Well in no particular order:

1. Driving: I know I SHOULD be concentrating on the road but you would be surprised at how many cool things have popped into my head while on my way somewhere.

2. Pre-REM state: Many times throughout my career I have been disrupted from falling into a deep comfortable sleep from a lightbulb hitting me in the forehead. I am then forced to get up and put these down somewhere before they get lost forever.

3. Brainstorming: Doing this exercise on your own is helpful but one way to make a good concept great is to bring in a couple of extra minds on the topic. Someone who I find this works very well with (when appropriate) is my boyfriend who is a creative/branding guy that seems to compliment my way of thinking extremely well. We can sit for 2-3 hours hashing something out and when done we usually have a pretty solid concept. The key to success there is our comfort level with each other (thus no fears of hurting feelings or sounding crazy) - we can really play out of the box.

My most productive thinking time occurs when I'm reading anything--a book, a magazine, a newspaper. I always try to have a note pad nearby and I'm always jotting down what comes in my mind. This can't be done in a shower but it can be done just about everywhere else, especially in bed.

I get my best ideas when I am out running, head clear, breathing deep and allowing my mind to flow without any intrusion, wherever it and my feet want to take me that day.
Another place to get ideas is to walk in the shoes of the consumer. Being with my daughter in the mall or at the local grocery, teaches me more about marketing than all the time I have spent at my desk all week.

My Dad told me a long time ago to pay attention to what people do and not what they say. But, I work with dozens of college students who want to be journalists. Most of my ideas come from what they say, not so much what they do. But, I will watch their behavior. They talk to each other one way. They talk to me another. I have to get them to see me as a co-conspirator, not the enemy simply because I'm older. Our website reflects what they are saying but also where we who have been in public radio a long time, want them to go. It's a very interesting place to stand...

Anybody can come up with ideas, its transforming them into a working life that is important, who cares how many ideas one comes up with if none are implemented and none contain holistic sense. How do I generate my ideas? I generate ideas because I have developed a unique system of thinking - and which is supported by a proprietory system I have created and is being continually honed. (Not available or released)

My three levels of thinking are

PRIVATE THINKING
PUBLIC THINKING
PERSONAL THINKING

Private Thinking is the confidences I do not share and matters regarding work that are proprietory to my business and inner circle of friends and family.

Public Thinking is "Mark Zorro"

Personal Thinking is based on a personal system that also isn't shared on-line and deals with issues that are personal to me in nature. Public Thinking is not the engine for ideas, it is the spraying of thinking onto the internet. This is supported by a DLOG at http://www.markzorro.blogspot.com

Ideas are mostly generated at the hidden 2/3rds of my Private and Personal Thinking. Why - because it has the most effect, bang for the buck or gain in personal development.

Like I said who cares. Ideas are to be used not sniffed and waited on. Most of us here have a human brain that underwent expensive education and we still are asking how we and where we generate ideas? Of course if you have just come out to chill and have some fun, you can forgive my serious dude expression above - such an expression is merely a part of my on-line exploration. Exploration that leads to thinking, thinking that leads to ideas, ideas that leads to a life.

M.
zorromark@consultant.com
(Mark Twain wasn't Mark Twain, Mark Zorro isn't Mark Zorro)
(http://www.markzorro.blogspot.com)

I've been most consistently creative since I started my brand strategy blog a week ago. Linking with other like-minded bloggers has generated a swarm of ideas, insights and dialogue. When you have a blog, suddenly everything you see and hear turns into a potentially interesting post.

Whew! I feel positively loosey goosey in my idea generation compared to Mark's proprietary thinking system. ;)

True to form, there is no one thing I can point to that works best for me. It's a conglomeration of many things, including:

Talking to people
Many of my ideas have their seed in conversations with people. Sometimes it is taking something somebody says and running with it. Other times it's the pool ball effect, where something they say sparks a whole new idea.

The whiteboard - my external brain
I will often start exploring an idea on my whiteboards, whether that is mind mapping, or just making a laundry list of things that pop into my head. Inevitably the original seed of an idea leads to another idea, sometimes only tangentially related, that just begs to be explored. I think it really helps me to have things out where I can see them.

Blogging! (part I)
My blog has been a great tool for refining my ideas and stumbling across new ones. The more I write, the more refined my ideas become, and the more the pump is primed for new ideas to follow. For me, blogging has been a tool to help the ideas flow.

So really it's not bloggin per se, but writing. Blogging just gives me a consistent framework and motivation to do that.

Blogging! (part II)
Research and exploration (OK, some might call it surfing) in relation to my blog has been a great source of ideas too. Sometimes I see something and think, "that's a great way to look at things." Presto chango, new idea in my head. Sometimes I'll see something and think, "you know, that's almost right, but here is how I would look at it." Another new idea. And of course sometimes the reaction is, "that is so completely off base" and an idea for what I see as on target pops up.

Consuming, digesting, and transforming information
Here's an example. When I first started doing my Passion Catalyst work, I had an intuitive feel for what I was doing, but no formalized ideas. I read career books voraciously, took copious notes, and started absorbing the pieces that made sense for me. In time, I digested those pieces, made them my own, and ended up coming up with an entirely new model for career development/passion pursuit based on the things I had read, conversations I had had, and my own experiences. The model is a completely new way of approaching it, not just a rehash of the things I read, but those bits of knowledge definitely played an important role in giving me the raw materials to work with.

The Pool Ball Effect
Looking back at what I've written, I can see that the majority of my ideas really come from the pool ball effect - i.e., something bounces off my brain, whether in a conversation, or something I read, etc., and that sets things in motion.

And there needs to be some kind of action, whether that's discussion, reading, or writing. I don't seem to be one of those "best ideas in the shower" types.

Curt Rosengren
Passion Catalyst (sm)
blog.occupationaladventure.com

"The world of marketing is all about ideas and the execution of ideas."

No. Thats the world of marketeers.

When 90% of fast moving consumer goods fail "within" 18 months you start to question the degree to which ideas drive markets.

Perhaps the world of marketing is to think there is more than thinking to success.

Oh, I get best ideas ( the ones that are the healthiest delusion) when I get all my previous idea's out of my mind.

My best ideas come when I am thinking about an issue and my brain suddenly finds a piece of jigsaw from somewhere else and fits its exactly into the slot. It is not a conscious process of searching my existing database - my brain seems to intuitively know what shape I am looking for and dutifully sets out to retrieve it for me. Some people may want to convert this incredible ability into some kind of overt process, create some machinery around it and call it a process/machination, but I don't believe it is not possible to index everything in our minds - neurology is still some way off in controlling the brain's natural ability to solve problems. Try it for yourself - you'll be amazed at what you can do without thinking about how....

Correction to previous note

I don't believe it is possible to index everything in our minds - neurology is still some way off in controlling the brain's natural ability to solve problems.