There is a Guitar Player article featuring Oz Noy from a few months back and he presents some really interesting ideas for breaking out of the box that focus on mutating your familiar licks and scales in ways that make them new and unexpected.

http://www.guitarplayer.com/story.asp?sectioncode=7&storycode=15037

Thanks!
That is a pretty good article. I'm going to have to try some of his suggestions. Have you tried any of them yet?

oz noy is a really good guitar player.. i will have to check out this article..