50 Great
Thinking Tools
1. Combine
Similar Ideas
2. Exclude
Anything Irrelevant
3. Modify
the Ideas
4. Defer
Anything Which is Not Timely
5. Feedback
6. Classify
into Dissimilar Columns
7. Rank
Ideas in Each Column
8.
Generalize the Columns
9. Rank the
Columns
At the end
of this process you can easily evaluate which idea is the most important (it's
in the top left hand corner), and all your remaining ideas will be prioritized
for you with the least important (but still valid) in the bottom right corner.
Analogies
and metaphors can help you to solve problems creatively by encouraging you to
look at your problem from a new angle.
Your mind
will generally associate with another word on one of three principles:
-
Contiguity. This is the principle of an object or idea near to the one mentioned.
So the word encyclopedia might lead to the word library.
-
Similarity. Here, you will associate something which is very like the previous
word. So carrot might follow the word potato.
- Contrast.
In this case, a word opposite or nearly opposite will follow. So safe might
lead to dangerous.
Write down
your starting word at the top of the page, on the left-hand side. In a column
beneath it, write down the next word that comes to mind, and the next, and so
on. Keep going until you have a list of around 10-20 words.
These words
are only going to be helpful if you put them into the context of the problem
you are trying to solve or the ideas you are trying to generate. So now use the
right hand column to note down any thoughts which each of these words gives you
in relation to this.
Here's an
assumption that many businesses make: customers want good service. But the
assumption reversal technique proposes that you turn that around: customers
don't want good service.
This is a
variation on the basic technique, and is aimed at generating a creative
atmosphere. It is a form of assumption reversal which isn't linked to a
particular situation, but simply helps you to relax and come up with creative
ideas. Just identify everyday assumptions or accepted situations and then smash
them . . . and see what happens. You can pick any assumptions you like, but
here are a few examples to try:
- Suppose
the only means of getting to work-for everyone-was by horse.
- What
would happen if all workers were equal, with no bosses?
- Imagine
if you had to keep on going to school until you were 40.
What are
the attributes of a toothbrush? It's plastic; it has bristles at one end to
clean teeth; it has a long thin handle to hold it by. Attribute listing is a
fairly simple technique which involves identifying the key elements of a
problem or product and then examining each in turn, looking for ways to improve it.
Basically,
members of the group offer ideas as they think of them-and they can be as wacky
and offbeat as they like-and the ideas are written on a flipchart or board. The
aim is to produce loads of ideas; quality is not important at this stage. The
group reconvenes later to evaluate the ideas.
Here are
the key rules to follow:
- No
criticisms or judgments should be made about any idea. This is the most
important rule of all.
- All ideas
are encouraged, no matter how bizarre.
- The group
should aim to produce as many ideas as possible.
- You can
combine ideas to create new ones, or refine or build on other people's ideas.
If you're
brainstorming on your own, write down every idea you think of, without
considering whether it is good or bad. Jot each one down on a separate slip of
paper to make them easier to evaluate later.
Once you
have run out of ideas, sort the slips into related groups, and then rank the
ideas in each group.
It starts
from a detailed set of statements about the problem, where the majority of
techniques start from a single focal question.
The
participants are not generally involved in the process after submitting their
ideas.
The end
product is a report which should incorporate all the ideas barring duplications.
The leader alone, or a task force, compiles the report.
The
starting point for CSM is the target statements, which are compiled in advance.
A target statement consists of a basic problem area, a stated overall problem,
and additional statements which help define the problem.
• A
business is only as good as the people it employs.
• What will
be the key benefits of employing the best people?
• What will
be the implications in terms of cost, training, staff turnover, team
relationships?
• What will
be the effect from our customers' point of view?
• Write
each idea on a separate slip.
• Where are
the best people likely to be?
• How can
we let them know that we want to hear from them?
• What are
likely to be the biggest problems in identifying and attracting the attention
of the best people?
• Write
each idea on a separate slip.
•
Recruitment is a two-way process.
• What
factors will determine whether people want to come and work for us?
• What
could we offer that other companies don't, which would have real appeal?
• How can
we let potential applicants know that we are worth applying to?
• What do
you consider the plus points of working for this particular company?
• What are
the minus points of working for this company?
