What's the common denominator behind a business creation project, a technical or technological innovation, or a product improvement? A clearly defined concept! But before you can do that, you have to structure your thoughts, cross-reference and organize your ideas, and prioritize them. There's nothing more frustrating than feeling like you're constantly brainstorming, without getting anything concrete out of it. So how do you synthesize your ideas to move your business forward? Here are a few methods and techniques to clear your mind.
Knowing how to organize your ideas can be an invaluable tool for developing your business.
Some people find themselves overwhelmed by a continuous stream of thoughts. Ideas come and go, but the whole thing lacks clarity and remains at the unused, unusable draft stage. Instead of being able to harness their creativity and mobilize these brainstorming sessions to build a new project or make improvements to the existing one, ideas are left to fester.
To use a very explicit image, ideas are a bit like books in a library. Among the multitude of books at your disposal, a misplaced book is a lost book. To avoid this, you need a clear structure and rigorous storage practices.
You can then apply the same reasoning to your ideas on a daily basis, and adopt methods for organizing, structuring and synthesizing your thoughts.
Write down your daily thoughts with the journaling method
The first thing to do is to clear your mind. The journaling method involves writing down your thoughts every day. The idea is to put words to all these thoughts, to avoid ending up with a saturated mind.
The ideal solution is to concentrate everything that's on your mind in one place. It's not just about information for professional purposes. Journaling, according to the method shared by Julia Cameron in her book "Unleash your creativity", consists of writing 3 morning pages in a notebook every morning, on the preoccupying subject of the moment.
Gradually, this daily writing practice develops the ability to transform thoughts into concrete ideas. It's a form of mental hygiene.
Consolidate your thoughts in one place
This daily journaling allows us to highlight our ideas, but they often remain disconnected from one another. To get the most out of it, we need to analyze the links that can be established between all these abstract concepts.
This organizational stage involves bringing your ideas together in one place. You can use a large blank sheet of paper, a board with post-its, or an onlinemind mapping tool. A mind map is a visual representation of your train of thought. The aim is to project all the main ideas in front of you.
Categorize different concepts
With such a display, main themes will quickly emerge. You then need to define broad categories for these themes and link the various ideas to them, using a color code for example.
It's also interesting to consider the possible links between these various themes. Are they hermetically sealed from one another? Do some of them contradict others? Is there a path between two categories: one preceding the other?
Structuring the various themes
The next step is to define an order of priority for each category and for each idea within the different themes established. Priority, secondary, accessory... This organization can be indicated by numbering. It's also a good idea to include criteria of importance and urgency in this table.
This internal classification is a prerequisite for making decisions and implementing an action plan. This structuring stage enables you to focus on the essentials.
Synthesize your ideas
Once all this work has been done, it's easier to synthesize your ideas by following the themes and pathways established within each of them. The overall vision that emerges will be much easier to summarize and exploit within the company. Project presentation and communication between collaborators are also made easier.
Of course, this is not an immutable straitjacket, but a basic approach that can be adapted to suit your needs and desires. Note apps rather than paper notebooks, a large board full of post-its rather than a mind mapping tool, active notes rather than morning journaling... The possibilities for adaptation are vast.