c r e a t i v i t y problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them

C R E A T I V I T YProblems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them

content

• Creativity• Creativity techniques

"God invented the giraffe, the elephant, the cat. He has no real style.

He just goes on trying things.“P. Picasso

creativitynoun

The power or ability to

invent: creativeness,

ingeniousness,

ingenuity, invention,

inventiveness,

originality.

Creativity is a human

mental phenomenon

based around the

deployment of mental

skills and/or conceptual

tools, which, in turn,

originate and develop

innovation, inspiration,

or insight.

Creativity techniques


• Creativity Techniques

• Inventing is the oldest human activity and the humanization of creativity procedures or techniques begins with the invention of the first tools.

• Below are listed a number of creativity techniques to help with creative thinking.

• There are at least 200 different creativity techniques and tools available, listed below are some of these.



• Alternative Scenarios

• Analogies

• Analysis of Interactive Decision Areas (AIDA)

• Anonymous voting

• Assumption surfacing

• Attribute listing (and variants)



• Backward Forward Planning• Boundary examination• Boundary relaxation• Brainstorming• Brain sketching• Brain WritingBrain writing 6-3-5• Brain writing game• Brain writing pool• Browsing• Brutethink• Bug listing• Bullet proofing• Bunches of bananas



• Card story boards• Cartoon story board• CATWOE• Causal mapping• Charrette• Cherry SplitCircle of Opportunity• Clarification• Classic Brainstorming• Collective notebook (CNB)• Comparison tables• Component detailing• Concept Fan• Consensus mapping• Constrained brain writing

• Contradiction Analysis• Controlling imagery• Crawford slip writing• Creative problem solving (CPS)• Criteria for idea-finding potential• Critical path diagrams (CPD)

Creativity techniques• Creativity Techniques

• Decision seminar• Delphi• DO IT• Dialectical approaches• Dimensional analysis• Drawing

• Essay writing• Estimate-discuss –estimate• Exaggeration (magnify or minify)• Excursions



• Factors in 'selling' ideas• False Faces• Fishbone diagram• Five W's and H• Flow charts for action planning• Focus groups• Focusing• Force-field analysis• Force-fit game• Free association'• Fresh eye' and networking



• Gallery method

• Gap analysis

• Goal orientation

• Greetings cards

• Help, hinder

• Heuristic ideation technique (HIT)

• Highlighting



• Idea advocate• Imagery for answering questions• Imagery manipulation• Imaginary Brainstorming• Implementation checklists• Improved nominal group technique• Interpretive structural modeling• Keeping a dream diary• Kepner and Tregoe's method • KJ-method



• Laddering

• Lateral Thinking

• Listing

• Listing pros and cons

• Metaplan information market

• Mind mapping

• Morphological analysis

• Morphological Forced Connections

• Multiple redefinition



• Negative brainstorming

• Nominal group technique (NGT)

• Nominal-interacting technique

• Notebook

• Observer and merged viewpoints

• Osborn's checklist

• Other people's definitions

• Other people's viewpoints



• Paired comparison• Panel consensus• Paraphrasing key words• Personal balance-sheet• Phases of integrated problem solving (PIPS)• Pictures as idea triggers• Pin cardsPMI (Plus, Minus, Interaction)• Plan Do Check Act (PDCA)• Plusses, potentials and concerns• Potential-problem analysis (PPA)• Preliminary questions• Problem-centred leadership (PCL)• Problem inventory analysis (PIA)• Problem Reversal

• Progressive hurdles• Progressive revelation• Provocation



• Q-sort• Quality circles• Random stimuli of various kinds• Rawlinson Brainstorming• Receptivity to ideas• Reframing values• Relational words• Relaxation• Reversals• Role storming



• 7-Step Model• SCAMMPERRSCAMPER• Sculptures• Search conference• Sequential-attributes matrix• Similarities and Differences• Simple rating methods• Simplex• Six Thinking Hats• Slice and Dice• Snowball technique• Soft systems method• Stakeholder analysis• Sticking dots

• Stimulus analysis • Story writing• Strategic assumption testing• Strategic choice approach• Strategic management process• Strategic Options Development and

Analysis (SODA)• Successive element integration• Super Group®• Super heroes• SWOT Analysis• Synectics• Systematized Direct Induction (SDI)



• Technology Monitoring

• Think Tank

• TILMAG

• Transactional planning

• Trigger Sessions

• Trigger method

• TRIZ

• Using 'crazy' ideas

• Using experts



• Value brainstorming

• Value engineering

• Visual brainstorming

• Visualising a goal

• Who are you?'

• Why?' etc. - repeatable questions

• Wishing

• Working with dreams and images



• Scenarios are qualitatively different descriptions of plausible futures. They can give you a deeper understanding of potential environments in which you might have to operate and what you may need to do in the present. Scenario analysis helps you to identify what environmental factors to monitor over time, so that when the environment shifts, you can recognize where it is shifting to.

Creativity techniques• Analogies

• You use an analogy when you say that something is like something else (in some respects but not in others). For example: a jumbo jet is like an albatross in that they both fly, they both have wings, they can both travel for a long way without landing, and both can sense where they are going; but they are unlike in that they have different means of propulsion, are made of different materials, etc.

• Analogies are a key feature of many approaches to creativity. For instance, they were central to the earlier forms of Synectics and they are an important element in various types of Excursion.


• Analysis of Interactive Decision Ares (AIDA)

• AIDA (Analysis of Interactive Decision Areas - Luckman, Operational Research Quarterly, 1967; Friend and Hickling, Planning under pressure: The strategic choice approach. Pergamon Press: Oxford, 1987) is used when you have several inter-connected problems where the solution choices for one will affect the solution choices for another. You therefore need to evaluate the solutions as a group, but the number of theoretically possible group combinations may be large. AIDA identifies combinations that cannot coexist and can therefore be eliminated, hence substantially reducing the number of combinations you need to compare.

Creativity techniques• Anonymous voting

• The reason for using anonymity in a creativity method is to encourage participants to feel safe enough to take creative risks. It is useful for groups that have significant pressures or anxieties between participants. It is a basic feature of all nominal group methods and is an excellent way of protecting people against accidental or unintentional inter-personal pressures, in climates where there is basic goodwill towards differences of viewpoint, and a commitment to respecting them.

• Methods such as Anonymous Voting cannot offer a particularly robust form of anonymity, and in climates where there is a serious risk of ‘bullying’ or significant levels of paranoid anxiety, this method could lead naive participants to exposing themselves to unacceptable risks, particularly when they return to the ‘outside world’. Facilitators need to be clear that the levels of risk they are asking participants to take are realistic. (There are software systems such as "Group Works" which offer much better anonymity.)

Creativity techniques• Assumption surfacing

• The aim of this technique is to make underlying assumptions more visible.

• 1. Identify a particular choice you have made, and ask yourself why you feel it is the best choice – i.e. what assumptions guide this choice.

• 2. List the assumptions, and beside each write a counter-assumption - not necessarily its negation, but the opposite to the issue it represents.

• 3. Work down the list and delete ineffective assumption/counter-assumption pairs i.e. where it would make little difference to your choice whether the assumption or the counter-assumption were actually the case.

• 4. Assess each of the remaining assumptions in terms of high or low potential impact (how critical is its truth to justifying your pattern of behaviour?) and high or low plausibility (how confident are you that it is, in fact, true?).

• 5. Plot the assumptions on a 2x2 matrix (high/low impact on one axis, high/low plausibility on the other).


• Attribute listing (and variants)

• Attribute listing is a technique from the early 1930's which

• takes an existing product or system, • breaks it into parts, • identifies various ways of achieving each part, and

then • recombines these to identify new forms of the

product or system. • It has many variants, and is an important precursor to

techniques such as Morphological Analysis and Value Engineering

Creativity techniques• Backward forward planning

• Backward forward planning is a process to help you define the problem, and make sure you are not in tunnel vision where you can't see the real problem because of the close problem you think is biting you. The process has three stages.

• 1. Write down the short version of the problem, preferably starting with "How to…“

• 2. If you were to solve the problem in statement 1, what higher level problem would it also solve? Write this down. Continue asking what higher level problem it solves and writing them down. Try to obtain at least 3 statements.

• 3. Going back to statement 1, ask what other benefits would flow from it, if it were a solution. Make sure these are different from those in stage 2.


• Boundary examination

• Boundary examination offers a refinement of problem definition. It is similar to paraphrasing key words and Boundary Relaxation. Defining a problem gives a clear task to focus on. The definition highlights some features of the situation as being particularly relevant, and plays down others as largely irrelevant. The problem boundary is the notional 'container', which separates highly relevant features (inside the boundary) from less relevant ones (outside the boundary).


• Boundary relaxation

• The problem boundary is defined here as the imaginary line between what a problem is, must be, should be, or could be, and what it isn’t, mustn’t be, shouldn’t be, or couldn’t be. This approach works in two stages: first, by identifying the elements of the boundary; then seeing how far they can be loosened.


• Brainstorming

• The term Brainstorming has become a commonly used word in the English language as a generic term for creative thinking. The basis of Brainstorming is a generating ideas in a group situation based on the principle of suspending judgment - a principle which scientific research has proved to be highly productive in individual effort as well as group effort. The generation phase is separate from the judgment phase of thinking.


• Brain sketching

• This technique (VanGundy, Techniques of Structured Problem Solving, 1988) is a BrainWriting technique and a variant on Pin Cards, but you pass evolving sketches rather than growing written lists of ideas around the group. As usual with most brain-writing techniques, only limited facilitation skill is needed.


• BrainWriting

• BrainWriting is a technique similar to brainstorming and trigger sessions. There are many varieties, but the general process is that all ideas are recorded by the individual who though of them. They are then passed on to the next person who uses them as a trigger for their own ideas. Examples of this include;

• BrainWriting pool• BrainWriting 6-3-5• Idea Card Model• BrainWriting Game• Constrained BrainWriting• Varying level of constraint

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/brainstorm.php

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/trigger.php


• Browsing

• This item is about creative browsing in a library context. However see "Using Experts" for a very different approach to information acquisition.

• Types of browsing• The creative use of literature very often amounts to

browsing. Although the importance of browsing is generally recognised, its nature appears to be little understood. At least three kinds of browsing have been recognised:

• Purposive browsing: Where you are deliberately seeking a defined piece of information.

• Capricious browsing: where you are randomly examining material without a definite goal.

