Stop talking and start building! Put your thoughts into words, your words into pictures, and your pictures into prototypes. When people can see your idea, they’re less likely to forget it and much more likely to take it seriously and become involved in its development and bullet-proofing. Even a bad drawing is better than no drawing.

Though it may sound counterintuitive, having constraints and parameters actually inspire innovation by forcing you to think dynamically and creatively. As an exercise, start banning things and exploring the implications. Ban words, ban resources, ban your primary target market, ban your default communication tools, and watch your creativity take off. Often, the ideas you settle on will likely be watered down versions of your initial suggestions, but the point of this exercise is to spark new thoughts on how to do the same old things.

Make a habit of stepping outside even if it’s just to walk around the block.
– John Doe

As you stroll, make a point to notice things. If you need some discipline on your inspiration hunt, make a game of it and deliberately hunt for things that begin with the letter A on the first day, B the second, and so on. Your mind will start connecting dots between what you see and the problems you left back at the office. That’s the beauty of our subconscious.