Ginni Saraswati, Ginni Media
Cross-Pollinate Your Ideas
I go to companies or professions that are unrelated to the challenge or project I’m working on for inspiration or innovation. Referred to as the “cross-pollination of ideas,” it is an excellent approach to promoting creativity and producing new, inventive solutions. This method may also assist in challenging presumptions or prejudices. – Theo Sastre-Garau, NFTevening
Attend a Local Comic-Con
I would highly recommend perusing a comic-con or other pop culture convention for inspiration. Not only can you get a thorough sampling of both what’s new and what has become beloved canon, but everyone is literally wearing their heart on their sleeve! Ten minutes of people-watching at your local con can reveal a great deal about what people are loving and why, which always gets my wheels turning. – Aili McGill, Nickel Plate Arts
Look at the World From a Different Perspective
By leveraging creative and unique perspectives, individuals can gain insights that can help them think differently and find solutions to their problems. By looking at other industries, cultures, people and trends outside of their own field, business leaders have access to a plethora of ideas that can help spark new ideas for their own businesses. – Kristin Marquet, Marquet Media, LLC
Get the Opinions of Those Around You
I look to those close to me, those whom I trust to bounce ideas off and give me the honest, hard truth — the things we maybe don’t want to hear. Inspiration is subjective. I can absorb cultural content and be inspired by their work, success or accolades. However, if I’m looking for my own true inspiration, I will ideate with those closest to me and draw from life experiences. – Amanda Dorenberg, COMMB
Listen to Podcasts
Podcasts can be great resources for information and inspiration. You’re able to access the thought leadership of subject matter experts quickly and easily. You can follow and subscribe to the podcasts you enjoy and get a notification every time the host releases a new episode. Most of the content is evergreen, so you can search the back catalog of shows to get a deeper dive into the information. – Traci DeForge, Produce Your Podcast