• Write
each idea on a separate slip.
The
principle behind this is that your mind can get stuck in a rut, which inhibits
creativity. Discontinuity is an approach which forces you out of the rut by
introducing untypical behavior or ideas to jar you into a new way of thinking.
Discontinuous
behavior is just a matter of doing things differently.
Discontinuous
thinking is about provoking our minds into new thought paths by thinking in a
new way. It may be a piece of poetry or an inspirational quote.
Zen Buddhists
use Zen koans to force their minds to open up and
think creatively.
One of the
simplest drawing techniques is simply to sit down with your pen and paper and
draw your own perception of the problem.
Many people
like to draw a border of some kind around the page, which represents the
parameters of the problem or challenge so as to help you focus on it. You might
also want to experiment with:
• drawing
with your other hand;
• drawing with your eyes closed;
• drawing
with colored pencils; or
• using ink
splashes, sponged patterns and other methods of creating images.
1. After
establishing the focal question, each member of the group draws an idea for a
solution on a sheet of paper in front of them. This can be a clear illustration
of the solution but it doesn't have to be.
It can be
abstract or symbolic. Group members should not talk while they are doing this.
2. After a
set time-five minutes is about right-everyone passes their drawing on to the
person next to them.
3. On
receiving the new drawing, each group member studies it and then tries to
improve it. This might entail adding to it, making notes on it, or perhaps
drawing a fresh sketch inspired by it.
4. Repeat
this process until time is up; three passes is generally enough.
5. The
whole group now evaluates the ideas on each sheet of paper.
Another
keen doodler was Leonardo da Vinci. He used to
scribble randomly on a sheet of paper with his eyes closed. When he had
finished, he studied the page for patterns, people, events or objects in the
random lines. This, apparently, produced many of his best inventions and works
of art.
1. The
excursion itself-each member of the group goes on a personal visualized journey
and records what they see.
2. Analogies-each
person now finds analogies between the images from the excursion and the
problem at issue.
3. Evaluating the analogies-the next step is to identify the
practical use of these analogies so as to create solutions to the problem.
4. Sharing
with the group.
The group
leader reminds everyone of the problem they are there to solve. Then each
person closes their eyes and spends about ten minutes going on a private visual
journey of their own in a location given to them by the leader. If any members
of the group are unused to this, it is very important that the leader coaches
them in order to ensure that they let their imaginations run freely.
• The
excursion can be to any place the leader determines, real or imaginary. You
might choose a railway journey, a theme park, a farm, a mountain road, a World
War I trench, a journey through space, a walk through a favorite city . . .
anywhere you like.
• The
important thing is for participants to let their imaginations run. Anything
goes; they can visualize whatever comes to them.
• They
should examine everything on their excursion in detail. If they take a walk
through a wood they should notice, for example, the leaves, the type of trees,
whether it's sunny or overcast, the sound of the twigs cracking beneath their
feet, any wildlife-squirrels, birds, wild flowers, toadstools-the smell of the
place . . . in other words everything they would notice if they were really
there, looking around and taking it all in.
The
participants should record what they see on the left hand side of a sheet of
paper.
The next
step is for each participant to spend about 15 minutes looking for analogies
between the objects on their list and the problem they are there to solve.
Each group
member now has to decide how the analogy or relationship between each object
and the problem can actually be used to find a solution. These are the ideas
you are here to generate, and this is just as creative a process as the first
two steps. The ideas generated should be written down in a third column
appended to the existing two-column table.
The final
step is the one which introduces valuable group interaction. Each member of the
group shares
with the
others the ideas on their list, starting with the excursion and the analogies,
before going on to
explain
the solutions. The group as a whole can then build on these ideas to come up
with a workable solution.
You simply
compare the subject you want ideas for with something else that has nothing
obvious in common with it. Then you have to find similarities between the two.
You can generate random objects to compare your subject with in several ways:
• Open a
book at random and find a word.
• Prepare a
list of about 60 words and write each one on a card. Then choose a card at
random.
• Cut
pictures out of magazines, stick them on cards and use these instead of words.
Now list
the attributes of this randomly chosen object, and then find a similarity with
your subject for each one. So for your holiday ideas, you might find the word
tree. List the attributes of a tree first of all, and then find analogies
between these and a holiday. Use these analogies to generate ideas.