• Exploratory browsing: Where

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/useexperts.php

Creativity techniques• Brutethink

• Brutethink is a technique by Michael Michalko, based on random stimuli, and is defined in detail in his book Thinkertoys.

• The process is• 1. bring in a random word into the problem (from

a dictionary, newspaper, book...)• 2. Think of things associated with the random

word• 3. Force connections between the random word,

and the challenge, also between the associated things and the challenge.

• List all your ideas

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/random.php


• Bug listing

• A bug list (Adams, Conceptual Blockbusting: A Guide to Better Ideas, 1987) is simply a list of things that bug you! It should be personal and illuminate specific areas of need. Adams recommends keeping it fluent and flexible, remembering humorous and far-out bugs as well as common ones. He suggests that if you run out of bugs in under ten minutes, you are either suffering from a perceptual or emotional block or have life unusually under control!It may well be the most specific thinking you have ever done about precisely what small details in life bother you; if properly done, your bug list should spark ideas in your mind for inventions, ideas, possible changes, etc.


• Bullet Proofing

• The bullet proofing technique aims to identify the areas in which your plan might be especially vulnerable:

• What may possibly go wrong? • What are some of the difficulties that could occur? • What’s the worst imaginable thing that could occur? • There are some similarities with Potential – Problem

Analysis (PPA) (Kepner and Tregoe), Negative Brainstorming (Isaksen and Treffinger, 1985) who suggest that ‘What might happen if…?’ is a useful question to use for looking at potential challenges.

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/negbrain.php


• Bunches bannas

• The Bunches of bananas technique is one of lateral thinking, reducing excessive left-brain attention (which may be fuelling a mind set). There are people that instinctively liven up a sluggish meeting by being provocative, or ‘throwing in a bunch of bananas’.


• Card story board

• This technique although similarly named is quite different from the Cartoon Story Board technique. It is an ‘idea’ organizing’ method using tree logic (c.f. Mind-Mapping, and other hierarchical diagrams and outlines, and Venn-convention methods such at Snowball Technique, and KJ-Method).

• The facilitator is more able to concentrate on idea-generation of particular topics and sub-topics much more closely than is usually possible in open-ended methods (c.f. Constrained Brain writing as another way to achieve this).

• Cards are laid out in a tabular format – a simple row of header cards (or possibly header and sub-header cards as in the example below), each with a column of idea cards below it, perhaps with added action or comment notes attached (index

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/mindmap.php

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/snowball.php

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/kj-method.php

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/brainwrite.php#constrain

Creativity techniques• CATWOE• CATWOE’ is a mnemonic for a checklist for problem or goal definition (Checkland

and Scholes, Soft Systems Methodology in Action, 1990). CATWOE is applied to the system which contains the problem, issue or solution, rather than to the problem or goal itself – i.e. to: ‘A system to ...’ ‘A system for ...’; or ‘A system that ...’. Such a definition should include:

• C. The ‘customers of the system’. In this context, ‘customers’ means those who are on the receiving end of whatever it is that the system does. Is it clear from your definition who will gain or lose?

• A. The ‘actors’, meaning those who would actually carry out the activities envisaged in the notional system being defined.

• T. The ‘transformation process’. What does the system do to the inputs to convert them into the outputs.

• W. The ‘world view’ that lies behind the root definition. Putting the system into it's wider context can highlight the consequences of the overall system. For example the system may be in place to assist in making the world environmentally safer, and the consequences of system failure could be significant pollution.

• O. The ‘owner(s)’ – i.e. those who have sufficient formal power over the system to stop it existing if they so wished (though they won’t usually want to do this).

• The ‘environmental constraints’. These include things such as ethical limits, regulations, financial constraints, resource limitations, limits set by terms of reference, and so on.


• Charrette

• Originating in the US in the 1960's, ‘Charrette’ involved an intensive two-week consultation process, usually preceded by a massive public relations campaign. The aim was for a local community to developed social, economic and physical plans combined the resources of a number of local bodies, and integrated them all into a prioritised programme of action.

• The resource people (consultants, experts, professionals) were usually brought in from out of town to bring fresh minds to the problems. The Charrette building had to be able to provide for large evening forums, small group discussions during the day; and also for secretarial services, the press, television, child care, lunch and light meals. It was a ‘live-in, work-in, 24-hour facility’.


• Cherry Split

• Cherry Split is an attribute listing technique by Michael Michalko and is defined in detail in his book Thinkertoys.

• The process is• 1. State the challenge - in two words• 2. Split the challenge into two separate

attributes• 3. Split each attribute into two further attributes• 4. continue splitting each attribute into 2 more

attributes, until you have enough to work with.• 5. look at each attribute at a time and try

thinking of ways to change or improve it.• re-assemble the attributes

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/attribute.php


• Circle of Opportunity

• Circle of Opportunity is an Morphological Forced Connections technique by Michael Michalko and is defined in detail in his book Thinkertoys.

• The process is• 1. State the Challenge• 2. Draw a circle and number it like a clock (number 1

through 12)• 3. Select any 12 attributes• 4. Throw a pair of dice to select the first attribute• 5. Throw a pair of dice to select the second attribute• 6. Consider the attributes, both separately, and

combined, to find an association between the two attributes.

• Search for a link between your association and your challenge .

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/morph-fc.php


• Clarification

• The things that people actually say are often rather different from what they mean, equally parts of their story may be missing without them realising it.

• The clarification technique helps communication to others and will often release problems and help the problem owner as well. The material below shows how important language analyses are, on the left are some common forms of language fuzziness, and on the right are some question for clarifying them.

• Specific answers are requested in the questions, not only for clarifying the speaker’s own thoughts, but also preventing questioners imposing their own (possibly incorrect) interpretations on it.

Creativity techniques• Classic brainstorming• 1. Arrange the meeting for a group of the right size and makeup (typically 4-8

people)• 2. Write the initial topic on a flipboard, whiteboard or other system where

everyone can see it. The better defined, and more clearly stated the problem, the better the session tends to be.

• 3. Make sure that everyone understands the problem or issue • 4. Review the ground rules • o Avoid criticising ideas / suspend judgement. All ideas are as valid as each

other• o Lots, Lots & Lots - a large number of ideas is the aim, if you limit the number

of ideas people will start to judge the ideas and only put in their 'best' or more often than not, the least radical and new.

• o Free-wheeling. Don't censor any ideas, keep the meeting flow going.• o Listen to other ideas, and try to piggy back on them to other ideas.• o Avoid any discussion of ideas or questions, as these stop the flow of ideas.• 5. Have someone facilitating to enforce the rules and write down all the ideas as

they occur (the scribe can be a second person)• 6. Generate ideas - either in an unstructured way (anyone can say an idea at any

time) or structure (going round the table, allowing people to pass if they have no new ideas).

• 7. Clarify and conclude the session. Ideas that are identical can be combined, all others should be kept. It is useful to get a consensus of which ideas should be looked at further or what the next action and timescale is.


• Collective notebook (CNB)

• John Haefele (1962) of Proctor and Gamble devised CNB to encourage idea generation within an organisation. A key advantage is that since the idea generation is extended over several weeks, the opportunity for incubation and exposure to a wide range of stimuli is readily available. Unfortunately the workload on the co-ordinator can be high if numerous people are taking part, however, that on the participants is very low.


• Comparison tables

• The two tables below show both simple and complex forms of the classic method of comparing small numbers of alternatives in terms of multiple properties (e.g. as used in many of the ‘best buy’ magazines). This particular version uses


• Component detailing

• The component detailing technique (Watkin, 1985) has associations with Attribute Listing and Brain Sketching. Components are drawn in much the same way as the old children’s game combining pictures of heads, bodies and legs taken from different people to make a bizarre composite person.

• The method works best when the ‘problem’ is the design of a physical object, but it can also work with problems whose components have a clear logical, rather than physical, relation to one another.

• It has strong elements of ‘problem exploration’ as well as ‘idea-generation’, because it often helps comprehensive understanding and the development of new viewpoint.


http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/brainsketch.php


• Concept fan

• The Concept Fan is a way of discovering alternative approach’s to a problem when you have discarded all obvious solutions. It develops the principle of 'taking a step back' to get a broader viewpoint. Initially, the Concept Fan requires you to draw a circle in the middle of a large piece of paper. Write the problem you are trying to solve in the circle. To the right of it radiate lines representing possible solutions to the problem see the diagram below:

Creativity techniques• Consensus mapping

• The consensus mapping technique (Hart et al., 1985) helps a facilitator and group reach consensus about how best to arrange a network of up to maybe 20 – 30 activities that have to be sequenced over time into a useable plan of action (e.g. outlining a 10-year network of sequentially linked activities to deal with a complex environmental pollution issue). These will usually be activities that could be done in a range of orders – i.e. the order has to be approved – it is not given by the internal logic of the activities themselves.

• The technique has parallels to many of the usual project planning methods (and could if necessary feed into them) but operates at a purely qualitative, outline, level.

• It merges elements of standard clustering techniques such at KJ-method and Snowball Technique with elements of sequential mapping Causal Mapping incorporated into a wider consensus-seeking procedure that has associates with Eden;s SODA method.



http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/soda.php


• Contradiction analysis

• At the heart of most problems is a contradiction between two requirements or factors. These contradictions can either by technical; where alternative solutions improve one aspect of the design at the expense of another: or physical; where the physical state of the object must be in two states at once. If these contradiction can be understood, and innovative solutions found, significant advances can be made.

• In many systems the majority of the contradictions can be easily found. For example, in the case of the car, the requirement to go as far as possible can be thought of as the need to carry the maximum fuel load. This is contradicted by the need to weigh as little as possible extend endurance, and thus reduce fuel load. With the conventional internal combustion engine this is not a significant problem. However the electric car shows the contradiction in sharp focus.


• Controlling Imagery

• Warning: As with all imagery based methods, you should be conscious of the possibility that you may experience imagery relating to unexpected matters – maybe to undesirable past memories. Should this be a concern, don’t use imagery-based methods, or use them with appropriate level of support.

• The following set of techniques has been devised to help exercise more control over you imagery, both in the positive sense of doing more with it, and in the negative sense of knowing how to stop it or defuse it.


• Crawford slip writing

• Crawford developed the Crawford slip writing method in the USA in the 1920’s, for use in gathering ideas from large groups (even up to 5000 people, though its much easier to handle with, say, 50 – 200).

