Creative thinkers don’t conjure great ideas from nowhere; instead, they look at common things in uncommon ways. In fact, new concepts are rarely wholly original—borrowing and adapting effectively is the secret of good designers. So, when you are at a loss for ideas, look at different yet analogous worlds for inspiration, by asking the question What would____do? This is a great way to break from conventional thinking and jump-start your team’s creativity.

Alternative Worlds challenges you to investigate how a successful organization or group outside your domain would approach a given issue. For example, if your team were tasked with reinvigorating a public library you might ask: What would Starbucks do? Doing so requires a deep understanding of their culture, practices, and procedures, in order to determine what aspects can be respectfully borrowed for your purposes. Adopting the perspective of a completely different domain is a novel way to shift perspective and uncover potentially breakthrough ideas.

• Helps you see things from a fresh perspective.
• Provides inspiration.
• Leverages success from other domains.
• Helps you think of new and unusual ideas.

• Identify a topic for exploration.
• Assemble a diverse group of collaborators.
• Create a list of analogous topics.
• Think about representative organizations.
• Select a few alternative worlds to explore.
• Orient the team to key attributes of each world.
• If possible, fully immerse them in each world.
• Ask: How would____solve our challenge?
• Seek various ideas inspired by the new perspective.

• Choose a world that is very different from yours.
• Resist the temptation to use obvious competitors.
• Try to interview someone in the alternative world.