Force-field
analysis forces you to identify the plus and minus factors in the challenge-all
the forces acting on it, both positive and negative. Then you can examine how
you can swing the balance further in your favor by:
•
maximizing your strengths; and/or
• minimizing
your weaknesses; and/or
• adding
more positive factors.
1. The
first thing to do is to draw up two lists: all the positive forces in one and
all the negative forces in the other.
2. Now draw
a diagram showing these two lists in columns either side of a central divide,
and show the tug-of-war between them.
3. Use this
diagram to look for ways to reduce the divide.
A popular
adaptation involves allocating a score, from 1 (weak) to 5 (strong), to each
force. This way you can establish a numerical assessment of the balance of
forces on either side.
1. Start by
writing your central theme or issue in the center of the MY lotus blossom
diagram shown here.
2. In each
of the eight squares around the central square, write a related idea. If you
are working in a group, you can brainstorm these eight ideas.
3. Now
transfer these eight ideas to the central squares of the outer ring of boxes,
and surround each one with another eight ideas.
4. If you
wish, you can repeat the process, with any of these ideas at the center of a
lotus flower.
5. You will
inevitably find, especially if you radiate out more than twice, that your ideas
begin to dry up. Even two iterations, as you can see, will generate 64 ideas.
If you used every one of these as the center of a new lotus flower you would
give yourself scope for a further 512 ideas. So be realistic.
After the
basic two iterations, create new boxes for only the most promising ideas, and
aim simply to fill in as many squares as you can.
Instead of
writing eight ideas around the central box, you might prefer to list eight
attributes of a product or problem. So if you are looking for new ideas for
designing telephones, you might list: receiver, handset, buttons, ringer,
memory, special features, casing, sound quality. You
can then brainstorm ideas around each of these.
The basic
gist of mind mapping is to begin with a central theme, encapsulated as a key
word, which you write in the center of your page.
Now draw
lines leading from this central theme as you generate ideas, and along each one
write any other key words relating to the theme which spring to mind. Or you
might prefer to write the keyword with a box or circle round it, and link this
to the central key word with a line.
You can
write other words and ideas related to these key words beside them, or in lines
leading off them, or whatever works for you. Just keep going, linking and
relating ideas until you have run out.
Get the ideas
down first, and worry later about how useful each one is. You can write the
satellite key words first, and then work on the ideas leading off from them. Or
just write one of them
down and explore that before you move on to the next. You can jump around the
page, jotting ideas down as you think of them. You can create subsidiary groups
of words leading from other groups, which lead in turn from other groups. You
can write ideas down anywhere on the page you like; don't worry about putting
them in the 'right' place. Just make sure you get your ideas down and explore
them.
The basic
idea, and the simplest version, is to list attributes of a product or service
across the top of a grid. Below each, list all the variations you can think of
for that attribute.
Now all you
have to do is take one idea from each column-chosen at random-and use the
combination to spark off new ideas. Go through this process several times and
see how many good ideas you come up with.
You don't
have to stick to listing variations of the attributes you use. You can create a
grid, which lists attributes along one axis and change words along the other.
Change words might be verbs, adverbs or
adjectives,
such as multiply, enlarge, shrink, combine, modify and so on. In this case, you
would pick a square on the grid at random, and read off the entries on the two
axes to generate an idea.
You don't
have to list attributes on all three axes. You might list attributes on one,
change words on another and questions on a third: for example, you might use
the matrix above but add a third axis listing: who, where, what, when, why,
how.
Start by
listing the attributes of your problem or subject.
Now draw a
graphic symbol of each attribute on an index card.
Now spread
out all the cards on the desk with the symbols facing up. Move them around. Mix
and match symbols randomly. Just take two or three cards and focus on them, and
perhaps add others in turn. Don't try to force anything; just move the cards
around intuitively.
Your ideas
may well come from seeing something completely different in a symbol from what
you originally meant by it.
Assumption
reversal is an excellent method of generating ideas around a broad question, in
which you challenge the assumptions implicit in that question. By contrast,
problem reversal focuses on solving a specific problem rather than generating
broad ideas, but uses a similar approach to do so.
This
technique turns a problem on its head in order to find a new perspective from
which to view it.
