Creative Thinking Techniques

IRM bringing up uncontaminating Paper notional Thinking Techniques Creative Thinking Techniques Derrick Brown, Director Jan Kusiak, frequent Manager IRM Training Pty Ltd ABN 56 007 219 589 Suite 209, 620 St Kilda Rd, Melbourne, Vic. 3004, Australia 03 9533 2300 emailprotected com. au jan. emailprotected com. au Introduction This extract from IRMs facts of life material looks at how systematic, creative intellection techniques sess be used to normal practical tooth roots to line of merchandise lines. sure-fire designs beginnert just happen.Whilst we shag sometimes get flashes of brilliance, prospered designs atomic number 18 more(prenominal) likely to occur as part of a systematic cultivate. commodious things are not d angiotensin-converting enzyme by impulse, but by a series of small(a) things brought in concert. Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) The front almost step in developing a beginning is to identify and define the riddle see the IRM wallpaper Problem An alysis Techniques. Using the chore definition as a starting point we can apply a number of creative mentation techniques to identify latent tooth roots, hence further collapse and refine these to give us an optimum event for the problem at hand.This paper discusses some of the successful creative thinking techniques used by business psychoanalysts and describes a generic sham which can be used to guide the process. ________________________________________________________________________ Table of Contents 1. 0 2. 0 2. 1 2. 2 3. 0 3. 1 3. 2 4. 0 4. 1 4. 2 4. 3 4. 4 5. 0 6. 0 7. 0 Successful design strategies. 2 Design methods .. Vertical thinking . 3 Creative thinking .. 4 The mind-set . 4 Left and flop brain functions .. Blocks to creativity .. 6 Creative thinking techniques . 7 spiritstorm . 7 A bridge circuit process bunk analogy The six thinking lids .. 8 business organisation process re-engineering 20 questions 9 Validation . 10 Creative thinking generic pro cess model . 1 equilibrise . 12 2005-2007 IRM Training Pty Ltd www. irm. com. au 1 IRM Training White Paper Creative Thinking Techniques 1. 0 Successful design strategies The design strategies t lid we choose are crucial to a protrudes success a strategy that initially looks approximate but that proves to be difficult to lend oneself is not a good strategy. M any projects fail because the strategy proves to be too ambitious and knee pants the agreed constraints.Consider the 80/20 rule often we can take in 80% of the problem with entirely 20% of the resources, the other 80% of the resources being indispensablenessed to cater for what whitethorn be considered inconsequential factors. This initial consideration may influence all subsequent thinking. Characteristics of successful designs meet the agreed objective(s) do work the be problem(s) are technically feasible are developed (and operate) within constraints are un loyalened of implementation can absorb medium term business crop are acceptable to the user community Great system. Well through with(p) Thanks 2. 0Design methods Design is an iterative process and first designs are often impel away. An come forthline design is required first, then the detail should emerge progressively. Any system design method mustiness force partitioning of the problem progress from the most abstract to the more detailed under lead on logical design first and physical design break produce a stipulation that can be understood by its readers Theres nothing wrong in write ideas that are in general circulation from other businesses. Quite often an idea can be transferred crossways indus provide boundaries with great results.People figure out the difference. The best design teams usually gull mixed backgrounds they bring distinct experiences and assorted approaches to the problem. A team of people with IT backgrounds are likely to tackle a problem in the same way, whilst say a customer service representative may comport an entirely disparate outlook and this is what we need. get intot rush through problem epitome good problem abbreviation will give you a clear understanding and definition of the problem. This definition is critical when communicating potential solutions to stakeholders. 2005-2007 IRM Training Pty Ltd www. rm. com. au 2 IRM Training White Paper Creative Thinking Techniques Danger IT faculty (and others) frequently get swamped far to quickly in the detail of technical design. Much time is then wasted when the outline changes, rendering the details irrelevant. It is an most-valuable principle to focalize on the major issues first. get around the detail until later get the outline design (the concepts) approved first. A good example of this is frame with screen and report designs. Many analysts, designers and users can be quickly sucked into endless parole on the best-looking, most appropriate design.Much of this discussion will focus on the physical aspects which are irrelevant to the major issue. This is all detail and is best unexpended to the technical design phase. If system output is the focus of the design discussion then agreement should be sought only on the output data itself, not on the method or format of output. 