Creativization

Collaborative Ideation Tools

2014-02-25T18:49:00.001-03:00

Anonymous Voting
Aimed at overcoming the main disadvantage of Brainstorming (the same applies to focus groups, btw): peer-pressure, peer-predominance, shyness and/or feelings of inferiority, inadequacy.
When plenary voting for preferred ideas, members may not express their true believes, which is avoided by asking to rank them on a balloting paper and by creating sufficient space for participants to feel free of third party scrutiny.

Bodystorming
A type of projective identification, sometimes used in collaborative ideation for product design, where the designer “embodies” – imagines to be – the final product. See also: Observer and Merged Viewpoints.

BrainSketching
VanGundy, Techniques of Structured Problem Solving (1988). Group work tool in which a group of people – seated in a circle – draw a number of sketches on how the given problem could be solved, passing them on to the person on their right when finished. The passed-on sketches are then either further developed, or used as a stimulus for new sketches. At the end of the exercise, the sketches are collected, explained if necessary, categorized and evaluated, after which the best, or most appropriate for solving the given problem are selected.

Brainstorming
Osborn, Applied Imagination (1967). Currently, the best-known and most widely used collaborative problem solving method, which has engendered a large offspring of similar group work tools. Its fundamental concept is postponing judgement during the process of ideation.

Brainwriting
Members of the work group write down their ideas on cards, in a spreadsheet, on post-it notes, etc., and then pass them on to the person next to them for further development.
In most cases participants use their own interpretation of the problem definition, but in Constrained- and Cued Brainwriting, the problem definition or some other cue may be used for better focus.

Card Story Boards
An method for idea organization which orders the idea cards or images generated in a Brainwriting or Brainsketching session – for example – in a tree-like manner, akin to Mind Mapping. Can also be useful for clustering ideas into so-called Hotspots.

Circle Time or Group Time
Refers to the time a large work-group, which has been divided in smaller task-groups, spends on plenary meetings.

Focus Group
Can be performed with expert groups, but is most frequently used in market-, product- and advertising campaign research.
A group of outsiders (target consumers) is gathered to give their opinions on a brand’s image, brand recall, advertising recall, product categories or specific products, product design, product experiences or advertising concepts, campaigns, individual campaign pieces (advertisement, commercial), etc., etc., etc..
Focus groups may be conducted on a ad-hoc basis, but many large advertising agencies and major brands use the same method to conduct on-going market- and trend research.

Force-Fit Game
A game in which 2 groups try to outsmart each other by finding realistic improvements for each others proposed ideas. This method ought to be used with care, because competition adds a – generally – unwelcome element to collaborative problem solving.

Gallery Method
Akin to brainwriting and an interesting method for working with large(r) groups. A number of white-boards or flip-charts are placed gallery-wise around the room, with a clearly defined problem statement at the top.
The group is split into smaller teams of 4-6 members and each selects a board to write down their ideas. Once the groups run out of ideas, they start to circle the room to take a look at the ideas of the other teams, adding new ideas inspired by the previous ones, or developing existing ideas further.
Because of the lack of anonymity, this method is deemed less useful when solving people-issues, while moderators must also avoid an overly competitive environment, for example by assigning the representatives from each department to a different team.

Greetings Cards
Pickens (1981). Used for environment development and problem solving. The work-group is split up in 4-6 member teams, and each team creates one or more messages to the others by creating a colorful collage of images cut out of magazines, catalogs etc., and writing an inspiring message or salutation.
These greeting cards can then be used in the problem solving stage by asking how these images and messages reflect on, or can be force-fit on the problem at hand.

Hexagon Modelling
A method mostly used in business-, strategy development and planning. Individual ideas or solutions are written down on hexagon shaped cards, which can then be fitted together to create so-called Issue Maps or clusters.
The hexagons can also be used to stimulate lateral thinking: where two are only touching points and not sharing sides, an effort could be made to imagine what would fit in between or could fill the open space.

Imaginary Brainstorming
A variation on classical Brainstorming.

