Ever thought about why the conventional methods sometimes fail to work? What happens when you step outside the traditional confines and explore the wilderness of creativity? In this roller coaster episode of Observation Station, we challenge the age-old norms, and dive headfirst into the realm of unbounded and unconventional thought processes. Your host, Tommy Heitz, navigates you through the constraints of conventional wisdom, highlighting the pressing need to evolve with the rapidly changing world.
We don't just stop at identifying the problem. We equip you with a toolkit of creative thinking techniques designed to stimulate your brainwaves. From Edward De Bono's six thinking hats technique to the SCAMPER method, and the concept of mind mapping, we introduce you to a myriad of ways to look at problems from a variety of angles. But the excitement doesn't end there. We also share some real-life applications of these techniques, drawing from Tommy's own experiences. So, buckle up as we embark on this enlightening journey of thinking outside the box. You'll be surprised at the treasures you can uncover, when you dare to think differently.
Ever thought about why the conventional methods sometimes fail to work? What happens when you step outside the traditional confines and explore the wilderness of creativity? In this roller coaster episode of Observation Station, we challenge the age-old norms, and dive headfirst into the realm of unbounded and unconventional thought processes. Your host, Tommy Heitz, navigates you through the constraints of conventional wisdom, highlighting the pressing need to evolve with the rapidly changing world.
We don't just stop at identifying the problem. We equip you with a toolkit of creative thinking techniques designed to stimulate your brainwaves. From Edward De Bono's six thinking hats technique to the SCAMPER method, and the concept of mind mapping, we introduce you to a myriad of ways to look at problems from a variety of angles. But the excitement doesn't end there. We also share some real-life applications of these techniques, drawing from Tommy's own experiences. So, buckle up as we embark on this enlightening journey of thinking outside the box. You'll be surprised at the treasures you can uncover, when you dare to think differently.
Do you ever lift your head up from your phone, look around and think to yourself my God, everything is weird. Well, we do a lot. This is the Observation Station, a unique, entertaining and hilarious podcast. If we observe it, we talk about it. Anything and everything, anything and everything. Let's get weird and let's have some fun. This is the Observation Station and now your host, tommy Heights.
Speaker 2:
Greetings listeners. Welcome back to Observation Station, where we blend educational insights with a touch of humor. I'm your host, Tommy Heights. So today we're diving into a subject that's essential for anyone who wants to be a problem solver thinking outside the box. So the importance is, in a world that's constantly changing, traditional approaches often fall short. Whether you're an entrepreneur, an artist or someone navigating daily life, thinking creatively is key. So the first segment will be the constraints of conventional wisdom. So let's start by understanding the limitations that conventional wisdom imposes on our thinking. For example, discuss how industries often rely on tried and true methods that may not be effective anymore. So let's say, let's give some examples Sometimes where people want to say certain things on the phone, maybe years ago I don't have maybe an exact, specific example but they might say something on the phone that other people might have thought, hey, that's a good deal when nowadays you're thinking, oh, I can get this on Amazon for a much better price instead of whatever these guys were trying to push on the phone selling to me. So there's different ways of thinking of how to sell stuff, because you're like, okay, well, you know the internet, oh, that's just a fad. You think, okay, let's think outside the box. How much more can people buy if they're just sitting at home on Amazon searching through stuff, versus just a brick and mortar store where you're limited to the shelf space? So sticking to conventional wisdom can limit innovation and problem solving. So how do we break free from these constraints? Let's explore some techniques here.
Speaker 2:
So first, techniques for creative thinking. There are several methods designed to stimulate creative thinking and there's a man by the name I was reading called Edward De Bono's six thinking hats technique, which encourages looking at problem from multiple like perspectives. So it's called the scamper SCAMPER method. So discussing the scamper method, which starts with the S, which is substitute, c, combine, a, adapt, m, modify, p is put to another, use, ease, eliminate, and ours reverse. And what it is is mind mapping. So introduce the concept of mind mapping as a way to visually organize information and generate new ideas. So now that we know some of the techniques, let's look at some of the real world applications. So creative thinking isn't just theoretical, it has practical applications and some examples from some various things that have happened to me, of thinking outside the box.
Speaker 2:
I had it where, when I was younger, not much money was easily made when you're young and you don't have experience. So I thought let me think outside the box. Okay, so how can I get my hand on cheap things to sell? Well, garage sales, goodwill, salvation army Go out there, get some clothes and other knickknacks. Figure out what people are buying on eBay, flip the stuff. That's how you had it.
Speaker 2:
Where it was something unconventional and where you sourced a bunch of things and garage sales and different kinds of things, where it was a treasure hunt, you never knew what you were gonna get. You can't walk into a garage sale and say I want an XYZ. That's the kind of the pleasure of finding this, the treasures out there. It's like I was saying so it made me extra money, and that's thinking outside the box. Another way is where you have my like.
Speaker 2:
I have a book on Amazon. It's called Side Jobs for College Kids Strapped for Cash. It's a short little booklet. It's like 18, 20, 18 and 20 pages. It's really short. It was just for me to get a book on Amazon. What it really goes over are the different ways that I figured out how to make some money.