• It is actually one of the original forms of brain writing, and for small groups it reduces to an undemanding ‘private idea generation’ phase. It is used with large gatherings of people in say, a lecture theatre or hall and is in many ways is the manual, text-based, predecessor of a modern radio or TV ‘phone-in’.

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/brainwrite.php


• Creative problem solving (CPS)

• Osborn’s original classical brainstorming is the root of creative problem solving (CPS). There are a variety of general structures: ‘define problem, generate possible solutions, select and implement the best’ which can be found extensively, in several different academic traditions.

• However, the account illustrate here was formulated by Sidney J. Parnes in the 1950’s and has been build upon continuously since then by various authors, e.g. Isakesen and Treffinger (1985) Isaksen, Dorval and Treffinger (1994 and 1998).

• The method can be used as a training programme and has a very extensive track record linked particularly with the Centre for Studies in Creativity of the State University College at Buffalo, New York, the Buffalo Creative problem Solving Group, and with the Centre for Creative Learning in Sarasota, Florida.


• Criteria for Idea-Finding Potential

• The focus and content of a problem statement can be adjusted and developed in a variety of ways (try a search on Defining). However after the development stage it is valuable to ensure that the way it is expressed will support the workings of the problem solving method you are using.

• Isakesen, Dorval and Treffinger (1994) developed this straightforward checklist, which is supportive of this procedure

Creativity techniques• Critical path Diagrams (CPD) or Critical Path Method (CPM)

• The critical path method (CPM), and the Project Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT), both devised independently in the 1950’s, but share similarities and now form the basis of many project planning software packages.

• The description outline below is simplified approach to CPM and assumes that you can recognize component activities that are required to carry out your project, the sequence(s) in which they must take place and how long each will take.

• The purpose of CPM is to permit you to recognise, which activities lay on the ‘critical path’ – i.e. those for which any setback or rushing will affect the overall time for the project. This will assist you in managing the collection of tasks to accomplish fixed time targets overall.

• More advance forms of CPM also know about the cost of each element, so overall costs can be managed as well as timing.


• Decision Seminar

• The decision seminar technique (Laswell, 1960) is a predecessor of the Think Tank technique of the 1960’s and is derived from a more sociological rather brainstorming procedure. It was primarily designed by a social science research facility to tackle applied social policy issues in an efficient way, focusing on past, present and future developments.


• Delphi

• The Delphi technique was developed in the 1950’s by the RAND Corporation as a tool for harnessing the views of a group of experts to forecast the potential damage from atom bomb attacks.

• Other users for Delphi are in the surfacing and judging components of messy issues. Its main disadvantage being its high administrative overhead, however the method has been successfully inorporated in some computerised problem solving systems.


• DO IT

• DO IT is an acronym that stands for:• D - Define problem

O - Open mind and apply creative techniquesI - Identify best solutionT - Transform


• Dialectrical Approaches

• The dialectical approach (Mason and Mitroff, 1981) uses creative conflict to help identify and challenge assumptions to create new perceptions. Firstly the devil’s advocate approach is useful in exposing underlying assumptions, but has a tendancy emphasise the negative, whereas dialectical inquiry has a more balanced approach. (See also Idea Advocate)

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/ideaadvocate.php


• Dimensional analysis

• The dimensional analysis technique is a checklist (Jensen, 1978) that relates to Five W’s and H, and is of most use as an aide memoir for initial exploration of a problem or evaluating options, particularly those associated with human relations, rather than of a technical nature. Jensen defines a problem as a violation of values – a slightly unusual approach that is reflected in this list:

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/fivewandh.php


• Drawing

• The drawing technique can seem more acceptable than imagery work and freehand expressive drawing often helps to liberate spontaneous thoughts that can’t yet be put into words. Drawings may have meanings that are not consciously realised when drawn; they just ‘feel right’


• Estimate-Discuss –Estimate

• This technique is useful when a good quality united group judgement is required. A balance to maintain constructive discussion and idea contribution whilst at the same time steering away from biasing or destructive group anxiety is the key to success here.


• Exaggeration (Magnify or minify)

• From Osborn’s original checklist, magnify (or ‘stretch’) and minify (or ‘compress’) are two of the idea generating transformations, both of which are forms of exaggeration. The table below shows a selection of exaggerations to illustrate the problem: ‘I need a lot of capacity in my Reprographics Department to cope with a few key peak loads, but this means that for much of the time much of it is idle’.

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/osborn.php


• Excursion

• General Guidelines • Attempt to get as much distance from the problem

as possible. • Make the excursion about 5-10 minutes. • Include some physical activity if the energy level of

the group is low. • Give the group some rationale for why an excursion

might be helpful. • If necessary, provide a model or example to help

demonstrate it.


• Factors in “Selling” Ideas

• When ‘selling’ an idea or new concept to management, it would be prudent to bear in mind the following issues:

• The Selling Context:• Timing, includes large scale issues such as past

company experiences with similar ideas, and smaller scale issues such as annual committee cycles, etc.

• Audience is there a possibility that the audience will be receptive to your suggestions and if so do they have the ability to do anything about it.

• Idea


• False faces

• False faces is a Problem Reversal technique by Michael Michalko and is defined in detail in his book Thinkertoys.

• The process is;• 1. State the problem• 2. List the assumptions• 3. Challenge the fundamental assumption• 4. Reverse eash assumption - Write down the

opposite for each one.• 5. Record differing viewpoints that might proove

useful to you• Ask how to acomplish each reversal, listing as many

viewpoints and ideas as possible.

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/prob-reverse.php


• Fishbone diagram

• The fishbone diagram (see below) originally developed by Professor Kaoru Ishikawa, is often referred to as an Ishikawa diagram. The technique can help to structure the process of identifying possible causes of a problem (see also Causal Mapping)

• The diagram encourages the development of an in depth and objective representation ensuring all participants keep on track. It discourages partial or premature solutions, and shows the relative importance and inter-relationships between different parts of a problem.

• The method is ideally organized over a number of meetings, enabling the team to become deeply immersed in the problem. Fresh suggestions regarding possible causes can arise during the break and members are more likely to forget who originated every idea, thus making subsequent discussions less inhibited.


• Five Ws and H

• The Five W’s and H, are an influential, inspirational and imaginative checklist (often used by journalists). The technique uses basic question generating prompts provided by the English language. The method is useful at any level from a formal checklist to complete informality.

• Who? • Why? • What? • Where? • When? • How?


• Flow charts for action planning

• Flow charts for action planning• Flow-Charts revolve around the decision phase they are

therefore most appropriate for action planning scenarios where the chain of events is likely to change dynamically as it opens out, see the diagram below which shows the fundamental features of a flow-chart:


• Focus groups

• This is a technique similar to 'Using Experts' whereby 'experts' are used to provied ideas and input to a policy group, or similar body.

• The experts can be either set up from within the company (for example a team from all layers of management to focus on communications issues) or they can be external experts prought in to provide a fresh set of eyes to the problem

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/useexperts.php


• Focusing

• The focusing technique (Gendlin, 1981) does not use conventional visual imagery but a form of imagery work based on body feelings and sensations. The description below is a brief and subtle outline of the process, for a more detailed account of the technique, see Gendlins book. The central act of focusing can be broken down into six phases:


• Force-Field Analysis

• Force-field analysis characterises the conflicting forces in a situation. The recommended approach to this method is to outline the points involved in a problematic situations at the problem exploration stage, followed by recognising factors likely to help or hinder at the action planning and implementation stages.


• Force-Fit Game

• The force-fit game was devised by Helmut Schlicksupp and resembles the Brainwriting Game.

• As a rule competition is avoided in creativity, it is potentially disruptive and can cause conflict. However, a small amount of pressure can benefit creativity. For the game to be useful a light-hearted frame of mind is essential, with no significant losers.

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/brainwrite.php#game


• Free Association

• Free association contains elements of several other idea-generating techniques and depends on a mental ‘stream of consciousness’ and network of associations of which there are two:

• Serial association, start with a trigger, you record the flow of ideas that come to mind, each idea triggering the next, ultimately reaching a potentially useful one.

• Centred association, (which is close to classical brainstorming) prompts you to generate multiple associations to the original trigger so that you ‘delve’ into a particular area of associations.

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/classic.php


• “Fresh eye

• The ‘fresh eye’ technique looks directly to ‘outsiders’ who are not so affected by the ‘tunnel vision’ that can be experienced by practicing problem solvers.

• Basic Model• 1. Write down your problem simply, clearly and in a non-technical format• 2. Show it to people who have no direct experience of the problem and

invite ideas and opinions. Recommend that they think about the problem for a few days, write down any ideas and thoughts they have about what they see as the ‘real’ problem and any potential solutions. It is essential that their expectations of your ability to use their ideas are realistic (see Step 4).

• 3. Develop or re-interpret the ideas so that they become workable. You should anticipate the idea may be technically naive, but nevertheless still be creatively thought provoking.

• Provide responsive feedback to the helper to show their contributions are appreciated, valued and of productive use. If your helper feels undervalued, further help towards yourself will not be forthcoming. Equally if your helper receives feedback of how their ideas were put to use they will be only too glad to help again.


• Gallery Method

• The Gallery method is a mixture of physical and mental activity whilst generating ideas. The participants move past the ideas (as in an art gallery) rather than the ideas moving past the participants (as in the Pin-Card technique). The down side of this method, no anonymity is offered for idea generation and there is a risk of competition between participants during the break and view

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/pin-cards.php


• Gap Analysis

• Gap analysis is a methodical investigation throughout the whole area of a given technology for ‘gaps’. Thus highlighting inadequate areas in existing technology that are open to speculation with a view improvement.

• For example a study for the analysis of transportation technology, using the aspects:

• Speed • Maximum range • Demand


• Goal Orientation

• Goal orientation is a basic logical checklist for problem statements. For a more involved set of logical criteria, see the CATWOE checklist. For a more inventive-based checklist see Multiple Redefinition

• The procedure is as follows:• 1. Describe the problem by writing down a general description

but in as much detail as possible• 2. List the needs implied by the problem, by outlining what you

are trying to achieve• 3. List the inherent difficulties that are preventing you from

achieving your goal. E.g. if I am chopping down a tree, the hardness of its wood is an inherent difficulty because anyone chopping down that tree would have to deal with it.

• 4. List the external constraints that apply to this problem at this time e.g. I have promised to finish chopping down the tree for the owner by lunchtime today, is an external constraint because it is specific to this occasion.

• Now write a clear problem statement that illustrates all these requirements, restrictions and hindrances.