The key to
finding the right answer to your problem is finding the right question. Often
you find that asking comparatively simple questions leads you to answers you might
not otherwise have found.
• What?
• Where?
• When?
• Who?
• Why?
• How?
Introducing
a completely random element into thinking about a problem or challenge
stimulates your mind to find new patterns and connections.
Take a
random word, generally a noun, and think about it. Then relate these thoughts
back to your problem, or the product or service you want to develop. It doesn't
always work, but then it takes so little time it doesn't matter if it takes a
few goes to get a result. It works surprisingly often.
If you
prefer, or you want a change, use pictures instead of words. These help
stimulate the non-verbal, creative, right-hand side of the brain. Many people
find pictures easier to relate to than words.
Close your
eyes. Take each of your senses in turn and generate sensory images about your
problem. Ask yourself:
• What does
it look like?
• How does
it feel?
• What
sound does it make?
• How does
it smell?
• What does
it taste like?
The point
is that these sensory images aren't going to be the answer to all your problems
in themselves, but they can spark off ideas by
association. So long as you stay in the general area of the problem, you can
come up with images that you can easily relate back to your problem. In the
case of interest rates, you could think about the smell of the financial pages
of the newspaper, or of your accounts office. Or the smell of
the coffee as you sit round the board table late into the night working on the
problem. Any strong images, especially ones which evoke feelings-such as
the feeling of sitting up all night worrying about a problem-are useful
stimulators.
Another
option is to put more distance between you and the problem, and use your senses
to summon up images that are unrelated to it. Then think about these images in
relation to the problem and see if they spark off any ideas. Do this by
relaxing and closing your eyes and then, taking one sense at a time, allow one
or more images to flow into your mind. Think about the first strong taste that
comes to mind, or the most striking or unusual thing
you remember seeing recently.
Another
option is to take any experience you've had, such as driving a car, being trapped
in a lift, visiting a funfair or bathing the dog. Think about all the sensory
stimulations of the experience. One way to do this is to draw a five senses
mind map of the experience. Then see how you can apply these sensory images to
your problem.
Here's
another variation. Think of ways in which you can directly apply the five
senses to your problem. This works particularly well for generating new
products or services, or improving existing ones.
White hat
thinking-This is pure facts and figures. Looking at the data
without making any judgments.
• Red hat
thinking-Use this to express feelings, intuitive responses, hunches.
• Black hat
thinking-The most negative hat. This is the logical hat of caution and devil's
advocate. Wear the black hat to examine obstacles and reasons why the thing
won't work.
• Yellow
hat thinking-The hat of positive, optimistic thinking. This is a constructive
thinking hat, which looks for benefits and reasons why the plan or project will
work.
• Green hat
thinking-This is the hat to use for the most creative thinking. It is the hat
of alternatives, of provocative ideas, of change.
• Blue hat
thinking-This is the hat for standing back and taking an overview. In this hat
you look not so much at the subject but at the thinking itself. It is by
wearing the blue hat that you can see that what is needed is some white hat
thinking, for example.
Walt Disney
originally devised this approach for planning animated films. He created a
series of illustrations depicting major scenes in the film, and then built up a
story around each one to flesh out the plan. In its business application,
storyboarding entails creating a board that sets out key concepts and then
links them together.
You begin
by defining the problem or project, and writing this on a topic card (see
example) which you pin at the top of a cork board (or something similar). Then
you create a storyboard by developing headings across the top of the board
(generally written on index cards and pinned up). Next, you brainstorm around
each header card, and pin up each of the ideas you generate under the relevant
heading as a subber card (see Table below).
Storyboards
have great benefits as a creative technique:
• Putting
the ideas up on a board helps you to see the whole picture; you can see how the
ideas interconnect and fit together, and they often help you cross-fertilize
ideas between one set of sub card and another.
•
Storyboards help you to immerse yourselves in a project or problem,
piggy-backing on ideas and seeing new possibilities or areas for attention.
• The
storyboard can remain in place on the wall throughout the project or the
problem-solving process, and can be copied down if anyone needs a portable
copy.
There are
two stages to storyboarding: creative thinking and critical thinking. The first
stage is the process for creating the storyboard.
The idea is
that you can find links between seemingly unconnected things, and by putting
them together you can find a solution.