Improved Nominal Group Technique (INGT)
Fox (1989). Used for solving only one of the following challenges at a time:
-- Identification: prioritization of problems or opportunities
-- Finding the single best solution for a given problem
-- Creating an implementation plan for a high-priority opportunity
-- Debugging, refining an existing or proposed policy manual or similar document
The method uses a series of protocols for each of its four stages: Advanced preparation (asking for participant input), Discussion Phase (discussing input), Voting Phase (selection the best inputs), Production Phase (developing ideas for high priority problems, or implementation plans for high priority opportunities).

KJ-Method
5-Step method for idea evaluation, clustering and development:
-- Card making: writing down relevant, verifiable and important ideas. One per card.
-- Grouping and naming: Cards that appear to belong together are grouped, the groups provided with an appropriate name. The idea-groups are reviewed and – if possible – clustered in larger, appropriately named higher-level groups.
-- Redistribution: The cards are collected and redistributed among the participants, akin distributing playing-cards. A card is read out and each person reviews their “hand” to find any card that fits with the one read out.
-- Chart making: The total number of idea-groups must by now have been reduced to less than 10, which may contain one or more sub-groups. The cards are arranged on a sheet of paper in such a way that a spacial pattern is formed.
-- Explanation: The participants try to express what the chart means to them, being careful to differentiate personal interpretations from facts.

Metaplan Information Market
Proprietary focus group method, which uses trained facilitators and specially developed communication tools.

Mind Mapping
Buzan (1993). A powerful tool that can be used for a wide number of purposes, individually as well as in groups. A mind-map is a colorful, tree-like graphical representation from anything as simple as a task-list to something as sophisticated as a strategic decision-making process.
The power of mind-mapping lies in that it creates a compact, color coded map of increasingly higher level concepts or the profounding of matters discussed.
The color coding guarantees natural idea- or thought clustering and allows to follow the generation process of a particular “branch” of thought all the way back to its origin in time as well allowing the observation and analysis of how it developed.
Also very useful to order and cluster large quantities of ideas.

Nominal-Interacting Technique
See: Improved Nominal Group Technique.

Problem Centred Leadership (PCL)
Matrix to allow the identification of the different key requirements for a facilitator leading a 5-stage group problem-solving process. On the horizontal axis are Stage and Suggested Leadership Behavior, on the vertical axis the 5 stages of the problem solving process:
-- Problem presentation
-- Initial discussion
-- Continued discussion
-- Solution generation & decision making
-- Evaluation of decision acceptance

Progressive Revelation
Also: Gordon-Little Technique. A group problem solving method that starts out with a very sketchy, generic or abstract problem description, revealing the problem(s) in more detail with every following cycle.
May be used to generate large quantities of ever more specific ideas, which is particularly useful when looking to solve complex problems or sets of interdependent (systematic) problems.
The moderator must be extremely careful to avoid frustration among participants, as suggested solutions in the initial stage may appear to have little or no bearing on the "real" problem.
This can be achieved by assuring the participants that no idea is useless or by forcing initial ideas on the core problem in a final ideation round.

Rawlinson Brainstorming
A practical variant of Brainstorming for the use with untrained groups, mainly because there is no direct interaction between the participants. Owner: headline the problem, background, tried/failed, ideal (final) solution (IFS). Participants: solutions in two word descriptors. Owner: focus on new points of view.

RoleStorming
Griggs (1985). Evolution of Brainstorming, that uses role-playing or projective identification to force participants to take a different approach to the problem. See also: Super-Heroes and Observer and Merged Viewpoints.

Sculptures
Ole Faafeng, Norwegian Management Institute. A group work technique which involves the creation of three-dimensional problem-models or -solutions. For obvious reasons, rather complex when using physical materials, but might be tried as a variation on Mental Visualization.

Snowball Technique
Basic method for idea evaluation and clustering. See: KJ-Method.

Successive Element Integration
A useful tool for building or growing ideas.
1 – All participants write down their ideas
2 – Two participants read one of their ideas out-loud
3 – The group integrates or force-fits these ideas, generating new ones
4 – A third participant reads one of his ideas, which is integrated with the previous one, and so forth.
This method can also be very useful when growing Crazy Ideas which – almost without exception – need to be bridged (Related back to the original problem).

Super-Group
Type of focus-group, used primarily for new product development. Although asking (potential) customers what product they want is SOP and absolutely legitimate, I tend to agree with Steve Jobs: “Consumers do not know what they want until you tell them what it is they want”. Apple, currently the single most successful mass consumer marketer, never does consumer research.

