Nikunj Jain talks about taking a right brain-driven approach to the left brain world.

Disney’s famous slogan, “you can’t top pigs with pigs,” was what finally pushed the creative team to think beyond the tried and tested methods. Same goes for our imagination of “what next?” We try to be creative, however the creativity extent is limited to what is in your comfort zone.

Now, I have to divulge a little about myself early on. I am an anarchist by nature. A sense of calm means coming of age and starting sentences with, “In my experience..” Hence, the inherent need is to create chaos. The result of that chaos? Creativity and imagination.

Early on at College for Creative Studies, I was taught the chaos theory for sketching; when we were given weekend homework of 200+ sketches. After the 20th-30th sketch one would notice a familiar pattern forming. That’s when I started to research how to disrupt the way our minds think. If you are right handed, draw with the left; crumpling paper and blotching paint in the shape of a car; utilize various objects around the room to create shadow effects to see new shapes: your mind will interpret the design as something completely unique. There are some old engineering techniques of SCAMPER (Substitute, Combine, Adopt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate, Reverse) to aid in expanding the imagination. However, it has to be started with a wild mindset to try something new.

Imagination is akin to Aspiration; the bigger the aspiration to redefine an industry, the broader the imagination. The anarchist in me always starts by asking how can I reinvent this industry; can it be done faster, more efficiently, or is it even needed? Learn from another domain and contextualize it to mine. After all, Henry Ford’s assembly line marvel was adapted from the meat packing industry. It created a revolution in automotive manufacturing.  Which experience has made you stop in your tracks? How can you break it down and contextualize it for your own?

Circling back, the pathway to that aspiration is creativity, not just problem solving but also questioning the fundamentals of the industry you want to disrupt. Over years we build constraints in the way we think and the way we approach an industry and these constraints become blinders that limit our creativity. Breaking down the aspiration to simple terms of real purpose, what’s common that should be uncommon, numbers that are sacred, taboos/unspoken guidelines, etc., helps in asking how else can your aspiration be achieved in the face of these constraints.

Listing these constraints and then brainstorming which industry has solved them is always my first step. A blend of chaos and process is my key to generating new ideas.

Nikunj Jain is a native of Bombay, India with a diverse background and education in Design Styling from College for Creative Studies (USA), Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech (USA) and an MBA in Market strategy from SP Jain (Bombay) coupled with global experience in Concept Design + Styling with Tata-JLR group. He currently works in the Mahindra Group Strategy building a culture of Design+Strategy. He developed the first Group Design Competition focusing on delight through the customer journey to help Mahindra companies think from the perspective of customer experience with a design focus.