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This is kind of hilarious — according to various internet sources (and you know how dependable those are, so take it with a grain of salt until you see this confirmed somewhere reliable, like FOX News) Apple is going to start charging $5 to enter the Apple Stores. Why? To reduce the hordes of looky-loo’s and gawker’s coming to fawn over iPhones and iPods without buying anything, and just getting in the way of dedicated Mac geeks who need to belly up to the Genius Bar.

As Apple goes Disney, don’t fret- your $5 will surely get you entertainment. Perhaps a ride on the Apple stock price roller coaster? The squirt gun game where you blow up a balloon shaped like Steve Ballmer’s head until it blows up? A discount on a t-shirt which says “My cell phone provider is spying for the government“?

Don’t stop me, I’m on a roll. Actually, I’m just jealous. Imagine the mojo your brand has when you can make people PAY you for the privilege of shopping at your store!

So where do the big ideas come from where you work? Do the apples fall out of the tree and occasionally conk someone on the head, or do you have a system?

Can you, in fact, organize and control brainstorming? The whole idea might initially sound link an accountant’s folly, some way to put some reigns on a wild horse. But while you can’t necessarily create a system that guarantees the generation of a breakthrough idea every 17 minutes, you can at least set things up to improve your odds.

Here are a few thoughts and tips:

1. Do good group brainstorming. That means separating phase 1 (where you create ideas) from phase 2 (where you evaluate ideas). It also means encouraging people to spout off ideas, no matter how wild, without putting themselves at risk of ridicule. It also means recognizing that anyone, including the janitor, could conceivably have the holy grail idea at any moment, so everyone’s input (especially in phase 1) should be valued. Put the bullies and the know-it-alls in the broom closet.
2. Practice brainstorming. In various creative ventures, I have consistently found that the more you work at generating creative ideas, the faster they come. I think that most adults have long since closed off the creative portion of their brain, too often believing it lost value once they turned 9. Good creativity means being able to encourage the 8 year old in you to speak right up. So work at it.
3. If you need a breakthrough idea, don’t bother looking in the box. Everyone else has the same box you have. All the good ideas have been taken out of it already. So go find a new box.
4. Accept that some days (most days, really), you might not create anything of value. And that’s perfectly ok, as long as you’re learning the entire time, and not continually rewalking the same path.
5. If you’re problem-solving, make sure you’re really dealing with the root cause, and not a symptom. Unless, of course, your insight is that you’re specifically going to solve the symptom (coughing, sneezing, fever) and let everyone else figure out how to solve the root cause (the common cold).
6. Create a ritual. I think a ritual can play a role in putting you in the right mental place for creativity.

Here’s a good article on idea generation I came across a few weeks ago. They make you register on the site to get at it, but it’s worthwhile since MarketingProfs has a lot of good content:

 The Demystification of Idea Generation