Super-Heroes
A fantasy-driven role-play model for Brainstorming, where the participants take on the alter-ego of a super-hero of their choice, Batman, Superman, Ironman, etc., and where – going one step further – the problem could be personalized as one of their antagonists, like The Joker, for example.
This method helps people to step out of their habitual thinking processes through projective identification and be taken to an imaginary excursion world, like Gotham City, Metropolis or the Batcave.
Obviously, instead of Super Heroes, other well-known characters or analogies can be used alternatively, depending on the problem at hand. See also: Observer and Merged Viewpoints; Excursions.

Talking Pictures
Consists in sending the group out with cameras and the assignment of photographing the most interesting or bizarre they encounter within a 15 minute time-span.
Photographing normal objects from strange angles is also an option. The resulting images are then printed or projected and used as idea-triggers for any creative thinking method deemed useful.
Trigger Method. Using ideas to trigger more ideas, this is basically a branching method. See also: Brainwriting; Gallery Method.

Trigger Sessions
Practical brainstorming method for use with untrained or shy subjects, because no interaction between the participants is required.
1 – The problem is posed, clarified
2 – Participants write down ideas (2-5 min.)
3 – Participants read ideas out-loud
4 – Others cross off similar ideas, build new ones
All ideas are gathered and clustered. Evaluation may or not be done group-wise.

Value Brainstorming
A brainstorming method that may be useful to address people problems, generating support for- or bullet-proving implementation plans. Public Values: my/our primary concerns. Hidden Values: What hidden values (or suppositions) are related to this or these primary concerns.

Visual Brainstorming
See: BrainSketching.

Who Are You
A method for environment development, to open a group work session where participants know each other vaguely or not at all.
By assigning a few minutes to each group member to introduce themselves, a first step is made to break the ice and move towards group integration and collaboration.
A method to explore personal or group problems or to familiarize a group of people with one another beyond a mere introduction. Consists – alternatively – in:
-- Personal Exploration (Who am I?)
-- Group Exploration (Who are we?)
Teamed Exploration (tell me who you are; this is how I understand you see yourself; this is how I see you; agree/disagree/why)

Tools & Techniques for Ideation

2013-07-31T20:28:00.002-04:00

Introduction to Ideation
Before briefly describing creative thinking tools or techniques, there are three points which need attention.

One: the old adage that two know more than one is most certainly true for creative thinking.
It is no coincidence that the advertising industry introduced the concept of so-called Creative Teams (Art Director and Copywriter) in the early 1960’s, that tools for collaborative systematic inventive thinking or group work are – after ideation – by far the largest group of related tools, nor that the most universally used and well-know model for collective ideation – Brainstorming – was created by an advertising man, BBDO co-founder Alex Osborn.

Two: Listing is extremely useful in virtually any structured, systematic thinking and/or Ideation effort. Listing synonyms, antonyms, advantages, disadvantages, alternatives, assumptions, bugs, categories, limitations, opposites, parts, relations, rules, suppositions and so forth, is practically always a good starting point for personal and collective thinking processes.
Listing is an integral part of many of the systematic creative processes or methods described here, because – as established earlier – quantity is, especially at the initial stages of the creative process, more important than quality.
Fluency – the ability to generate large amounts of ideas or alternative solutions for a problem – is also an integral part of virtually all creativity tests, for starters the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT).
In my experience Listing is the simplest, most practical and most productive precursor for creative thinking, even with totally untrained subjects or individuals with exceptionally well developed creativity inhibitors. After all: almost anybody can make a shopping list.

Three: the following creative techniques are not in any way mutually exclusive; rather the opposite. They may be used combined, stacked, mixed, sequentially or in any other way the solver(s) may feel is conductive; the only unmovable rule is that rules are there to be reinvented.
Advertising creatives are mostly incapable of explaining which method (if any) they used to reach a given solution, while – in my experience – fast and/or fuzzy method switching may actually lie at the root of successful creative problem solving.