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/catwoe.php

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/multredef.php


• Greeting Cards

• Prior to introducing a group to a problem the Greeting card method invites the group to create their own stimulating problem solving environment. A sense of comradeship is thus introduced and a feeling of ownership and involvement in the problem solving is experienced.


• Help, Hinder

• The Help, hinder method is a fairly simplistic procedure and comparable to Bullet-proofing, Potential problem analysis, Negative brainstorming, and Stakeholder analysis.

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/bulet-proof.php

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/ppa.php

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/negbrain.php

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/stakeholder-anal.php


• Heuristic Ideation Technique (HIT)

• Heuristic ideation technique (HIT) is an alternative variation to Attribute Listing, Morphological Analysis, Listing, etc. for initial developments (although it could be used in other areas). The procedure is as follows:

• 1. Choose two items of interest that already exist, e.g. if I sell novelty goods, I might select a particular china mug with a floral decoration on it, and a particular novelty greetings card.

• 2. Make a list of each component, e.g. the components of the mug may include: handle, square shape, coloured china, floral decoration, coffee sized, etc. The cards components might include: glitter decoration, poetic message, can be sent by post, etc.

• Construct a matrix, where the rows list the components of the one product the columns list the components of the other, and each cell corresponds to a combination of one element from each product.


http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/morphanal.php

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/listing.php


• Highlighting

• Highlighting is a straightforward and vigorous technique, which can be put into place with little training and capable of capturing attention and participation. Ideas are screened, the best of which are short-listed triggering discussion.

• There are noticeable similarities to the KJ-Method and the Snowball technique, with the use of clustering. However, there is an important difference in that clusters are only created from items that are felt to be interesting or intriguing, so that the clusters identify ‘hotspots’ – groups of related ideas that have ‘connected’ with someone’s imagination.




• Idea Advocate

• Idea advocate is a simplified form of the dialectical approach (qv). The method has an Idea Champion to offer continual support and enthusiasm for a project in the development stage. Assume that the group of original ideas for solving some issue has already been concentrated to a small number, say 3 – 6 of strong contender:s:

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/dialecticalapproach.php


• Imaginary for Answering Questions

• This technique draws on your own intuition for help, similar to prayer or meditation. However, there is a structure as follows:

• 1. If your preference is to tape-record the script below rather than working from memory, read it slowly with plenty of pauses.

• 2. Define your question, clarifying its exact meaning to yourself

• 3. Go through any standard Relaxation process.• 4. When you feel ready, recall your question (from 2),

making yourself fully aware of it.• Placing the question aside, let a fantasy on the lines of the

script below materialise.


• Imagery Manipulation

• Imagery manipulation is employed in a psychotherapeutic context and requires skilled helpers or should be carried out under supervision. The technique does not utilize the usual rational framework (Explore problem, Generate ideas, Select and Implement) that is fundamental to most problem solving methods.

• It is unnecessary for the helper to be made aware of the real nature of the original situation or the final solution, in fact any efforts by the client to introduce ‘reality’ will hinder success. Dissimilar to guides imagery activities, Imagery for Answering Questions (qv) there is no preliminary relaxation phase required, and the exploration of the imagery is performed in a mater-of-fact way with both the helper and client in ‘adult’ mode, capable of critical judgement.

• The helper asks questions and suggests answers, while the client views the current state of images and attempts his own answers. A client should be supported to reject or undo inappropriate suggestions they should feel a sense of responsibility for the management of their own imagery. The technique follows these 5 steps: .

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/imageryfaq.php


• Imaginary Brainstorming

• Imaginary Brainstorming is like classic brainstorming, but with a slight twist. The ground rules etc. are the same, the differences are;

• 1. When defining the problem make sure that it has • a subject - who is acting • a verb - the action • an object - who / what is being acted upon. • 2. Perform a classic brainstorming session • 3. Define the essential elements of the problem, and identify which of the

elements above (1) is the most directly tied to a successful solution. • 4. Propose imaginary replacements for the other elements. e.g.• (This element is kept as the essential element.)• 5. Formulate a new problem statement, substituting one of the imaginary

elements. • 6. Brainstorm ideas for the imaginary problem • 7. Apply ideas from the imaginary brainstorming back to the real problem

statement. • Analyse all of the ideas (real, imaginary and combined) and take forward those

of most interest.

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/classic.php

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/swot.php


• Implementation Checklists

• There are two implementation checklists presented here, the first by VanGundy and the 2nd by Isaksen, Dorval and Treffinger. Each has subtle differences in their perspectives.

• Implementation Checklist 1 (VanGundy, 1988)• Resources are the resources (time, personnel, equipment, money, information)

sufficient for executing this idea? • Motivation, are there others with equal motivation and commitment required for

successful implementation? • Resistance, is the idea likely to come across any ‘closed thinking’ and/or resistance

to change in general? • Procedures, are there any procedural complications to get over • Structures, are there any structural obstacles to surmount (e.g. bad communication

channels)? • Policies, What official/unofficial policies need to be overcome? • Risk, will risk taking be tolerated by those responsible for implementation and if so to

what level? • Power, do any power struggles exist relating to the idea that might obstruct

implementation? • Clashes, are there any clashes of personalities that may hinder advancement in the

implementation? • Climate, is the organisational environment one of teamwork and co-operation or

suspicion and distrust?


• Improved Nominal Group Technique (INGT)

• Improved Nominal Group Technique is a extension of Nominal Group Technique (NGT) with an additional pre-meeting stage which ensures full anonymity of contributions and speeds up transcription phases.

• Advance Preparation• 1. Clarify the purpose of meeting with a prior problem

recognition meeting, with anonymous input• 2. Circulate the agreed purpose of the meeting and

request anonymously submitted ideas on cards by a well-defined cut off time.

• Circulate a numbered word for word list of the ideas submitted and request those participating bring to the meeting any additional ideas (on cards) or proposals for varying or combining ideas. Explain fully what structure the meeting have.

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/ngt.php


• Interpretive Structural Modelling

• Presume that you have a compilation of say 20 – 50 matters concerning some of the following:

• 1. Issues • 2. Ideas • 3. Objectives • 4. Options • SWOT elements (Strengths, Weaknesses,

Opportunities, Threats) (see SWOT)

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/swot.php


• Keeping a Dream Diary

• To experience creative dreaming it is essential to come into better contact with your dreams. Psychologists have revealed that each of us dreams every night. However and unfortunately most of our dreams are forgotten. Thus, keeping a dream diary is helping in retaining the information longer. The building of the dream diary will demonstrate over a period of time, that you recall more and more of your dreams by being more aware of them. Regular discussion of your dreams and diaries will also help in understanding them, any themes running through them and unconscious ideas.


• Kepner & Tregoe Method

• This technique emphasises the ‘rational’ rather than the ‘creative’, it is essentially a method for fault diagnosis and repair rather than for disorganized or systemic problem domains, or those where freshness of vision is essential. Kepner and Tregoe (1981) describe the method below, but its origins date from the 1950’s.

• The method is fully developed, with recommended techniques, worksheets, training programme's, etc.


• KJ Method

• The KJ-Method is fundamentally similar to the Snowball Technique. Introduced by the Japanese, it has become one of the ‘Seven management (New) tools’ of modern Japanese quality management and uses values of Buddhism intended as structured meditation.

• The Basic Cycle, • 1. Card making:• 2. Grouping and naming:• 3. Redistribution• 4. Chart making• 5. Explanation:



• Laddering

• Switching to and fro between different levels of abstraction to create ideas is often known as ‘laddering’. The sequence below is a ‘ladder’ of concepts in which the items lower down are all members or sub-sets of the ones higher up so that you move between the abstract and the concrete:


• Lateral Thinking

• Edward de Bono writes in "Serious Creativity", how he became interested in the sort of thinking that computers could not do: creative and perceptual thinking. The entry in the Concise Oxford Dictionary reads: "seeking to solve problems by unorthodox or apparently illogical methods.

• Lateral thinking is about moving sideways when working on a problem to try different perceptions, different concepts and different points of entry. The term covers a variety of methods including provocations to get us out of the usual line of thought. Lateral thinking is cutting across patterns in a self-organising system, and has very much to do with perception.


• Listing

• Listing is a derivative of the Attribute Listing idea and in actual fact is a one-dimensional version of the Heuristic Ideation Technique – HIT (qv) method. Although used mainly for new product development in theory it can be used for any situation, which has elements that can be listed, and for which combination of elements are likely to suggest solutions.


http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/hit.php


• Listing Pros and Cons

• If an established set of criteria already exists evaluation of the options becomes equivalent to Comparison Tables, with all criteria of equal weight. However, it is more likely that a situation is not that simplistic with little or no clear criteria. For example, deciding what you should do next from a set unrelated possibilities (Shall I go home, finish this job, or go to the cinema).


• Metaplan Information Market

• The Metaplan method, developed by a German consultancy firm uses a number of ‘communication tools’. Groups are set up to focus on a problem and its possible solutions. Opinions are developed, a common understanding is essential and a formulation of objectives, recommendations and actions plans is the goal.

• Specially trained ‘facilitators’ administer the groups, ensuring good communication; cooperation and high levels of understanding are achieved. His objective is to provide the group with the right sort of communication tools at the right moment so that the group is able to get to the bottom of the crucial matter with greater success and efficiency.


• Mind Mapping

• Mind mapping also called ‘spider diagrams’ represents ideas, notes, information, etc. in far-reaching tree-diagrams.

• To draw a mind-map:• Layout a large sheet of paper in landscape and

write a concise heading for the overall theme in the centre of the page.

• For each major sub-topic or cluster of material, start a new major branch from the central theme, and label it.

• Each sub-sub-topic or sub-cluster forms a subordinate branch to the appropriate main branch

• Carry on in this way for ever finer sub-branches.


• Morphological Analysis

• Morphological Analysis is an extension of Attribute Listing. Imagine you have a product that could be made of 3 types of material, in 6 possible shapes, and with 4 kinds of mechanism, theoretically there are 72 (3x6x4) potential combinations of material, shape and mechanism. Some of which may already exists, others will be unusable, and those left over are prospective new products. This theory could be extended to any problem that has this type of structure.