1. The
first step is to identify the problem.
2. The
second stage is to make the familiar strange.
• analogies and
metaphors (finding an analogy for the problem);
• association (free
associating concepts and ideas and then looking for a relation with the
problem);
• excursion technique
(a visualized journey whose images are recorded and then used to find analogies
with the problem).
3. The
final stage is to relate the ideas generated back to the original problem.
All you
have to do is to reduce your problem or subject to two words,
and then list synonyms for each of these. Then put these synonyms together in
new combinations.
|
Put to other
uses? |
New ways to use as
is? Other uses if modified? |
|
Adapt? |
What else is like
this? What other idea does this suggest? Does the past offer
parallel? What could I copy? Whom could I emulate? |
|
Modify? |
New twist? Change
meaning, color, motion, sound, odor, form, shape? Other changes? |
|
Magnify? |
What to add? More
time? Greater frequency? Stronger? Higher? Longer? Thicker? Extra value? Plus
ingredient? Duplicate? Multiply? Exaggerate? |
|
Minify? |
What to subtract? Smaller?
Condensed? Miniature? Lower? Shorter? Lighter? Omit? Streamline? Split up?
Understate? |
|
Substitute? |
Who else instead?
What else instead? Other ingredient? Other material? Other process? Other
power? Other place? Other approach? Other tone of voice? |
|
Rearrange? |
Interchange
components? Other pattern? Other layout? Other sequence? Transpose cause and
effect? Change pace? Change schedule? |
|
Reverse? |
Transpose positive and
negative? How about opposites? Turn it backward? Turn it upside down? Reverse
role? Change shoes? Turn tables? Turn other cheek? |
|
Combine? |
How about a blend,
an alloy, an assortment, an ensemble? Combine units? Combine purposes? Combine
appeals? Combine ideas? |
|
multiply |
divide |
eliminate |
subdue |
|
invert |
separate |
transpose |
unify |
|
dissect |
distort |
rotate |
flatten |
|
squeeze |
complement |
submerge |
freeze |
|
harden |
open up |
bypass |
add |
|
soften |
fluff up |
melt |
heat |
|
subtract |
widen |
repeat |
thicken |
|
stretch |
extrude |
help |
protect |
|
fold |
shake |
smooth |
color |
|
segregate |
integrate |
symbolize |
abstract |
• Why is it
necessary to solve the problem?
• What
benefits will you receive by solving the problem?
• What is
the unknown?
• What is
it you don't yet understand?
• What is
the information you have?
• What
isn't the problem?
• Is the information
sufficient? Or is it insufficient? Or redundant? Or contradictory?
• Should
you draw a diagram of the problem? A figure?
• Where are
the boundaries of the problem?
• Can you
separate the various parts of the problem? Can you write them down? What are
the relationships of the parts of the problem? What are the constants of the
problem?
• Have you
seen this problem before?
• Have you
seen this problem in a slightly different form?
• Do you
know a related problem?
• Try to
think of a familiar problem having the same or a similar unknown
• Suppose
you find a problem related to yours that has already been solved. Can you use
it? Can you use its method?
• Can you
restate your problem? How many different ways can you restate it? More general? More specific? Can
the rules be changed?
• What are
the best, worst and most probable cases you can imagine?
• Can you
solve the whole problem? Part of the problem?
• What
would you like the resolution to be? Can you picture it?
• How much
of the unknown can you determine?
• Can you
derive something useful from the information you have?
• Have you
used all the information?
• Have you
taken into account all essential notions in the problem?
• Can you
separate the steps in the problem-solving process? Can you determine the
correctness of each step?
• What
creative thinking techniques can you use to generate ideas? How many different
techniques?
• Can you
see the result? How many different kinds of results can you see?
• How many
different ways have you tried to solve the problem?
• What have
others done?
• Can you
intuit the solution? Can you check the result?
• What
should be done? How should it be done?
• Where
should it be done?
• When
should it be done?
• Who
should do it?
• What do you
need to do at this time?
• Who will
be responsible for what?
• Can you
use this problem to solve some other problem?
• What is
the unique set of qualities that makes this problem what it is and none other?
• What
milestones can best mark your progress?
• How will
you know when you are successful?