Moreover, advertising people who are naturally blessed with the capability and discipline for creative thinking do rarely – if ever – reflect on it: “It just comes to me”, (which is not just matter-of-speech) while they consider discussing or examining the topic particularly irrelevant.
This is why top creative people only rarely formally teach and why professionals from other fields have largely taken care of inventing or describing systematic creative thinking tools, which – therefore – may be considered to be primarily directed at the untrained, less talented, or both.
The latter is definitely good news. If so many respected professionals in such widely diverse fields as anthropology, biology, business sciences, education, engineering, linguistics, philosophy, psychology, psychiatry and sociology have dedicated so much time (in some cases a lifetime) to developing methods and means for creative thinking, they must be convinced it is both teachable and learnable.

Ideation Tools
A list of tools for ideation. The descriptions are not exhaustive. If you wish to know more about a specific technique, I suggest you Google the term

Absurd Alternatives (SIT)
Method that uses humor and exaggeration to state a product proposition: “use our product or... (absurd alternative)”

Activation (SIT)
Method which asks the consumer for a physical action to either experience the product, service or helps to focus on the problem at hand. Examples are turning the page upside down, covering a part of the advertisement, tearing something off (sample, coupon), or “scratch & sniff”, with the use of a scented ink that activates when scratched.

Analogy
Takes information from one domain (the source) to help solve a problem in another domain (the target). Looks for similarity and uses “Is like...” or “As ... as”: “This is like living a dream”, “As big as a tree”. The objective is to take away focus from the original problem and look for solutions in the analogy or symbol. The higher the level of abstraction, the more likely break-through ideas will occur. Advertising often uses this technique, most notably – though not exclusively – with animal kingdom analogies: Playboy bunnies, Ferrari’s rampant horse, Esso’s tiger, La Coste’s crocodile, the World Wild Life Fund Panda and Twitter’s bird, just to mention a few. Probably the most (ab)used analogy in advertising is Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa”.

Applied Imagination (Question Summary)
Also called “Osborn’s Checklist”, is a practical checklist to help review a problem or product from multiple angles by asking nine questions: Put to other uses? Adapt? Modify? Magnify? Minify? Substitute? Rearrange? Reverse? Combine?

Aristotelian Categories
Checklist which poses the following interrogatives:
Substance or essence. What is it and what makes it unique or individual?
Quantity or magnitude. How many, how much, what degree?
Relation. Rank, comparison, derivation.
Quality. Value, attributes, shape, habits.
Action. What is it doing or does it do?
Affection. Reputation, attitudes toward.
Place. Where is it?
Time. When? Now? Historical? Future?
Position. Sitting, standing, displayed, hidden
State. Planned, broken, untried, changing

Association
By combining two different concepts or stimuli, association triggers right-brain, lateral thinking. This technique is particularly effective when calling upon the senses: “Smells like”, “Looks like”, “Sounds like”. These associations can be quite linear, although – though elaboration – may lead to higher levels of abstraction, such as described in “Analogy”. See also: “In the Realm of the Senses”

Assumption Smashing, Escape Thinking
Assumptions are extremely powerful creativity inhibitors, because they represent the world as we perceive it. Listing all the assumptions that surround a certain problem allows to review them for illogical argumentation, while also opening the door to sub-problem (attribute) revision. By eliminating illogical or irrational arguments, the solver(s) can focus on a problem definition that is free of judgement. Moreover, by taking assumptions and applying a “Problem Reversal” technique, new angles on the problem may be discovered. The Freeplay radio is a good example. Problem: create a radio for people who do not have access to grid power and cannot afford batteries. Assumption: a radio needs electricity from either a wall-outlet or batteries. Solution: a radio that generates its own electricity, either through a wind-up crank or a solar panel.

Assumption Surfacing
A 2x2 matrix which is built by listing the problem related assumptions and defining their opposites. After eliminating irrelevant or ineffective assumption pairs, the matrix is constructed with an impact variable on one axis and plausibility on the other (both High to Low)

Attribute Listing (Bug Listing, Cherry Split, Morphological Analysis, Pro/Contra, Value Engineering)
Although Attribute Listing was originally created for product improvement analysis, what all these methods have in common is that they break down the original problem into multiple sub-problems. By breaking the problem or system down into related multiple smaller parts, the opportunities for ideation grow, while the recombination of the generated ideas may lead to break-through rather than incremental improvement.

