Another effective creative thinking tool is the Trendwheel™, which I developed to help create new products. A trend is defined as “a current style of preference, or a prevailing tendency or inclination” (where a fad is a “practice or interest followed for a time with exaggerated zeal” — basically a short-term trend, like Pet Rocks, Beanie Babies, or Pokémon Go.

To create a Trendwheel, fill in past, recent, or future trends in the outer spokes and then combine two or more trends to develop new ideas; form new ideas where the trends intersect. The combination of dissimilar topics - similar to Random Word will allow you to mix and match trends to create new ideas. Combining unrelated trends can help spur disruptive ideas to change markets or create new ones.