Speaker 2:
A lot of things might be outdated with how the world is more technologically driven nowadays, though I can give you an example to say, when I used to live in the Midwest, which had different seasons, you figure out, okay, maybe the cheapest thing to start with could be a shovel. Then you get a bunch of friends, go to different households, preferably like older women, because the cost of hiring a service to come out with a vehicle to snow plow could be a couple hundred dollars. But then you charge the lady $20. Well, I mean, and nowadays, look, $20. This is, you know, $20, $10 and stuff like that. Inflation is a lot different nowadays. So, but you would charge whatever amount nowadays and you'd have your buddies with you so you could get things done. All you guys can have a shovel. That's cheap. If you get a good shovel, I mean 40, 60 bucks, that's nothing crazy. Get that where the money gets enough so you can get a snow blower. Then maybe the other guys got the shovels for the tight spots and somebody has the snow blower. So then the things get done even quicker. Then you just have it where that same the same old women that have it where the lawn needs to be mowed. You can mow the lawn. Then when the leaves start hitting the ground, you rake their leaves. All of this is just a complete cycle of making money.
Speaker 2:
That's thinking outside the box. Some people don't utilize the internet and all it has to offer with making money, also Figuring what it is to be out there trying to make some more cash because you need it. But you just said, hey, it's just not for me, I don't know what to do. Blah, blah, blah, blah. That's BS. I'm coming up with this podcast to say, hey, look, maybe it is where I start out. Not a lot of people listen to podcasts from the start, so I have to figure out the voice. What is the voice of the podcast? I see a target audience. Where is it that I need to be? To think outside the box? This is a completely different format of a solo podcast. Nobody's sitting here doing what I do. It's a completely uncharted territory.
Speaker 2:
This is thinking outside the box, is the complete thing of observation station, so it's a whole thing of how the perception of life really is. Are you giving up on yourself or just saying there's gotta be something out there and actively pursuing it? So Really recapping the importance of thinking outside the box, the limitations of conventional wisdom and the techniques for creative thinking and the real world applications. So here are some other ways I observe people like to throw in the towel in life. Many times in high school, a lot of people give up by the time they hit college. So once it is where the bills start coming in, you might have a car payment, a child on the way, whatever. You really do have to be thinking whoa, it's not just about me anymore, it's about other people. I have a family now I need to take care of, so your brain might work a lot more effectively instead of saying I'm just going to be selfish, so figuring what it is that you want to do and say, okay, what do I need to do to get there? It will not be easy, and it will not even be easy once you get to that goal, if it's actively pursued. Not only is it going to get tougher the higher you get up into the food chain, the stress will be so much more multiplied. That is something that a lot of people do not factor. When you move up into the hierarchy, not only in the social world but even in your personal goals, to say, hey, look, I hit this, this is what I'm doing. I'm doing these goals and no one's going to stop me from doing that. So it's all about framing.
Speaker 2:
Not only the internet's out there to help you. Try to break down anything that might have like a writer's block, especially like what I'd use, chat GPT. It gets better. Every couple of months Chat GPT just gets a little bit better. And another thing that just came out here too is taking it where you have chat GPT, you can put images on the plus version and ask it all kind of questions. It's called chat GPT vision. The artificial intelligence and I've been saying this over and over again has been getting better and better and better. So everything is out there, as time goes on, to make things better in our life.
Speaker 2:
We live in a beautiful country that has given us the opportunity to be in a position to use all of the best technology you have virtually in the world, unless you're in Tokyo, japan, and from there I mean we live in such a privileged society. This is something where you know if it comes down to having to go to grocery stores and using coupons. Well, just try to figure out how to best utilize your shopping list. I know a lot of things are costing a lot more money now. So figure, okay, I'm going to use this coupon and just do. What you need to do Right now is going to make you a better man or woman, using the resources that you have available to come up with ways to get discounts on certain products, ethically, I mean not going to be, like you know, lying to people, but this is what we need to do.
Speaker 2:
Nowadays, things are getting more expensive by the week. Rates are going up with loans, so think outside the box. How am I going to do this? You don't have to live on a beans and rice diet. I just like beans and rice because I'm Hispanic and I cook it in the Instapod. I'm just using it as a figure of speech.
Speaker 2:
Though, if everything that nowadays is just saying I can't do this or somebody's already done that the biggest thing also, you know, when somebody's a quitter, when everything that you say, they always are like oh my God, there's so much competition Well, if there is a person that's going to be saying that, yeah, if there's so much competition, that's what you kind of want. You want to compete. It makes everything so much more fun. If it's just the same person that wins every single year, that's not competing. And also, just because you have a lot of competition doesn't mean it's quality. It could be just a bunch of dumb people or just lack of you know the quality, or something like that. I'm just saying that just because there's a lot of it doesn't mean it's the best. It's just like how Tony Robbins had mentioned just because McDonald's sells the most burgers in the world per day doesn't mean that it's the best quality burger, which is a great point. It doesn't have to be the best to sell the most of it and so well you know.
Speaker 2:
I just encourage you to just challenge your own thinking patterns. Embrace the creative problem solving in your daily lives. With any time you see that there's a mental block, I would just give you the suggestion to get on chat GPT, start learning how to prompt properly so you can get some good. It's really like a consultant, a real life consultant that helps you with anything that you want. So utilize this kind of artificial intelligence. Make things better for yourself. So before we go, let's talk about what's coming up next here. So our next episode will be the power of color and we'll explore how different colors can influence our emotions, decisions and even our culture. It's going to be a vibrant discussion you won't want to miss, all right? Well, thanks for joining me on the observation station. Don't forget to subscribe and share the podcast, and if you found today's episode valuable, please just rate it five stars. Have it on Spotify. I'm on Apple Podcast Audible, I'm just. I'm on them all. So until next time, keep challenging the status quo and stay observant. Thank, you.