Well, then that is, in fact, a method that finds good ideas!

I sometimes use the debonoesque 'lateral thinking' tricks like association with a random dictionary word to come with some creative solution for a problem. I does not work for all classes of problems, but it can be useful.

There are some methods that consistently do not work well for me when trying to find good ideas / solutions; for example, sitting at my desk and looking at the screen.