I am still trying to figure out the best way to generate ideas. Or maybe ideas isn't the right word, but more like projects or avenues for discovery. This is useful in the science world, but would also be nice for art and ideally any work. With the goal just to bring more creativity to everyday life.
It seems like for me, I get a lot of ideas when I read new things. Either new papers or books or going back and learning something again. I think this process is useful, you can add to your background knowledge but then also find out what has been done and how. In science this is a bit easier, because people record things, and are trying to find new things.
Then comes kind reversing that and asking why weren't things done. Or what questions weren't asked. Also known as looking where the light isn't. Or the hipsters approach to science. So if everyone is going to cafe stemcell you go to cafe giantcancercell. You'll likely hear from the stemcell people so you won't have to really read. But hearing from the lesser known fields makes your knowledge or awareness of lack of knowledge greater.
Its weird that we don't really take lesser fields as seriously. Even my field was first called an anomoly, then something that only happens sometimes, and finally a full-blown phenomenon that happens and all levels of biology and really important to study. A lot of times these 'lesser' fields are noticing things, but just in a different way.
Another process is by doing. So actively working in science or whatever ideally through this, you find a new material or method, this is done usually by doing something different than normal. This is really nice, because then you can go to any cafe, because you have a new way of looking. I don't know a good analogy for this. Maybe like you made a new coffee drink so they have to drink it at every cafe.
I am not sure, but I have been trying to teach students about these, and everyone needs analogies to learn.