• Morphological Forced Connections

• The general use of a matrix in Creativity and Innovation is often known as a"Morphological" method. One method of attribute listing is contained in The Universal Traveler which authors Koberg and Bagnall call "Morphological Forced Connections". They give the following rules for their "foolproof invention-finding scheme" along with an example showing how their scheme works. Here it is:

• 1. List the attributes of the situation. • 2. Below each attribute, place as many alternates as you

can think of • 3. When completed, make many random runs through

the alternates, picking up a different one from each column and assembling the combinations into entirely new forms of your original subject.

• After all, inventions are often new ways of combining old bits and pieces.


• MultipleRedefiniton

• Open-ended problems by definition are not well defined ‘the boundaries are fuzzy’ and different stakeholders may have varying boundary perceptions. The solver is unlikely to have a suitable description at the outset of the exact problem in hand and finds redefinition of the problem throughout the project.

• A variety of redefinition techniques exist (see Boundary relaxation). This method suggested by Tudor Rickards (1974), is designed to assist the solver increase imaginative and original redefinitions through a series of questions that take you through unexpected mental modes

• Empathic • Analytic • Motivational • Magical • Metaphorical • Off-beat


• Negative Brainstorming

• Negative (or Reverse) brainstorming requires a significant level of effort analysing a final short-list (rather the initial mass) of existing ideas. (see Bullet-proofing and Potential Problem Analysis). Examining potential failures is relevant when an idea is very new, complex to implement or there is little margin for error. Negative brainstorming consists of a conventional brainstorming session (or any other suitable idea-generation method) that is applied to questions such as: ‘What could go wrong with this project?’

• Often referred to as the ‘tear-down’ method, because of its negativity can be advantageous and seen in a positive light when training implementers to deal with hostile criticism. However, even this example needs to be followed up with a constructive debrief to ensure the implementer feels encouraged and secure.

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/bulet-proof.php

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/ppa.php


• Nominal Group Technique (NGT)

• This method is so called as it alternates between ‘nominal’ and ‘interacting’ modes. The ‘nominal’ mode allows individual perspectives on the problem to be shared.Refreshment breaks occur at appropriate times, i.e. when discussion between participants is relevant and helpful. Participants are encouraged to share opinions, exchange facts and challenge views, in contrast with the non-interactive ‘nominal group’ mode.


• Nominal Interacting Technique

• This method is so called as it alternates between ‘nominal’ and ‘interacting’ modes. The ‘nominal’ mode allows individual perspectives on the problem to be shared.Refreshment breaks occur at appropriate times, i.e. when discussion between participants is relevant and helpful. Participants are encouraged to share opinions, exchange facts and challenge views, in contrast with the non-interactive ‘nominal group’ mode.


• Notebook

• An ‘ideas diary’ kept in a convenient, small and portable notebook gives you the benefits of brainstorming whilst on the move.

• Keep an ideas notebook, which is small enough to be portable wherever you go. Routinely note down any ideas that transpire at unusual times, regardless of their relevance.

• Using idea notebooks at stimulating events, i.e. training workshops, conferences, etc. can ‘trigger’ ideas for a problem that you are trying to resolve. Keep the problem ‘alive’ at the back of your mind throughout the event, you may even have an opportunity to ‘bounce’ your ideas off others attending.

• Display output for a few days – A ‘Poster Notebook’, in the form of drawings, lists of ideas, or construction when displayed could benefit from other viewing it. Left on display for several days (e.g. stuck on a notice board) allows others to come up with alternative ideas, which are then open to discussion


• Observer and Merged Viewpoints

• A problem can be viewed from two distinctive viewpoints, an observers and a merged:

• The observers viewpoint, is when a problem is approached with imagination and observation (the object being something you see or hear) with thoughts such as:

• ‘Stand back’ • ‘See something objectively’ • ‘Remain detached’ • ‘An arms length view’ • ‘Put things in perspective’ • ‘Remain separate’ • The merged viewpoint is when you are the object (or person or whatever).

Having become the object/person, you see, hear and feel as the subject would, often called ‘projective identification’. It can be interpreted as pure fantasy (i.e. imagining what it would be like to be a wheel). However if used in an adept manner, can be extremely empathetic, bringing to mind phrases such as:

• ‘Getting inside their skin’ • ‘Seeing the situation through their eyes’ • ‘Standing in the other person’s shoes’


• Osborn’s Checklist

• A basic rule of brainstorming is build onto ideas already suggested. Osborn, the originator of classical brainstorming, first communicated this. A checklist was formulated as a means of transforming an existing idea into a new one. The checklist is designed to have a flexible, trial and error type of approach. A derivation of Osborn’s checklist is SCAMPER.

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/scamper.php


• Other people’s Definition

• If anything concrete is to happen, the real ‘last word’ is that of the organisation and personnel whose approval and compliance are essential. Therefore it is vital to understand their viewpoints.

• DeBono and others, suggest this exercise that is particularly suited to people problems where three or four parties have different views about a situation, and works well with a group of 16 or so. It proposes a means of achieving multiple perspectives on the issue under consideration.


• Other people’s Viewpoints

• If anything concrete is to happen, the real ‘last word’ is that of the organisation and personnel whose approval and compliance are essential. Therefore it is vital to understand their viewpoints.

• DeBono and others, suggest this exercise that is particularly suited to people problems where three or four parties have different views about a situation, and works well with a group of 16 or so. It proposes a means of achieving multiple perspectives on the issue under consideration.


• Paired Comparison

• Paired comparison is a practical technique for comparing up to; say 10-15 items (ideas, options or criteria etc.) – i.e. too many to rank easily just by inspection, but not so many that the table size becomes unmanageable. However, if a larger comparison is necessary then you can use the same principle with computer aided methods such Interpretive Structural Modelling (qv)

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/ism.php


• Panel Consensus

• The panel consensus technique was designed for use in large organisations (e.g. a military service) with a capability for generating a large number of ideas (perhaps 4-500 or more) that would then need to be narrowed down (Taylor, 1972).

• There is no time is built in for research, it is assumed that due to large number of people involved that the necessary knowledge is available, therefore sensible decisions can be made based on discussion and voting. Originally (1972), when it was described, it required a lot of clerical and administrative support, and must have been a very cumbersome process, implying a many-layered hierarchy; indeed the method read like an awesome explanation for delayering! However, if repeated nowadays, much of it might be computer and network based within a much flatter structure, making it much simpler operationally.

• The underlying picture is that of progressive filtering through a series of selective funnels (c.f. the idea of a series of hurdles that underlies Progressive Hurdles).

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/prog-hurd.php


• Paraphrasing Key Words

• This technique requires you to alter the meanings of key words in the problem statement (or any sentence that contains key words) to reveal assumptions and generate alternative perceptions. See also Boundary Examination, and the software packages: Batmemes, and Paramind.

• Replacing Key words with Synonyms• This method devised by De Bono (1970) requires

you to identify key words in the sentence, substitute them one at a time with other words that have the equivalent general meaning, and create different emphases and a different rhetoric.

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/boundexam.php


• Phase of Integrated Problem Solving (PIPS)

• The phases of integrated problem-solving (PIPS) technique (Morris and Sashkin, 1978), is a variation of the classic Creative problem Solving (CPS) method (qv). However, in addition to defining the range of analytic steps required, PIPS also defines the inter-personal actions needed for each step,

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/cps.php


• Pictures as Idea Tiggers

• There are various descriptions by several authors where pictures are used as idea triggers, Brainstorming , Brainwriting and Excursion . Warfield, et al (1975) put together a description ‘BBB’ – Battelle-Bildmappen-Brainwriting – developed at the Batelle Institute in Frankfurt, and input from Schaude (1979) describing visual Synectics. Sometimes the group creates the pictures first (see Gretings Cards and Component Detailing), however it is more regular to use the pictures as part of a wider battery of idea triggers, rather than on there own.

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/brainstorm.php

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/brainwrite.php

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/excursions.php

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/synectics.php

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/greetingcards.php

http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/component-detail.php


• Pin Cards

• The pin card technique (Geschka, et al., 1981) has associations with other brainwriting methods (see Brainwriting 635 and Brainwriting Pool (qv)). The pin cards that can be small cards or post-its (each person having their own colour) are passed to the person on the immediate right, thus the card is passed around the table. This encourages turn-taking and individual contributions and is basically self-facilitating, but is not anonymous.


• PMI (Plus, Minus, Interaction)

• A ‘spin-off’ of the technique ‘Pros and Cons’. A list or table with the categories Plus/Minus/Interesting should be formulated e.g.

• Plus, positive reasons• Minus, negative reasons• Interesting, points of interest• PMI Score, (Plus) + (Minus) + (Interesting)• For each reason/point in each category a score

(positive/negative) is assigned. The final PMI score will be the


• Plan Do Check Act (PDCA)

• Dr Deming's pioneering work in quality management gave rise to a continuous process to achieve better quality products and services, and to improve the process that delivers them. The PCDA cycle, or "Deming Cycle" as it is often called, consists of four stages: Plan, Do, Check, Act.

• Plan: Determine the root cause of the problem then plan a change or a test aimed at improvement.

• Do: Carry out the change or the test, preferably in a pilot or on a small scale.

• Check: Check to see if the desired result was achieved, what or if anything went wrong, and what was learned.

• Act: Adopt the change if the desired result was achieved. If the result was not as desired, repeat the cycle using knowledge obtained from the previous cycle.


• Plusses, Potentials and Concerns

• Plusses, potentials and concerns are a technique that constructively evaluated an idea (Firestien, undated) and is closely related to the ‘developmental response’ (see also Receptivity To Ideas (qv) and Advantages, Limitations and Unique Qualities (qv)).

• The development of each idea is quite time consuming and therefore the technique is more appropriate for use on a short-list of ideas than for general screening of large numbers of ideas.


• Potential-Problem Analysis (PPA)

• The potential-problem analysis method (PPA) is designed to provide a challenging analysis of a developed idea or action in order to pre-empt any potential for going wrong (part of Kepner-Tregoe’s (1976 – qv),(see also Bullet Proofing and Negative Brainstorming).

• The method is closely related to some of the methods used in identifying potential faults in complex hardware systems, it has a ‘rational’ rather than ‘creative’ approach, but still provides and first-rate supply of creative triggers if approached in an imaginative spirit.


• Preliminary Questions

• Preliminary Questions is a technique that is essentially a development of Five Ws and H, a checklist that is recommended for selective use.

