4 Pocket-Sized Card Decks to Boost Your Creativity

Creativity is a highly valued skill in today’s economy, and generating innovative ideas on demand is increasingly important. In this article, we will introduce 4 pocket-sized card decks that can help you spark breakthrough ideas wherever you are.

1. KnowBrainer

KnowBrainer is a portable creativity tool that leverages the mind’s associative capabilities to generate ideas. Created by Gerald Haman, this tool contains a deck of cards that are designed to help you define your challenge, generate ideas, evaluate them, and put them into action. The deck is based around Haman’s four-phase Accelerated Innovation process and incorporates keywords, questions, and concepts from leading product design firms, Six Sigma quality tools, marketing books, and innovation process tools. Despite its low-tech interface, the KnowBrainer is a powerful and easy-to-use idea-generation tool that can help you unlock your creativity.

2. Free the Genie

Free the Genie is a new deck of 55 creative thinking cards created by Mitch Ditkoff, the founder of the Idea Champions innovation consulting firm. The cards contain principles of breakthrough thinking, such as taking risks, suspending logic, and leveraging your strengths, along with related questions and challenges. These cards can help you unstick your thinking and find your great ideas. Think of Free the Genie as your “personal genie” that can help you brainstorm ideas anytime, anywhere.

3. Innovative Whack Pack

The Innovative Whack Pack contains 60 cards that are based on Roger von Oech’s book “Expect the Unexpected or You Won’t Find It.” The cards feature thought-provoking insights about innovation from Heraclitus, an ancient Greek philosopher who von Oech calls the world’s first creativity teacher, along with whimsical illustrations and creativity strategies based on the insights. At the end of each card, von Oech poses several questions to stimulate your creative thinking.

4. Inner Vision Deck

The Inner Vision Deck is a card deck of 69 keywords and phrases that can be used for creative problem-solving. Created by Rory O’Connor, a creativity and creative problem-solving trainer, this tool arose from his need to teach his clients a gentle approach to developing ideas and solutions. The deck is designed to be non-intimidating and to help users generate ideas using a variety of proven associative and lateral thinking techniques.

Why Invest in Brainstorming Tools?

These card decks serve as catalysts that jumpstart your brain’s creative juices. Some tools ask you questions, while others rely on proven associative or lateral thinking techniques. Their compact size makes them easily portable, so you can use them anywhere, and their low learning curve means that you can begin generating profitable ideas with them almost immediately.

In conclusion, creativity is a valuable skill, and using these card decks can help you generate breakthrough ideas wherever you are. Whether you’re looking to define a challenge, generate new ideas, evaluate them, or put them into action, these tools can help you unlock your creativity and think more innovatively.