I don't think being practical hinders one's imagination (I would consider myself both imaginativ and very practical). I know of two school of thought regarding

I don't think being practical hinders one's imagination (I would consider myself both imaginativ and very practical). I know of two school of thought regarding the origin of original ideas : - Original ideas stem from ignorance of the existing idea and being an outsider in the domain. I don't think this is sustainable as, at some point, you have to become familiar with the domain to which you want to contribute. - Original ideas comme from a deep knowlege of the domain and its history which lets you understand how new concepts you meet might fit in the overall puzzle. Overall, if you have problems coming out with outrageous new ideas, I would recommend practice : whenever you enconter a problem, try to design a solution for it (it doesn't matter if you never implement it) and only then research what kind of solution is used to solve this problem. With time you should become familiar with your own creativ process.