crazy business ideas actually who make someone a millionaire

Albert Einstein once said that if he had an hour to solve a problem, he’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions. That is finally the way of my approach. But not most people.

And I would also suggest you collaborate with your most creative friends. Creativity and innovation don’t often happen in a vacuum. As the author Steve Johnson says, chance favors the connected mind. When people are together, talking, laughing, thinking, exploring — they’re going to throw out ideas. These ideas trigger something in someone else’s mind, and it snowballs. Before long, this group of folks has developed an innovative solution that wouldn’t have been possible without the collective collaboration.

So how do you and your friends boost your creative (and crazy) ideas? Here are 10 suggestions to improve your ability to exercise ideation.

Encourage risk taking

Zappos as a company is known as much for its culture as for its innovative business model. The company has built a business that is growing rapidly by allowing individuals the freedom to take creative risks without that overwhelming sense of fear or judgment. They tell their employees to say what you think, even if it is controversial. Make tough decisions without agonizing excessively. Take smart risks. Question actions inconsistent with our values.

Another interesting example: A software company in Boston gives each team member two “corporate get-out-of-jail-free” cards each year. The cards allow the holder to take risks and suffer no repercussions for mistakes associated with them. At annual reviews, leaders question their team members if the cards are not used. It is a great way to encourage risk taking and experimentation. Think this company comes up with amazing ideas and innovations? Absolutely.

Be a detective

Creatives and innovators always have enquiring minds. Are you and the team asking enough questions to get deeper and understand the problem as much as you can?

Make quiet time.

Most ordinary days of the average worker includes an enormous amount of multitasking. Multitasking is, of course, is very destructive to the time and space of good innovative thinking. Set time aside for team members’ quiet time to stimulate and let the mind wonder until ideas flow.

Challenge good

The phrases good enough, this has always worked, and this is all the time we have to devote to this problem, etc. are very destructive to team innovation. Avoid these at all costs as they are enemy #1 to the best results.

Use these facts to your advantage: 6 Amazing Facts on Innovation You Need to Know

Foster autonomy

We all prefer control over our environments. According to a 2008 study by Harvard University, there is a direct correlation between people who have the ability to call their own shots, and the value of their creative output. An employee who has to run every tiny detail by her boss for approval will quickly become numb to the innovative process.

The act of innovation is one of self-expression. Granting autonomy involves extending trust. By definition, your team may make decisions you would have made differently. The key is to provide a clear message of what results you are looking for or what problem you want the team to solve. From there, you need to extend trust and let them do their best work.

Divergent thinking

Try the quantity approach to new ideas. Use brainstorming to improve divergent thinking. Study and then connect ideas to get new ideas.

Add play to equation

When looking for fresh new thinking to create more innovation, shake things up by adding some fun and play to the process. It always has the ability to shed the stress and pressure on a team

Explore new experiences

Open up your new idea thinking. Do things in new and untried ways. Avoid the set ways of being innovative.

Experiment

Do as much experimentation as you can. Don’t worry about failures and allow the team to question any and all assumptions and consider even the craziest ideas.

Always ask why

Here is a favorite story that explains this technique quite well. The story is about why you should ask why. It comes from Ideas Champions. A consulting company like us (but bigger and more well-known), who specialize in creativity, innovation, team building, and leadership. All favorite topics of ours. So we keep up with this team.

The story is about a big problem at one of our favorite monuments … the Jefferson Memorial in Washington DC.

Simply put, birds in huge numbers were pooping all over it, which made visiting the place a very unpleasant experience.

Attempts to remedy the situation caused even bigger problems, since the harsh cleaning detergents being used were damaging the memorial.

Fortunately, some of the National Parks managers assigned to the case began asking WHY as in Why was the Jefferson Memorial so much more of a target for birds than any of the other memorials?

A little bit of investigation revealed the following:

The birds were attracted to the Jefferson Memorial because of the abundance of spiders, a gourmet treat for birds.

The spiders were attracted to the Memorial because of the abundance of midges (insects) that were nesting there.

And the midges were attracted to the Memorial because of the light.

