Welcome provocation
Be willing to entertain ideas that strike you as provocative and even downright preposterous at first. Some of these ideas may ultimately lead to new ideas that can be turned into practical value.
For example, suppose you work for a consumer electronics company. It's Monday morning, and you're chatting with a colleague about the weekend. Your colleague happens to mention that he installed new windows in his home on Saturday. Suddenly, an image forms in your mind: a television screen with small "windows" that show what's on other channels. Though at first this idea seems strange, your company eventually develops it into an innovative feature that scores a major hit with consumers.