Backwards Forwards Planning
A method originally developed to properly define open-ended problems, but also applicable to solving, where deductive reasoning may cause the solver to think “inside the box” – focus on the problem at hand – rather than beyond it: achieve a goal of a higher order. For example: “My car does not start” instead of “I am going to be late for work”, “My boss will be angry” or “I may lose my job”.
The task consists in listing a number or higher order problems that would also be solved when solving the original problem (Forwards), after which Backwards lists all the derived additional benefits. The same method can be used to achieve higher order (more sophisticated) solutions, which could de derived from basic ones.

Bifurcation
A division into two branches. Thinking method that lies at the foundation of techniques like Branching (decision tree) and Mind-mapping.

Boundary Relaxation
Problem definitions can be visualized as envelopes. Their boundaries are generally defined in terms of the possible, feasible, reasonable, what “should” or “must” be.
Once we accept that problem boundaries are – more often than not – determined by scope and umfeld, built on perceptions and assumptions, we can examine these limits for flexibility, thus Pushing the Envelope; the original or given framework for thinking.

Branching
Taking a core concept and splitting it into sub-concepts, associations, etc.. Fruit = Apple, Pear, Banana, Melon. Apple = pit, dottle, skin, meat, green, tree, Newton. Newton= inventor, gravity, wig, old, mathematics, alchemist. Each concept may be further branched, which is the prime objective of the technique, because primary associations are obvious – thus – not conductive to added-value innovative thinking. However, asking how “Fruit” and “Wig” are related makes things a little more challenging. As in virtually all listing techniques, the higher the level of abstraction, the better the chances for break-through ideation. A helpful tool to organize these generated ideas is

Mind Mapping, with which the solver(s) can create a colorful, visual representation of their Thinking Process Tree.

Bug Listing
A type of Attribute Listing, in this case of the (potential) defects, problems in a product or system. See also: Component Detailing

Cartoon Story Board, Story-boarding
A drawing technique which allows to visualize the intermediate steps between the present situation and a vision or “dream” future, in the form of a storyboard. Storyboards are a series of time sequential images, used in the film industry to visualize how a particular scene is structured. Similarly, by imagining and drawing the present situation and the desired future situation, the solver may be able to imagine and visualize the intermediate steps that need to be taken to achieve this goal. The richer the imagery, the higher its potential for triggering strong ideas.

Checklists
Methods to structure the innovative thinking process, generally by posing questions. Examples are: Aristotelean Categories, Creative Problem Solving (CPS), Five Times Why?, Human Needs, Journalistic Six, Osborn’s Checklist, Physical Attributes and SCAMPER.

Circle of Opportunity
A graphical version of Attribute Listing and similar to Morphological Forced Connections.
The solver(s) state the problem, draw a large circle on a piece of paper and mark it clockwise. Each of the 12 points is given an attribute and dice are rolled to select random pairs. The selected attributes are then analyzed on their own, side-by-side and combined to find associations.

Construct-Triad
Combining two related ideas with one unrelated idea and then examining these for connections, associations, relevance, etc. See also: Laddering

Contradiction Analysis
At the heart of any problem lies (at least one) discrepancy. A conflict between what is believed to be ideal and the current status quo: weight vs. fuel efficiency, desire vs. money, dream vs. reality.
These are all obvious contradictions, but frequently a problem is the result of past solutions, assumption that were made when creating a certain solution, or even assumptions surrounding the current problem, which may all be far less obvious.
Moreover, problems may contain multiple, (sometimes hidden) interdependent contradictions, where solving one element negatively affects others.
For example: the distance a aeroplane can fly, depends on its own weight, fuel capacity and consumption, payload and weather during the flight, among others.
The lighter the plane, the further it can fly, or the more fuel or payload it can carry, or the more adverse the climate may be. Likewise, the more payload it carries, the higher its fuel consumption, the shorter the distance it can fly, or the more favorable the climate must be.
Multiple inter-dependencies like these are called systemic: when one is modified, all are affected. Listing, analyzing and understanding the obvious and not-so-obvious contradictions that are related to a problem, may lead to significant advances in problem definition as well as break-through solutions.

Copy, Borrow, Steal
Also called Copy/Paste Method. A legitimate creative technique, which derives its value from placing a known solution into a new context. Frans Johansson explains in his book The Medici Effect (2007) why copying, borrowing or stealing concepts or ideas from other fields, disciplines, cultures, art, nature, etc., may lead to break-through thinking when solving problems or looking for opportunities.
Cliché Recombination is another example of the copy/paste method, which derives its impact from placing a well-known truism, fact or played-out idea into a surprising, new light.
See also: Analogy, Imitation.