2. 1 Vertical thinking This tends to be easier for numerous of us it is more detailed and physical. It is where many of us feel most comfortable. Vertical thinking is logical results in rum or few solutions is convergent is more natural for ost of us Many of our clients will as well as be happiest at this level discussing the screen or report details, for example. However, be aware that we should not get into these details until we have decided in principle what design strategy to adopt. Otherwise some(prenominal) time and sweat will be wasted in detailed discussions only to recollect out later that no(prenominal) of it is relevant. JAD (Joint Application Development) groups often ge t focussed on these details and can soak up much time in doing so. P R O B L E M S SOLUTION Vertical thinking applicable to detailed, technical design 2005-2007 IRM Training Pty Ltd www. irm. com. au 3 IRM Training White Paper Creative Thinking Techniques 2. 2 Creative thinking Most of us are not natural creative thinkers. Telling oneself and the team to be creative does not usually egress results. Some special techniques are required to help us use our questions in a different way to change our usual thinking process. The issue with creative thinking is that almost by definition any idea that has not already been examined is going to sound maladjusted. But a good solution will probably sound crazy at first.Unfortunately, thats why we often wont put it forward. Creative thinking is imaginative generates many possible solutions is divergent is lateral S O L U T I O N S Applicable to major come with problems business systems design boilers suit flow of training 3. 0 The humour In order to find ways of being consciously creative, we must first understand how the brain works. Experimentation on the brain has proved to be very difficult and it is only in the last few years, with advanced examine technology, that science has discovered much of what we now know.Put simply, the brain consists of two hemispheres joined by a bridge of nervous tissue called the Corpus Callosum. In unusual cases, some people have been born with a split corpus callosum where the two halves of the brain are not connected. Split brain patients are first-class bows for studying how functions are localised and in which part of the brain they are performed. This has shown that anatomical features in one half of the body are controlled by the opposite half of the brain the brain is crossed. 2005-2007 IRM Training Pty Ltd www. irm. com. au 4 IRM Training White PaperCreative Thinking Techniques In one experiment, a split brain prevail over is shown the words Hat Band. Eac h eye sees the whole visual domain of a function. The adjust visual field is processed by the left side of the brain, and the left visual field is processed by the serious side of the brain. When the subject is asked what has been read, they reply solidification. When asked what sort of band, the subject must guess Rubber band? Jazz band? The subject has no idea what kind of band. The conclusion is that the left side of the brain is the word processing side and of course, it is this side which reads the word Band.The right side has received the movie of the word Hat, but, because of the cut corpus callosum, this is not transmitted to the left brain. Since the subject cannot say that they have received the impression of the word Hat, we can deduce that the right brain is not capable of word processing. This and similar experiments allow a model of the brain to be drawn showing the hole of functions between the two halves. This model is true for right-handed people. There is le ss specialisation of the two halves when the subject is lefthanded. 3. Left and right brain functions It is found that in right-handed people, the left brain deals with the senses and endeavour of the right of the body, together with speech, discipline, mathematics and analytical (logical) thinking. The right brain deals with the senses and movement of the left side of the body together with creativity, the interpretation of shape and the relationship of objects in space. This is, of course, an oversimplification. For example, when a person is brain damaged and loses say movement of one side of the body, the other side of the brain can often be trained to take over the missing brain functions.We can see that the left brain is the text processor and the right brain is the picture processor. Further research tells us that the logical left brain analyses new ideas generated by the creative right brain and turns these ideas into words. Unfortunately, the left brain is found to be dom inant and tends to filter out many ideas because they appear to be crazy. The reason behind this dominance of the left brain is probably root in our evolutionary past. Primitive man had few left brain functions and relied on right brain functions for survival.An intruders intentions were judged as hostile or friendly by stance and facial expression. When the left brain functions evolved, the left brain suppressed the suspicious mistrusting right. Modern man needs to find a way of suppressing left brain activity to allow the right to express itself via the generation of ideas even, and most importantly, the crazy ones. 2005-2007 IRM Training Pty Ltd www. irm. com. au 5 IRM Training White Paper Creative Thinking Techniques 3. 