applied intuition - columbia university

Identification - 1

leslie hallam CHAOS

APPLIED INTUITION: PROBLEM DEFINITION AND SOLUTION

Background: Psychology & Anthropology

Experience: Qualitative Research

Creative Workshops

Change Agency

Problem definition/re-definition

Creative, actionable solutions…

…and a lot of fairy stories

The Map… Introduction

Warm-up

Briefing

First cut - problem definition…candidate solution routes

Break

Second cut - work up solutions & chart

Present

Discuss/Feedback/AOB

Problems…Solutions

Problems: Closed vs. Open

Solutions: Right vs. Wrong

Treat all problems as open - take responsibility to re-

examine/challenge underlying assumptions

Treat all solutions as valuable contributions to the journey - even when they don’t work!

Intuition…?

Intuition

Inspiration

Random associations, lucky guesses

Precognition

Divining, scrying, fortune telling…

‘Knowing’, without information

‘Cryptamnesia’

Pre-conscious awareness (subliminal perception)

Intuition

Female?

Flaky…?

‘Artistic temperament’

Uncontrollable/random

Some people are…some are not…

Modes of thought…

Linear

Analytical

Rational

Logical

(‘Left hemispheric’ processing)

Modes of thought…

Creative

Imaginative

Divergent

Lateral

Associative

Intuitive

(‘Right hemispheric’ processing)

Modes of thought…

Whole mind thinking: Ø  Zen

Ø  ‘In the zone’

Ø  In flow

Ø  Emotional/physical trauma/risk…

Ø  Relaxed, detached…

Ø  Hypnagogic states (waking/sleeping)…

Ø  Post-coital…

First principles… Intuition is available to everyone (not just ‘psychics’/weird

creatives)

It can be harnessed (not just hoped for)

It is ‘normal’ - we all use it, all the time…low level/ unconsciously/unacknowledged

(Entrepreneurs, drivers, parents, children…the British Army)

First principles…

Mostly…

Ø  Intuition is a very poor substitute for reasoned analysis…

Ø  But reason alone is also a very poor tool

§  ‘To a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail…’

Why bother? Why Now?

We live in interesting times…

In an age of total access to empirical data and rational analysis, subjective creative interpretation and irrational perspectives are required to deliver

competitive advantage

If we all have the potential to be intuitive…

…what stops us?

Education: ‘Having ideas’ challenges the status quo

We’re taught other people’s (men’s!) ideas

And ‘how to solve problems’ - single method, single answer

Socialisation: Affiliation needs

Peer-group pressure to conform

Work culture: ‘We’ve always done it like this…’

‘We tried that five years ago…’

Systems and responsibilities

Hierarchies and reporting

Career trajectories

Society: Families…Communities…Tribes…Societies…Cultures

Normative values that yield cohesive structures

Taboo = potent force supporting this system, mediating…

Ø  Behaviour

Ø  Speech

Ø  Thought

Conformity = Social Approval = Affiliation = …Survival!

FEK IT

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FAK IT

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FLIK IT

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FOOK IT

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PHU’KET

MOTHER

‘GROUP THINK’ = Social stability, cohesion, shared values…

…and stagnation/failure to cope with change/vulnerability to catastrophic events

Shaman Priests Witches Wise Folk Hermits Saints Holy Men Seers

All cultures delegate ‘intuitive function’ to specialised individuals:

Dream Incubation Drumming/dance Psychedelics/entheogens

Story Myth

Legend

Marginalised

Celebrated

Revered

…so that the rest of us can specialize in hunting, farming, building…fighting…

With occasional breaks, to allow incorporation of new

perspectives & insights

Ø  Holy days, feast days, travel, drink…

Ø  Free to develop ‘creative subpersonalities’

A-game solutions require you to think differently

Intuition is one type of different thinking…

Q: Remove 2 matches so that only 2 squares are left

Q: move 3 matches to make 3 identical squares (and nothing else)

Q: Move 1 match, to make a square

Q: Rearrange the matches to form 4 equilateral triangles, all of the same size

Q: Remove 2 matches so that only 2 squares are left

Q: move 3 matches to make 3 identical squares (and nothing else)

Q: Move 1 match, to make a square

Q: Rearrange the matches to form 4 equilateral triangles, all of the same size

Another route to thinking differently…

Disruption

Stable systems behave predictably

Introducing additional energy or structure produces…CHAOS

…non-predictable (original, creative) outcomes

…start looking at things more softly

Stop looking at things harder…

CASE HISTORIES

Gordon’s Gin

Problem:

‘G&T set’ - comfortable middle classes, aspirational, 55+

Switching to more fashionable drinks - particularly wine

(And dying out!)

Gordon’s Gin

Method:

Explore semiology of gin across wide psychodemographics:

Extreme sports

Ecstasy culture

Fantasy role play

Performers

Gordon’s Gin

Insight:

Gin = ‘Gin & Tonic’

Stimulant…start the evening ‘upper’

Search for ‘peak experience’ (younger target)

- Dramatize, dimensionalize and own ‘peak…’

Perrier

Problem:

Conventional research identified ‘aspirational’ brand values, undermined in price-sensitive market within grocery

Perrier

Method:

Agency planners and consumers placed in challenging environment, to ‘break set’ with orthodox/public arena responses…’stripped’ of pretence and social norms

(Jacuzzi and Sauna suite)

Perrier

Insight:

Brand choice = female principle (‘The Goddess’) in male

environment (Bar)

Conveys ‘potent queen’/Shakti/elementals - Fire, water, air

Empowering, specialness, discernment, potency…

Barnardos

Problem:

Falling support in competitive market

Old fashioned image

Parents culpable

Barnardos

Method:

Bringing together agency creatives and ‘at risk’ group

members -

Ø  Prostitutes

Ø  Drug users

Ø  Abuse victims…

Barnardos

Insight:

All adults were once children…

We were all children, with dreams of how their lives would be…

Guinness

Problem:

80’s - dying brand

Old profile

Traditional/old fashioned positioning

Difficult product -

Ø  Storage

Ø  Dispense

Ø  Taste

Guinness

Method:

Clients taken on a series of ‘guys nights out’ in major cities

Immersion in the drinking culture, the experience, the ambience

They became the target market, in order to derive insight

Guinness

Insight:

Younger males (volume) = affiliation needs, but also status

within their group needs

Identity in the context of friends - individuation

Slightly older, discerning drinker (not father) = peer reference group

Guinness = different, quirky, weird…but also authentic, not mass-produced and identifiable (+ black liquid = dark side)

applied intuition - columbia university

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