Crazy Ideas (Bunch of Bananas, Ha-Ha ideas)
An idea that – at first sight – is totally unrelated with the problem at hand and which often occurs when a group problem solving session is losing momentum or – temporarily – refocuses on something other than the original problem. Even if the participants may be rolling over the floor laughing, ignoring a “Crazy Idea” is an extremely bad idea when looking for breakthroughs. Even though the person who came up with it may be unaware, a Crazy Idea is more often than not the result of “Unconscious Problem Solving” (See Psychology & Creativity). As far fetched and abstract as it may seem, it is always worth careful and serious analysis, because it is likely to contain a solution well beyond the “envelope”. There is the case of the Exxon Valdes oil spill, for example. One of the solving team’s members had observed how well the fur of the local otters absorbed the crude oil and jokingly suggested to use the animals for the clean up. After the laughter had died out, the team built on (grew) his “Ha-Ha idea”, and developed a kind of furry cloth which was effectively used for clean up.

Creative Problem Solving (CPS – Parnes, VanGundy)
Contains – apart of a six-step creative thinking process – a series of helpful thought starters. Divergent thinking: Wouldn't It Be Nice If… and Wouldn't It Be Awful If…. Convergent thinking: identification of Hotspots, In What Ways Might This Be…, ownership criteria and outlook criteria (e.g. urgency, uniqueness, applicability). Mostly used in Brainstorming sessions.

Drawing (Doodles, Idea Toons, etc.)
Drawing is a visual and right brain-half activity, which processes information in an intuitive and simultaneous way, looking first at the whole picture and then at the details.
Writing – on the other hand – is verbal and left-brain, which processes information in an analytic and sequential manner, examining the parts before putting them together to get the whole.
By drawing (rich) images, symbols, doodles, etc., in some way or another related with the problem at hand, the brain can be forced into right-side “big picture” mode, before breaking the problem down into smaller parts.

Exaggeration
A frequently used technique in advertising, especially in combination with humor. Exaggerates the problem, the solution, the result or the benefit of using a certain product or service, making it larger, stronger, smaller, smarter, more absurd, more hilarious.
Exaggerations need to be BIG to be effective; small exaggerations are mere sales talk and might even be taken seriously, which is most definitely not the idea behind this technique.

Extreme Behavior (SIT)
The absurd, unusual or funny behavior and/or its results in consumers that use or ought to use a given product or service. See also: Exaggeration.

Extreme Consequences (SIT)
The absurd, unusual or funny outcome that either using or not using a product or service may cause for the user. See also: Exaggeration.

Extreme Efforts (SIT)
The absurd, unusual or funny endeavors consumers go through to obtain or use the product, service or what can be the extreme efforts one has to go through when not using it. See also: Exaggeration.

False Faces
A “Problem Reversal” technique:
- State problem
- List assumptions
- Define the fundamental assumptions
- Reverse these assumptions
- List the opposite(s) for each one
- Record differing, useful viewpoints
- Reflect on how to accomplish the given reversals.

Forced Relationships
(Forced Association, Forced Analogy, Brutethink)
All these methods use randomly chosen words or images and their associations to create lists of related concepts, which are then “forced” upon the given problem to find applicable relationships. The objective is to replace linear left-brain thinking by lateral, right-brain thinking.

Free Association
Takes a so-called Trigger-idea – which may or not be random, to generate a large number of associations. Problem solving oriented Free Association may be triggered by questions such as: Could we..?, In what ways might we...?, Wish it were..., Might it help if...?, etc..

Heuristic Ideation Technique
A technique that uses a matrix to list all possible and/or imaginary parts of a product or system on one axis and all its possible and/or imaginary attributes on the other. This allows recombining, grouping or assigning potential attributes to all available parts, thus generating a long-list of potential product improvements, new products or new elements of a system. Similar to Morphological Analysis and Attribute Listing, among others.