• Who• When • Where• Why• What


• Problem-Centered Leadership (PCL)

• The problem-centred leadership (PCL) technique identifies key requirements for someone facilitating a problem-solving group, its suitability is dependent upon the leaders sensitivity to group process - these behaviours cannot be applied mechanically. Developed by Miner (1979) from the original ideas of Maier (1963) the technique outlines a particular scheme of stages, although it could be adapted to fit other stage schemes,


• Problem Reversal

• From "What a Great Idea" by Charles Thompson.• The world is full of opposites. Of course, any attribute,

concept or idea is meaningless without its opposite.• Lao-tzu wrote Tao-te Ching which stresses the need

for the successful leader to see opposites all around:• The wise leader knows how to be creative. In order to

lead, the leader learns to follow. In order to prosper, the leader learns to live simply. In both cases, it is the interaction that is creative. All behaviour consists of opposites...Learn to see things backwards, inside out, and upside down.


• Progresive Hurdles

• The progressive hurdles technique was developed by Hamilton (1974), but is often referred to as the Batelle method after the Batelle Institute where it was created. Originally designed to look at ideas for business development opportunities, it presupposes that a fair amount of plausible ideas have been derived from an initial idea-generating process, and it is now necessary to sort out a small number of ‘best’ ideas to put into practice.

• It is essential that the chosen ideas are practical and viable, but at the same time ensure that the screening process is clearly rational and impartial, and that it reasonably economical.

• Progressive hurdles extend the existing well-established method of rapidly discarding the items that can obviously be seen to be of lesser quality (see also Listing Pros and Cons). Thus freeing up time to put all your effort into a handful of promising short-listed ideas, thereby reducing the information-handling load (see also Q-Sort and Paired Comparison).


• Progressive Revelation

• William Gordon of the Arthur D. Little consulting firm developed the progressive revelation technique (often referred to as the Gordon-Little progressive revelation technique).

• The problem is initially presented in a very theoretical, non-specific form and the more factual details are made known gradually step-by-step. This avoids premature closure and can help maintain the excitement and novelty of any type of brainstorming or brain writing session so that it doesn’t ‘tail off’.


• Provacation

• Provocation is a technique that requires lateral thinking, similar to Random Input, it involves moving your thinking out of the established patterns that you use to solve problems normally. Edward de Bono popularised Provocation by using the word 'Po'. 'Po' stands for 'Provocative operation'. He suggests that when we make a Provocative statement in public we should label it as such with 'Po' (e.g. 'Po: the earth is flat'). This does rely on all members of your audience knowing about Provocation!

• Generally we think by recognizing patterns and reacting to them, such reactions come from our past experiences and logical extensions to those experiences, all too often we do not venture outside of these patterns. While we may know the answer as part of a different type of problem, the structure of our brains makes it difficult for us to link this in.

The technique requires you to make deliberately stupid statements (Provocations), in which something we take for granted about the situation is not true. Statements need to be stupid to shock our minds out of existing ways of thinking. Once we have made a provocative statement, our judgement is then suspended and the statement is used to generate ideas.

Provocations give us original starting points for creative thinking.


• Q-sort

• The Q-sorting technique (Stephenson, 1953) helps facilitate the awesome task of ranking or prioritising valuable, complex and partially overlapping items, it reduces information processing demands making it faster and more reliable (ideal for 60-90 items). Less than 40 items, would be best served by alternative methods; beyond 100 items, makes the task tedious and items could possibly pass through unobserved


• Quality Circles

• Quality circles are regular short meetings set up to aid work-related problems.

• 5 – 10 people attend the meeting in work time • Supervisor is nominated and runs the meeting • Flip Charts, audiovisual equipment, notice boards etc… are

utilised • Problem areas are put forward by the group • Problems are prioritised • Information is collated, ideas are generated via

brainstorming, force-field analysis (see…..) etc… • Effectiveness, costs, savings, consequences to other

departments etc... considered • Final solution is put forward to manager and implemented

by the Quality Circle group


• Ramdom Stimuli of Various Kinds

• Several authors have recommended the use of random stimuli of various kinds (see Creative Thinking, Lateral Thinking, Problem-Solving through Creative Analysis), which suggests there is a fundamental significance for being open to possibilities from everywhere. Although the concept is often used informally, a formal approach may look like this:

• 1. Identify your criteria for ideas – e.g. ideas for solving a problem or tackling some aspect of it, an idea to be built on, a hypothesis to be investigated, etc. Spend some time on this stage for better-quality outcomes later.

• 2. Pick a stimulus at random, by looking or listening to everything around you indoors and outdoors, something that catches your attention, opening a newspaper, dictionary, catalogue, book of pictures, throwing a dice at random or any other method that appeals to you.

• 3. You should now relate this random stimulus back to your original problem; this could be done using simple Free Association (qv)

• 4. On the other hand you could go for a full Excursion (qv), by describing the stimulus (how it works, what it does, what effects it has, how it is used, size, position, etc). Followed by ‘force-fit’ pieces of this comprehensive description back to the problem to recommend relevant ideas.

• Should a random stimulus fail to work, pick another and keep trying


• Rawlinson Brainstorming

• Rawlinson Brainstorming is useful for untrained groups because there is no interaction between group members, all ideas are directed towards the facilitator/scribe

• the problem owner simply describes in a headline the problem, he then gives simple background on routes he has tried and have failed, and what would represent an ideal solution

• the resource (i.e.... all other participants) are invited to have a creative warm-up session and then offer solutions to the problem as two word descriptors

• the problem owner focuses on those ideas that give him new viewpoints


• Receptivity to Ideas

• This technique suggests that you turn around your traditional way of approaching ideas offered from other people that may initially seem ‘half baked’ ‘off the wall’ or naïve. The method recommends that you be more receptive to such ideas as they could contain the seed of a ‘prize’ idea.

• This thought process is particularly relevant when responding to non-experts, whilst it is accepted that they do not understand the area they are talking about, similarly they are not indoctrinated by conventional wisdom about ‘what cant be done’. Harriman (1988) describe two Synectics (qv) techniques to improve receptivity:


• Reframing Values

• This technique is about re-opening choices – for instance much of what we see, as ‘the way that things are’ is really just ‘the way that we choose to see them’. This method could be very useful in reframing SWOT evaluations.

• Recognize a concern or issue that you want to work on (e.g. ‘How to improve our school’)

• Brainstorm bipolar strategic concepts relevant to the concern e.g.o Stagnate/innovate o Grow/decline o Compete/collaborate• Select just one of these bipolar concepts that comes across to you as interesting or

relevant (e.g. stagnate/innovate)• Identify firm examples of each pole from your area of concern – e.g. ‘We haven’t

changed our teaching methods for some time’ (stagnate); ‘We have developed the new science hour’ (Innovate).

• Try to restate each example so that your evaluation of it is reversed but still true for instance:

o The unchanged teaching methods could be re-stated as: ‘We have a stable and well understood teaching practise’

o The new science hour could become: ‘We have created a science hour, that we don’t have the time to fit into the timetable’.

• As both evaluations are true, you can choose which to focus on at any one time. What are the implications of taking the alternative evaluations seriously?

• Return to Step 3 again, ad lib.


• Relational words

• This technique takes any existing word(s) and strives to add in relational words (e.g. ‘about, ‘except’, ‘under’, ‘though’ etc.) to modify or expand the meaning of the original word(s), or to encourage further development (devised by Crovitz, 1970). Below is a table of frequent English relational words:


• Relaxation

• Relaxation techniques are helpful in their own right as anxiety alleviators, however they can also play a significant role in different visualisation methods. Hewitt (1982) describes an array of relaxation methods, though the particular script described below is adapted from Schone (1984).

• It may be more beneficial for you to dictate the script described below onto a cassette since it is difficult to relax whilst reading the instructions, many similar relaxation tapes are available commercially.

• You should find a place where you feel secure and comfortable, preferably lying down, close your eyes, begin breathing leisurely and then repeat the following recommended script to yourself (the detailed wording is not critical – it is fine to do it roughly from memory). As you do so, focus your attention on the part of the body being referred to. For instance, when you say ‘relax the left foot’, focus your attention on your left foot and so on up the body.

• With practice you can learn to accomplish a relaxed state very quickly and so can dispense with the script, however, it is therapeutic in its own right.


• Reversals

• Reversals are a derivative of the idea-generating transformations in Osborn’s Checklist (qv), and like most of the other conversions in that list (see also Exaggeration) it offers a way of materializing background assumptions, and allowing you to take an alternative view on the problem in hand.

• There are various combinations of reversal several of which are listed in the table below (using the problem: ‘I require lots of capacity in my Reprographic Department to manage a few key peak loads, but this means that for much of the time much or it is idle’):


• 7-step Model

• This is a modified version of PDCA• Plan • 1. Describe the problem Look for the changes required, tighten the definition to

accurately describe the problem • 2. Describe the current process Create a flowchart of the current process and

use performance measures to validate it. • 3. Identify and verify the root causes Construct a cause & effect diagram,

review and identify the root cause. • 4. Develop a solution and action plan Generate potential solutions, rank these

and then generate the tasks to deliver the solution.Construct a details plan • Do• 5. Implement the solution Communicate the plan and review the plan regularly

amongst all concerned. • Check • 6. Review and Evaluate Use the performance measures identified in step 2 to

review and evaluate the results of the change • Act • Reflect and act on what you have learnt Assess the problem solving process to

obtain lessons learnt.Continue the improvement process where needed


• Scammperr

• SCAMMPERR (Michael Mikalko, Thinkpak) is a check list that helps you to think of changes you can make to an existing product to create a new one. It is an extension of his earlier SCAMPER technique. You can use these changes either as direct suggestions or as starting points for lateral thinking.

• The changes SCAMPER stands for are:• S - Substitute - components, materials, people• C - Combine - mix, combine with other assemblies or services, integrate• A - Adapt - alter, change function, use part of another element • M - Magnify -Make it enormous, longer, higher, overstated, added features• M - Modify - increase or reduce in scale, change shape, modify attributes

(e.g. colour) • P - Put to another use • E - Eliminate - remove elements, simplify, reduce to core functionality • R - Rearrange - change the order, interchange components, change the

speed or other pattern. • R - Reverse - turn inside out or upside down.


• Scamper

• The SCAMPER technique (created by Michael Mikalko), will assist you in thinking of changes you can make to an existing product to create a new one via a checklist, these can either be used directly or as starting points for lateral thinking.