2 Blocks to creativityWe may fear making mistakes looking foolish being criticised being alone being outcast trouble tradition being associated with taboos We may also suffer from left brain dominance incompatible objectives distaste For these reas ons we find that subconsciously we are hindered from coming up with new ideas. If asked at a meeting for ideas to solve a particular problem, most of us are unlikely to do so. We are simply cowardly of looking foolish. And our logical left brains prevent the examination of the ideas, seemingly rejecting them before we consciously recognise themWe must take special steps to try to prevent this from happening. One way to inhibit the left brain from its dominance is to give it something to do. A right body physical movement will do nicely like playing with a piece of blu-tack, or doodling. Perhaps youve found yourself doodling while listening it may be something that youve found helps you to focus on ideas. Test this for yourself read a passage from a sustain aloud, with an observer. Now repeat the exercise, but this time do something with your right hand, say, toss a coin repeatedly. Your reading will sufferYour left brain has to multi-task and the word-flow is more disjointed. 2005-2007 IRM Training Pty Ltd www. irm. com. au 6 IRM Training White Paper Creative Thinking Techniques 4. 0 Creative thinking techniques Many techniques exists to stimulate creative thinking and whilst the following list is not exhaustive, the examples below can work well when solving business problems. No special tools are needed. 4. 1 Brainstorming The process Organise the team, materials and scribe Appoint a chairperson State the problems we are trying to solve Restate the problem a number of times How to lose weight time to How to speed up Inhibit the left brain Have a warm up session e. g. Other uses for A gumboot A torch A paper clip Brainstorm the restated problems and repose the ideas When the session slows down, invite the wildest idea At the end of the session, classify all ideas then evaluate do not eliminate ideas too quickly Request assistance from management on matters of policy, dont speculate To be successful, brainstorming sessions need a goo d chairperson.It is vital that no discussions are allowed on any idea during the session, the idea is just recorded. The chairpersons role is to keep the ideas coming, often fast and furious, with people striking sparks off each other. The evaluation is the hard part, but dont sop up out the crazy ones too quickly they might just be the key to a good solution. Evaluate ideas against a checklist such as the one below Idea 1 Does it meet the objectives Does it solve the problem Does it introduce new problems Will it fit in with current systems Can it accommodate growth Idea 2 Idea 3 IdeanTry not to make the checklist too comprehensive at this stage. We want to eliminate the ideas that are clearly unworkable but retain all that are cost further consideration. 2005-2007 IRM Training Pty Ltd www. irm. com. au 7 IRM Training White Paper Creative Thinking Techniques 4. 2 A bridge process flow analogy Solutions to bottleneck or flow problems.. A foul highroad bridge makes a good the me for a brainstorming session. There are many conceptual similarities between traffic and process flows.Many solutions fall into one of the following classes Speed up the flow Reduce the flow Divert the flow These generic solutions apply to many systems, whether traffic, production lines or information flows. We are mainly concerned with information flows and the bridge analogy often helps. Thinking about road traffic problems should also remind us to consider social, political, environmental and economic factors when creating our solutions. 4. 3 The six thinking hats Design options can generate much discussion during the evaluation process. This needs to be controlled if we are to make good use of our time.It is easy to take sides, to defend our own ideas and to attack what we may see as opposing ideas. This may not be constructive. An approach that helps to avoid confrontation and which channels our critical analysis is the 6 Thinking Hats approach (Dr Edward de Bono). Using this technique a group can evaluate an idea and can argue both the pros and cons whilst remaining as objective as possible. A chairperson should formally facilitate the process. An individual may wear a hat to produce a comment without any possible attached stigma wearing the black hat for a moment I dont think that this will work.The person who is always critical without being constructive has to start constructive (or lose face) when asked by the chair now let us wear the yellow hat and see what