Human Needs
Checklist, derived from the Hierarchy of Human Needs - Maslow (1943).
- Physical Comfort. Food, clothing, shelter, warmth, health.
- Emotional Comfort. Safety, security, freedom from fear, love.
- Social Comfort. Fellowship, friendship, group activity.
- Psychological Comfort. Self-esteem, recognition, power, self-determination, life control.
- Spiritual Comfort. Belief structure, cosmic organizing principle.
May be useful for verifying whether all relevant factors were considered during a process of product- or service improvement, for example.

IdeaToons
Visualizing ideas in symbols, drawings or cartoons, rather than writing them down; stimulates right-brain activity. See Drawing.

Imitation
Copying or borrowing an idea from one field, discipline or application to another is considered a legitimate creative technique, because it derives it value from a new, original application. See also: Analogy, Copy, Borrow, Steal.

In the Realm of the Senses
Method to activate right-brain activity, since the sensory functions are mostly – even though not exclusively – located in that part of the brain.
By stating a problem in sensory terms, the solver may be able to generate a wide range of associations: “Our problem smells like fish”: water, sea, net, fisherman, market, seagull, shoal, cane, smell, rotten, boat, swim, salt, float, cloud, blue sky, storm, wave, nose, fry, food, can, etc..
Smell is particularly powerful, because it is the sense that has undergone the least change during human evolution. Certain familiar smells are capable of triggering very vivid memories, while even a written or visual representation of a certain smell may generate palpable physical reactions.
- Touch. Feeling, texture, pressure, temperature, vibration.
- Taste. Flavor, bitter, salty, sour, spicy, sweet.
- Smell. Aroma, odor, perfume, stench.
- Sound. Hearing, speech, noise, music, environment, nature.
- Sight. Vision, brightness, color, movement, symbol.

Laddering
Switching between different levels of abstraction or association. Ladder-up is achieved by repeatedly asking for reasons: Why does this have to be so?, in search of higher levels of abstraction, while Ladder-down is achieved by asking for relevance: So What?.
The recommended steps are:
1 – Defining a (any) Trigger idea
2 – Ladder-up: generate higher level abstractions
3 – Take the generated ideas and Ladder-down: select the most relevant and/or the ones that appear to have most potential
4 – Take the ideas determined to be relevant or potential and ladder them all up. This cycle can be repeated several times until sufficient ideas have been generated. This method can be combined with the so-called Construct-Triad, where two related ideas are combined with one unrelated idea. See also: Five times Why?

Lotus Blossom Technique
A listing technique that allows a core problem or idea to “unfold” – like the petals of a flower – into many related, associated ideas.
A technique similar to Mind Mapping, Lotus Blossom uses a sheet with one central square containing the Trigger idea or problem, surrounded by as many squares as necessary to note down (or draw) all its associations, attributes, contradictions, parts, relations, ideas, and so forth.

Metamorphic Thinking
From: metamorphosis. Rather than taking the habitual approach of causal, space-bound thinking, metamorphic thinking looks at how an organism (or system) evolves over time. The term was first used by the German biologist Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1790), who proposed to look at an organism not from a spacial perspective – its parts – but rather to observe it as a progression of uninterrupted activity over time, an expression of its evolution, functions, connections, etc.. Similarly, a problem or system can alternatively be described as the sum of its parts (See: “Attribute Listing”) or visualized as a life organism: a holistic expression of its growth, materiality, functions, inter-dependencies, connections, evolution, environment, etc..

General System Theory
Created by the German biologist Ludwig von Bertalanffy (1968) GTS can be seen as an evolution and systematization of metamorphic thinking.

Metaphorical Thinking
Where Analogy looks for similarity, metaphor looks for dissimilarity at creating an easy to understand, visual device: A mind like water, Chain of Command, Life is a box of chocolates (Forrest Gump [motion picture - 1994]), Revenge is a dish best served cold.
Metaphorical thinking can be very useful to break through the obvious and generate out of the box thinking, while it may be further helped along with a Forced Connection technique: creating relationships with randomly chosen words or images cut out of a magazine, for example.

Morphological Analysis. See: Attribute Listing.

Morphological Forced Connections (Recombination).
Forced relationships method, which uses a matrix to list attributes on one axis and alternates on the other. The steps are the following:
1 – List attributes
2 – Assign alternates to each attribute
3 – Assemble new attributes by recombining existing ones and/or their alternates.