• The changes SCAMPER stands for are:• S - Substitute - components, materials, people• C - Combine - mix, combine with other assemblies or

services, integrate• A - Adapt - alter, change function, use part of another

element • M - Modify - increase or reduce in scale, change shape,

modify attributes (e.g. colour) • P - Put to another use • E - Eliminate - remove elements, simplify, reduce to core

functionality • R - Reverse - turn inside out or upside down.


• Sculptures

• This technique entails physical production of a 3-dimensional theoretical ‘sculpture’ of a problem and promoting physical activity, collaborative work and the playful attribution of new meanings to physical materials (originally described by Ole Faafeng of the Norwegian Management Institute).

• Reaction to particular media varies widely from person to person, but in reality ‘paper and pen’ representations (drawing, word lists, etc.) for idea-generation are usually the most convenient (see Component Detailing, Drawing, Essay Writing, Story Writing, Brain Sketching, Visual Brainstorming). The representation of a problem by the use of any new means (i.e. music or dance) can help bring unspoken imagery and understanding to the surface and supply a wealthy means of expression for discussion and idea generation.


• Search Conference

• The search conference technique (Williams, 1979) is useful for both problem solving or planning. Aimed towards the stakeholders of a system to help develop mutual perceptions of their existing circumstances, their desired future, and how to get there by drawing on their experiences and values and assembling their knowledge of the system and its environment.


• Squential-Attributes Matrix

• The sequential-attributes matrix, originally developed by J.D.Brooks, simply applies product modification checklists to items that consist of a sequentially connected element – for instance a production process, an administrative procedure, or a problem-solving method. It is also useful for physically connected sequences of components (e.g. a drill can be thought of as an interdependent sequence: hole, handle, screw, plug, power)

• Checklists such as Osborn’s Checklist (qv), and many of the attribute based idea-generating methods, are inclined to handle lists of components and attributes as if each item could be altered independently of the others. However, this is rarely true, and in cases where the components are stages in an overall process, interdependence is particularly strong. Whilst Brooks’ method does not give a great deal of help in its handling of sequential constraints, it at least draws attention to their existence.


• Similarities and Differences

• Similarities and differences tries to free your thoughts from their usual tracks by deliberately introducing the unusual and strange. Therefore if you think that the technique sounds weird and you feel strange doing it - its working.


• Simple Rating Methods

• The two simple rating method techniques described here are used for the initial sorting of large numbers of ideas, they are very useful for quick initial screening, but both the approaches have the disadvantage that they may lead to a rather superficial and potentially unreliable sorting of ideas and may ignore other criteria.

• The v?W approach can be more realistic in that v is only used for cases where implementation is relatively obvious, the other two categories reflect intuitive appeal, rather than objective evaluation (see Anonymous voting)


• Simplex

• This technique is an industrial-strength creativity tool, which takes the DO IT method to the next level of sophistication. Rather than seeing creativity as a single straight-line process, Simplex views it as the uninterrupted cycle it should be, where completion and implementation of one cycle of creativity leads straight into the next cycle of creative improvement (see the 8 stage cycle that simplex uses below)


• Six Thinking Hats

• Early in the 1980s Dr. de Bono invented the Six Thinking Hats method. The method is a framework for thinking and can incorporate lateral thinking. Valuable judgmental thinking has its place in the system but is not allowed to dominate as in normal thinking. Dr. de Bono organized a network of authorized trainers to introduce the Six Thinking Hats. Advanced Practical Thinking (APTT), of Des Moines, Iowa USA, licenses the training in all parts of the world except Canada (and now, Europe). APTT organizes the trainers and supplies the only training materials written and authorized by Dr. de Bono.

• The six hats represent six modes of thinking and are directions to think rather than labels for thinking. That is, the hats are used proactively rather than reactively.


• Slice and Dice

• Slice and Dice is an attribute listing technique by Michael Michalko and is defined in detail in his book Thinkertoys.

• The process is• 1. State the problem• 2. Analyse the problem and list as many

attributes as you can• 3. Take each attribute at a time and try thinking

of ways to change or improve it.• Stive to make your thinking more fluent & flexible.


• Snowball technique

• Involves concentrating groups of ideas pertaining to the same problem and assigning them a theme, i.e.

• One slip of paper (or ‘post-its’) is used per idea generated or possible solution offered

• A meeting is set up of up to 5 people. The slips of paper are viewed and then grouped ‘like with like’.

• Duplicates can be created if the idea/solution is relevant to more than one group

• Patterns and relationships in the groups are observed


• Stakeholder Analysis

• Stakeholder analysis (Mason and Mitroff, 1981) looks at how groups of people might affect the outcomes of a proposal by the way they react. To identify stakeholders the following checklist may prove useful:

• Who are the sources of reaction or discontent to what is going on?

• Who have relevant positional responsibility? • Who do others regard as ‘important’ actors’? • Who participate in activities? • Who shape or influence opinions about the issues

involved? • Who fall in demographic groups affected by the problem? • Who have clear roles in the situation (e.g. customer,

friend, adviser)? • Who are in areas adjacent to the situation?


• Sticking Dots

• A popular, quick method which involves voting.• Ideas are itemised clearly on a flip chart (or similar aid). • Nameless voting tends to work best. • Give each group a different coloured set of dots, i.e. group

A have red dots. • Allow the group time to deliberate over the ideas they

wish to vote for. • Once all the groups are ready, one person from the group

sticks their dots by their preferred top 5 ideas. • Once all the dots are placed, all the groups enter into a

discussion on any patterns, and general observations. • A short-list of the top 5 is made • This is not a deeply analytic method, but a short, sharp

measure of the current thinking of the task in hand


• Stimulus Analysis

• A method whereby digressing from the original problem to stimulate alternative ideas may generate an accidental solution.

• Identify the problem and enter into a discussion • Produce a list (10 or more) of arbitrary ideas totally

unrelated to the problem. • Select one of the ideas and discuss in detail all its

characteristics. • Look at each on of these characteristics and go into finer

detail trying to generate yet more ideas. • Continue through all 10 original ideas till you have

exhausted all further ideas. • Finally analyse the final (lengthy) list of ideas in any

applicable way


• Storywriting

• Examining how you instinctively react in a given situation could be a path to understanding feelings and thoughts you find difficult to put into words. Thus, giving you insight into your own deeper motives, and acting as warning signs of personal anxieties and frailties that may affect how well you can respond.

• This are could be accessed by creating or finding a story or parable that is clearly fictional, but nevertheless has some parallels to a real situation you are facing. Ideally you would tell it yourself (or you could draw your own picture of – see Drawing – whichever you feel most comfortable with).

• There are no requirements for technical skill (stick figure drawings or amateur narration are ample), or for anyone else to see it or read it if you don’t want them to, though it is usually more productive if you can get someone else’s understanding reactions.


• Strategic Assumption Testing

• Strategic Assumption Testing examines other people’s opinions and assumptions to ensure they are consistent.

• 1. Stakeholder Identification, list those involved as stakeholders. If in groups, each group should make their own list privately and then collate.

• 2. Identify Factions, if necessary group stakeholders into factions, ‘points of view’ or ‘interests’.

• 3. Group Formation, establish one or more working groups from the ‘sub-groups’ (steps 4 – 7).

• 4. Assumption Surfacing, in each sub-group, discuss each stakeholders reasons (assumptions) and prioritise them.

• 5. Assumption Testing, members of the sub-groups debate if these assumptions were reversed and it made no difference should we ignore it.

• 6. Assumption Ranking, member of the sub-group rank their assumptions:

• Effect if the assumption occurred • Possibility of it occurring .


• Strategic Choice Approach

• A repetitive technique used for complex problems and their sub-problems, consisting of 4 basic principles

• Shaping, involves identifying the problem areas • Designing, recognising what can be done, looking

at possibilities and drawbacks. • Comparing, various ideas, evaluating the best

possible way forward • Choosing, the best ideas for solving the problems.

Compiling a plan of action, acknowledging any uncertainties


• Strategic Management Process

• This is a six-stage process, run in-house usually by a Strategic Management Group. It is supported by various consultants and accessible to external stakeholders. A useful method for public and voluntary organizations

• 1. Historical context, examination of previous trends and the emergence of a future vision for the way ahead

• 2. Situational Assessment, blame free SWOT analysis of the present situation

• 3. Strategic Issue Agenda, identify issues from points 1 and 2 above and acknowledge the relationships that exist between points 4-7

• 4. Strategic Options, define as many positive solutions to meet the SWOT analysis and future vision. Define strategies, and outline costs, feasibility, acceptability and effectiveness.

• 5. Feasibility Assessment, a selection of strategies is examined through Stakeholder Analysis and Resource Analysis.

• Implementation, to evaluate the stakeholders’ predictions, a serious of evaluation programmes are devised.


• Strategic Options Development nd Analysis (SODA)

• The SODA (Strategic Options Development and Analysis) was developed in the late 80's. In summary it is a methodology for helping someone understand the various viewpoints of a problem area. Whilst the detail of any projects is tailored to the specific problem, the general steps are;

• 1. Planning meetings:. • 2. Client interviews:• 3. Development of causal maps: • 4. Check-back interviews:• 5. Merging the maps: • 6. Presentation: 7. Interpret the map • o High level goals – • o Medium level strategies -• o Low level tactics and operational targets - Action

selection, allocation and implementation:


• Successive Element Integration

• Successive element integration generates solutions by gradually developing all ideas into lists of ideas – a form of constructive evaluation, allowing every idea a value (see also Receptivity to Ideas)

• A group of approximately 6 individually jot down their own list of ideas for solving a specific problem

• Two members of each group read out one of their ideas, the remaining members try to integrate the two offered ideas into a third idea (this is added to the overall list)

• A third member of the group offers an idea, which is integrated by the other members of the group with the previous ideas to create a fourth idea. This stage is repeated until all ideas are exhausted and detailed on the overall list.

• Overall, this is a good method for generating ideas • In the latter stages of idea generating, the ‘best of ideas’ can be

integrated with each other to create a list of exceptional ideas


• Super Group

• This method is primarily used for ‘new-product’ development. The ‘new-product’ status often justifies an increased level of expenditure. Clusters of consumers from a specific market area meet to determine the needs and inclination of their market area. The cluster should meet the following 3 criteria

• Representativeness, as a focal group, the individuals should be representative of their particular market area i.e. ‘general domestic consumers’, or client-organisation personnel’ etc.

• Demonstrable Creativity, all individuals selected should be demonstrably creative – i.e. score well on creativity tests (or similar) or be reputed for imaginative thinking.