Midges, it turns out, like to procreate in places were the light is just so and because the lights were turned on, at the Jefferson Memorial, one hour before dark, it created the kind of mood lighting that midges went crazy for.

So there you have it: The midges were attracted to the light. The spiders were attracted to the midges. The birds were attracted to the spiders. And the National Parks workers, though not necessarily attracted to the bird poop, were attracted to getting paid so they spent a lot of their time (and taxpayer money) cleaning the Memorial.

How did the situation resolve? Very simply. They nailed the understanding of the problem, so an innovative but simple solution was much easier.

After reviewing the curious chain of events that led up to the problem, the decision was made to wait until dark before turning the lights on at the Jefferson Memorial. About as simple a solution as you could get. Right?

That one-hour delay was enough to ruin the mood lighting for the midges, who then decided to have midge sex somewhere else.

No midges, no spiders. No spiders, no birds. No birds, no poop. No poop, no need to clean the Jefferson Memorial so often. Case closed.

Now, consider what solutions might have been forthcoming if those curious National Parks managers did not stop and ask WHY:

Hire more workers to clean the Memorial

Ask existing workers to work overtime

Experiment with different kinds of cleaning materials

Put bird poison all around the memorial

Hire hunters to shoot the birds

Encase the entire Jefferson Memorial in Plexiglas

Move the Memorial to another part of Washington

Close the site to the general public

Technically speaking, each of the above solutions was a possible approach, but at great cost, inconvenience, and with questionable results. Not great solutions.

Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he writes about topics that relate to improving the performance of business. Please Bookmark his blog for awesome stories and articles.

1. Pet Rock

This product just got a revival in 2012, and it definitely proved successful enough for Gary Dahl in the 1970s. Dahl was at a bar listening to friends complain about their pets in 1975 when he came up with the idea of a pet rock--the perfect, easy-to-care-for pet. This craze ended up with a 32-page training manual, detailed care instructions filled with jokes and gags, such as commands like "playing dead." It was incredibly cheap to produce (the rocks cost just a penny each). Dahl ended up $15 million richer.

2. Narrative Clip

This product is a tiny camera that clips to shirt fronts and takes two photos per minute as long as it's worn. Now, you might think that sounds useless, but there are a lot of people who would disagree with you. The folks behind the Swedish startup are claiming it's the only way to actually relive your life. It costs $279 and the company has already earned half a million on a Kickstarter campaign. It's a literal way to leave your legacy behind.

3. Facebook

Too kooky to work. That's what some people told Zuckerberg about his idea when he first launched an "exclusive" virtual yearbook. Certainly nobody thought it would become one of the most powerful companies in the world. Think about it: What's the point of a virtual yearbook when there's already a giant, well-loved social network called MySpace? The exclusivity factor worked, as did the more mature layout, and the rest is history.

4. Craigslist

Craigslist hasn't changed since the day it was launched, and people love it for its ugly simplicity. People criticized it, citing privacy and safety concerns, once upon a time. Founder Craig Newmark has never made revenue priority number one for the site. However, Craigslist is going stronger than ever. It's where you really can get almost anything; whether it be a job, apartment, girlfriend, casual hookup, or entertainment on the forums. A free community that's a veritable garage sale of sorts? It still works today.

5. PayPal

It's kind of crazy to think how trusting the first PayPal users were. They handed over their bank account and email information to a company that was in no way affiliated with a bank and had kind of a cutesy name. Would PayPal have been successful if launched at any other time in history? Who knows, but the founders definitely found success amid a consumer lack of tech savviness specific to the late '90s, along with a healthy dislike of dealing with mailing checks. This kooky idea helped push some great investors and entrepreneurs to the forefront, including Peter Thiel and Elon Musk.

6. Amazon

This is another example of a company that was way ahead of its time. Who wants a virtual bookstore when you can go to Barnes & Noble or Borders? Many an American can remember countless hours hanging out in one of those, drinking a coffee and reading magazines and books (for free!). As it turns out, a lot of people wanted a virtual bookstore, and brick and mortar stores weren't happy about it. Never underestimate the appeal of being lazy in your pajamas at home.