I’ve got to admit, I’m a big fan of brainstorming. Whether it’s with a group or alone somewhere in a coffee shop, I like trying to think up new ideas and solutions to problems. I’m a firm believer that in the affiliate world (and the business world in general) is shaped by the ideas of people who were willing to take the time to think about doing something new in a innovative and exciting way.

One of the biggest challenges most of us face is getting outside of the day-to-day minutia to take the time to unlock the more creative portions of our brains. Even if we’re in a brainstorming session, you can find ourselves trapped in short-term, small picture thinking and can’t get the innovative thoughts flowing.

Luckily there are some tools that are made to help you get your brain working towards innovative ideas. One that I really like is Oblique Strategies, a tool that was developed by musician Brian Eno.

Oblique Strategies started as a set of cards that had cryptic sayings printed on them. The idea is that when you are stuck in a brainstorm you can flip over a card and use the saying (for example “twist the spine” or “go slowly all the way round the outside”) to interpret your problem or ideas. While some of the cards may be a little too out there for your brainstorm, like “infinitesimal gradations,” some of them can get new thoughts flowing in ways you would have never imagined.

The cool thing about Oblique Strategies is that you can buy the cards if you want, but you can also just go to the Oblique Strategies website and get the same thing there. Also, if you’re a Mac user, some kind soul has created an Oblique Strategies dashboard widget (my favorite).

Thanks to Web Worker Daily for pointing out this tool, as well as some others you can read about here.