• Training in a Suitable Method, each individual should have some background in creative problem solving

• This ‘super-group’ then generates ideas based on the CPS method. It is the chosen individuals in the group, their background training and skills that characterise this distinctive approach and not the actual procedure used


• Super Heroes

• Super heroes is really a fantasy-based version of Rolestorming is similar to other boundary-stretching techniques such as exaggeration and reversal and is a form of excursion. Participants pretend to be a fictional (or real) super-hero (Superman, the Incredible Hulk, Batman, James Bond, Wonder Woman, Sherlock Holmes, Spiderman, etc.) and use their ‘super’ characteristics to trigger ideas.

• This technique is good for creating an atmosphere of light-hearted fun in which energy is high and fantasy and metaphor are acceptable. All ‘super-heroes’ have skills and capacities that are outside ‘normal’ behaviour, this means that (a) people tend to think outside of the norm and (b) having a role allows people to express more unusual ideas that they might not normally express.


• SWOT Analysis

• A successful technique for identifying your Strengths and Weaknesses and study any Opportunities and Threats you face.

• The SWOT analysis requires you to write down answers to the following questions:

• Strengths, .• Weaknesses, • Opportunities, • Threats,


• Synectics

• Synectics is based on a simple concept for problem solving and creative thinking - you need to generate ideas, and you need to evaluate ideas.Whilst this may be stating the obvious the methods used to perform these two tasks are extremely powerful.

An overview of synectics is provided here, but if you really want to find out about these methods I suggest you arrange for one of our Creativity and Innovation Workshops.


• Systematized Direct Induction (SDI)

• Systematized direct induction is a useful method for tackling ‘people issues’. Workshops involving from 4 up to 100 individuals are organised using members of same or different departments (see also Metaplan Information Market).

• This method addresses issues that members of staff may have with ‘change’. Involving staff at the planning stage, allowing them to put forward their ideas and preferred conditions etc… makes the implementation of ‘change’ somewhat smoother.


• Technology Monitoring

• Technology monitoring requires methodical monitoring of technological progress in areas that pertain to you. The concept (Bright, 1970) involves keeping a ‘monitoring log’ to record:

• Date • Event and Technical Economic Date • Possible Significance • Things to Consider • The ‘eureka moment’ is often subject to the convergence

of advances in several technologies over several years, hence the need for continuous monitoring. The quality of any results are only as good as the time and effort disposed


• Think Tank

• ‘Think-Tanks’ are essentially a body of experts and academics collaborating to a common goal. A variety of alternative ideas, guidelines and supplementary information is suggested by the think-tank to aid accomplishing a possible solution to a problem


• Transactional Planning

• ‘Transactional planning is a structural means of solving a clients’ (‘sponsors’) preblem through a consultant (‘planner’). A sequence of stages between ‘sponsor’ and ‘planner’ is followed:

• Formulation sponsor formulates requirements and planner interprets the problems

• Conceptualisation sponsor suggests ideas and the planner endeavours to construct a model

• Detailing planner employs model and formulates initial plan. Sponsor analyses the plan.

• Evaluation planner and sponsor discuss costs and benefits, reaching agreement on both perspectives


• Trigger Sessions

• Trigger Sessions are a good way of getting lots of ideas down from untrained resources.

• The Problem owner defines the problem • Each member of group writes down his ideas in shorthand (2

minutes only) • One member reads out his list - others silently cross out ideas

read out and write down “Hitch-hiked ”ideas • The second member reads out his list of ideas not already

covered, followed in turn by other members • The last member reads out his original list and his “Hitch-hiked”

list and procedure is repeated counter current (ie, if there are 6 folk, the order goes 1,2,3,4,5,6,5,4,3,2,1,2,3,4,5,6...)

• A good group will be able to manage severn passes. Everones paper is then collected and can be typed up into a single list of ideas - all duplicates should have been crossed out during the session


• Trigger Method

• The trigger method is analysis based on repetition. One idea triggers another and another and so on until as many thoughts as possible are generated.

• Problem is defined, debated and ideas noted • A selection of these ideas are collected then 5 – 10

are randomly chosen • The 5 – 10 are displayed and used as ‘triggers’ to

generate more ideas. • Debating and discussing boosts teambuilding

Creativity techniques• TRIZ

• TRIZ is the creation of a Russian called Genrich Altshuller. It is an attempt to improve on a random approach to innovation and invention by structuring the creativity in paths which have been shown to yield results. Often it can be shown that the solution to a problem was obvious, if the techniques of other domains was known - in many cases the same basic approach is used time and time again. It is also possible to classify problems and solutions into groups, and to simply examine a predefined list of possible solutions to that particular type of problem.

• The TRIZ approach encompasses a number of different tools and techniques for specific domains, including:

• Innovation Situation Questionnaire • Problem Formulation • Contradiction • The Ideal Design • System Modeling • Substance-Field Analysis • Patterns of Evolution


• Using “Crazy” Ideas

• When ideas cease to flow, the use of ‘crazy’ ideas can inspire far sighted, original possibly ingenious concepts, possible methods:

• Free Association • Bunches of Bananas


• Using Experts

• More advantageous in the final stages of a project, when concise information on costs, likely market, technical feasibility and rival technical developments is required. Using experts employs two alternative methods (below).

• Expert to expert sessions involve collaboration of experts with questions meeting experts with answers. Meetings are video recorded.

• Expert Surveys, (related to Delphi) involves questions in the format of a survey distributed to approximately 20 precisely selected experts


• Value Branstorming

• Perceives single or group values observing their effect, if any, on what is actually done.

• Public values brainstorm short-list ‘what are my/our primary concerns’

• Hidden values brainstorm short-list ‘what hidden values lie behind this primary concern’ or ‘what does this matter’

• Rank and Clarify Rank short-list hidden values and define what each means

• Consider Implications now contemplate what can be done to action the ranked results


• Value Engineering

• Value engineering endeavours to maximize the usefulness of a product via the most cost effective means:

• Identify its Basic Function e.g. a glass to hold a fluid, if it cannot hold a fluid is it unusable

• Identify its Secondary Function e.g. strength or colour of glass are not essential to hold the fluid, i.e. the fluid could be in a bag

• Identify its Supporting Functions i.e. colour, design on glass, non essential, but make the product look more desirable

• Cost-Effectiveness calculate how much it costs to implement each function.

• Ideas to Improve each Function Systematically go through each function and try to generate more effective and cheaper ways to achieve them.

• This ‘bit by bit’ methodology helps to break down the ‘bigger picture’ (overall problem) enabling a better understanding. The technique can be used in situations where an expensive commodity exists but is thought to possibly be of little value


• Visual Brainstorming

• When traditional thinking has become stale or dried up, visual brainstorming using graphic ideation may be a useful alternative

• Idea Generation Phase, set a high target: e.g. to generate 20-30 basic idea-sketches on a specific problem in 1hr. If in groups you could begin with private sketches which you then pool, perhaps a round robin. Quick, impulsive ideas put into sketch can help to avoid undeveloped ‘lost’ thoughts/ideas. Rapid response to an idea with an immediate sketch creates momentum, preventing any critical thought processes to intervene.

• Evaluation Phase, With a collection of sketched ideas, they can now be evaluated.


• Visualising a Goal

• Once you have acknowledged a goal, others energetically and enthusiastically endorse commitment to the goal.

• Set your goal by settling on the aim, target, reason etc. This can be related to job, relationships, home, happier state of mind etc.

• Generate a concise idea or picture, of the situation exactly as you would like it, thinking of it in the present tense as already in existence. Incorporate as much detail as your imagination allows.

• Concentrate on it regularly, making it part of your daily routine and a natural thought rather than one that uses up unreasonable levels of effort.

• Make it a positive, and encouraging thought. Think strong positive definitions of achieving the goal. Dispelling any doubts.

• Pursue the goal, until it is achieved or you no longer wish to continue its pursuit, or indeed the goal alters in your mind.

• Once goal has been attained, make clear admission, pat yourself on the back and move onto the next goal


• Who are you

• Who Are You?• This method explores problems at a ‘deeper’ almost

subconscious level. Problems that frequently give a vague sense of disquiet, a sense of things not going in quite the direction you had planned however, you have no clear thoughts of what the ‘right’ direction might be. The techniques below help to explore these deeper levels angled more towards the personal perspective (‘what do you or your team want to do or be?’) rather than the external perspective (‘what business area might offer the most prospects for success?’)


• “Why” etc – Repetable Questions

• Repeating questions over and over generates as much or as little information as the quantity and type of questions demand. Differentiation between the 2 types of repeatable question gives serial questions, used indefinitely and emptying questions used until the subject concerned is drained.


• Wishing

• The Wishing concept literally means imagining a target with thoughts along the lines… ‘I wish I could’… Such thought processes can be used in day to day situation, i.e.

• ‘I wish I could convince my manager my deadlines are unrealistic !’could be rethought as:‘I wish I could re prioritise my work to reduce the pressure on myself’

• Active wishing may start with a unusual/frivolous wish which is worth exploring to uncover its deeper routed message.


• Working with dreams and Images

• This technique was originally developed by Glouberman (1989) and takes for granted that you have memorized a significant dream you have had and now wish to enhance it to allow it the opportunity to be of some function (see also Keeping a Dream Diary). Possible suggestions of you how you may go about this are:

• Locate the dream • Discover the dream• Developing the images • Combine the viewpoints • Adaptating and progressing the dream more

successfully

Engineers and design

Engineers and Designers

Creative Design “Methods”

SYNECTICS

DirectPersonalSymbolicFantasy analogies

SEMIOTICS

IconicIndexicalSymbolic

•Recognition:First realization or acknowledgement that a problem exists

•Preparation:Application of deliberate effort to understand the problem

•Incubation:A period of leaving it to mull over in the mind, allowing one’s subconscious to go to work

•Illumination:The perception or formulation of the key idea (often quite sudden)

•Verification:Hard work of developing and testing

the idea

Creative Processestablished by Psychologists

C u r i o s i t yC o n c e n t r a t i o nC o u r a g eC o m p e t i t i o nC o – o p e r a t i o n C o m e d y

C R E A T I V I T Y

C u r i o s i t y

C o n c e n t r a t i o n

C o u r a g e

C o m p e t i t i o n

C o – o p e r a t i o n

C h a l l e n g e

C o m e d y

The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.

M I C H E L A N G E L O

a. can özcanyd509 creativity and utilitarian systems design

october , 2015

c r e a t i v i t y problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them

Documents