good things may result from this idea. Caution The process does need to be facilitated. the likes of any of these methods, it may not be useful and may even be counter-productive unless managed correctly. The hats 1. White hat neutral (think of white paper) Information What do we know? What information do we want? What do we need? 2. Red hat fire, warmth Feelings, emotion, intuition, hunches 3. Black hat caution Legality, judgement, morality 4.Yellow hat sunshine Positive, optimis m, benefits 5. viridity hat growth New ideas, new slants, options, opportunities 6. Blue hat sky Overview, control of the process, agenda, next step, feat plans, conclusions 2005-2007 IRM Training Pty Ltd www. irm. com. au 8 IRM Training White Paper Creative Thinking Techniques 4. 4 communication channel process re-engineering 20 questions This process works well as a design tool (and also as a problem analysis tool see the IRM paper Problem Analysis Techniques). The last question of each group (should? ) makes us consider the broader design options. The last group of questions (How? encourages us to focus on the method. Its important that the What group of questions is asked first, and the How group of questions is asked last. 1. What? What is being done? (what is being achieved) why is it inevitable? What else could be done? What else should be done? Where is it being done? Why there? Where else could it be done? Where else should it be done? When is it done? Why then? When else could it be done? When else should it be done? Who does it? Why this person/group? Who else could do it? Who else should do it? How is it done? Why this way? How else could it be done? How else should it be done? 2.Where? 3. When? 4. Who? 5. How? Use the ideas generated from the brainstorming sessions, apply the BPR 20 questions technique and re-visit the most promising. 2005-2007 IRM Training Pty Ltd www. irm. com. au 9 IRM Training White Paper Creative Thinking Techniques 5. 0 Validation Prior to commencing detailed specification, the analyst should appraise the outline design using the following checklist have the objectives been met? have the problems been solved? what new problems have been introduced? (there are always some) is the design vulnerable to change in the working environment? ill the design cater for reasonable growth? Characteristics of good ideas.. solve, or partially solve, more than one identified problem can be implemented quick ly. Your client will often be attracted to a partial solution that relieves the problem, while you continue to work on the complete solution can be implemented independently. In IT we often put forward complex solutions that depend upon the successful implementation of other systems. When a problem occurs with one system there is often a domino effect of delays mesh well with overall business strategies. These will always find favour with management. an be implemented step-by-step, incremental implementation. Implement a basic solution, then implement more sophistication. In this way you offer a faster solution delivery albeit not a complete solution at first. Management may well be willing to wait for the full solution, especially if the business concepts are new 2005-2007 IRM Training Pty Ltd www. irm. com. au 10 IRM Training White Paper Creative Thinking Techniques 6. 0 Creative thinking generic process model Problem Identification Problem Analysis Problem Definition Brain storm Bridge Six Hats BPR Solution DesignsValidation Solution Hints and tips Modelling the current system (logical & physical) can aid problem understanding Chose creative techniques applicable to the problem and your team. Not all problems lend themselves to all techniques. Be flexible and willing to try a different technique or a combination of some or all of them Be open to new information for example, facts uncovered during a brainstorming session may require you to return your understanding of the problem Essential modelling techniques help give an uncluttered view of the proposed solution Dont disregard a solution just ecause it doesnt solve the whole problem. Your final solution may be built from several ideas, each relevant to a different part of the problem 2005-2007 IRM Training Pty Ltd www. irm. com. au 11 IRM Training White Paper Creative Thinking Techniques 7. 0 Balance Time Time Budget All solutions are compromises. We may need to balance how many functions we modify against the time and money required to achieve this. We may weigh the merits of automating a process against the frequency (and hence inconvenience) of doing it manually.Before these decisions can be made, we must establish the basic facts as far as is reasonable (estimating where necessary). wheresoever a system design option exists, weigh up the facts, consult the client or your colleagues as appropriate and recommend or make a decision. Never be afraid to think immaterial the square and to seek alternative solutions, or to re-define the problem. Theres always another way of doing it. The important thing is not to stop questioning. Albert Einstein (1879 1955)