Multiple Redefinition
Is a term used to describe three different phenomena:
1 – The result of poor problem definition or disagreement between problem owners (See Problem Definition)
2 – A creative technique which allows different angles on a given problem by rewording its definition (Empathic, Analytic, Motivational, Magical, Metaphorical, Off-beat)
3 – The result of the evolution of the creative process, as the solver’s understanding of the problem widens and deepens. In this case, multiple redefinition is the beneficial result of the solver’s expanded view of the problem, which may either lead to higher hierarchy problem description(s) or higher level abstraction(s), which are both conductive to break-through thinking.

Observer and Merged Viewpoints
Observer’s viewpoint: the solver approaches or observes a problem with detachment and a mind-set such as: Step back, Look objectively, Separate, Put in perspective, Helicopter, etc.
Merged viewpoint: the solver personalizes – is the personification of – the problem, sensing and seeing from the problem’s perspective; also called projective identification. Uses empathic mind-sets: Getting under someone’s skin, Seeing through their eyes, Stepping into someone’s shoes, Feeling their pain, etc..

Osborn’s Checklist
Although originally designed as a product innovation technique, these thought starters are applicable in virtually any creative process: Put to other uses?, Adapt? Modify? Magnify? Minify? Substitute? Rearrange? Reverse? Combine?

Physical Attributes
Checklist of modifiable attributes: Shape, Color, Texture, Material, Weight, Hardness/Softness, Flexibility, Stability, Usefulness, State.

Paraphrasing Key Words
Devised by Edward de Bono, this method looks for key words in the problem definition to reveal assumptions and/or generate alternative perceptions. The task is to list as many synonyms as possible for each keyword, but in order to reach higher level abstraction, listing antonyms, associations, connections, etc., may also result useful.

Problem as a Solution (SIT)
One of the basic human instincts when given a problem is trying to solve it. The most common ways to do this are:
1 – Remove the cause of the problem
2 – Alter the conditions or factors that cause the problem to arise
3 – Insert a new element into the problem’s system, which either solves it or at least reduces its negative effects.
Instead of trying to solve a problem, the solver may ask what is interesting or attractive about it, and think about how this can be used to say something new about the product, brand or service. See also: Problem Reversal.

Problem Reversal (Inversion)
Turning Around a problem. Instead of focusing on the negative effects that a problem causes, looking for its positive aspects. The related mind-set can be described as Looking at the bright side and the problem statement in terms of contradictions or opposites. For example: The car does not start. On the one hand: I will be late for work; on the other hand: I might take the bike and get some exercise.

Provocation
Requires lateral thinking, and can be forced through a technique such as Random Stimuli.
Edward de Bono proposed the use of the word PO (Provocative Operation) when making provocative statements in public or during team problem solving sessions, thus informing all members that a provocative statement is being made. PO: the sky is green.
In my experience, however, provocation is rather more effective when used unannounced, because of the “short-circuit” it causes in current thinking or the contradiction it may establish in relation to the topic at hand. The timed and conscious suggestion of a Crazy Idea may also be considered as a provocation, because it is similarly aimed at forcing out of the box thinking.

Question Summary. See: Applied Imagination, Osborn’s Checklist

Random Input, Random Stimuli
A number of authors describe random stimuli as conductive to lateral thinking, while the large majority of creative people are well aware that virtually any off-topic stimulus may lead to break-through thinking: refocusing the attention on something else, reading a book, playing games or watching a movie, changing the environment, playing music, etc..
Whereas most workers are considered to be wasting the boss’ time when “fooling around” during office hours, advertising creatives are supposed to be hard at work when throwing darts, reading a magazine or taking a walk in the park at eleven o’clock in the morning. A more formal, systematic approach to random input may be structured like this:
1 – Identify criteria for ideas
2 – Randomly pick a stimulus
3 – Relate back to the original problem.
The latter can be achieved by using a technique such as Free Association or Forced Analogy, while the stimulus can also be forced by combining fixed and random elements, as described in the Construct-Triad technique, for example. See also: Discontinuity Principle.

Relational Words
A technique that lists either/or: synonyms, antonyms, attributes, random words, images, sensations, reversals, contradictions, etc., and then recombines these either randomly, in binomials or in any other way that might be conductive.

SCAMPER / SCAMMPERR
Michael Michalko – Thinkpak (2006)
Based on the same basic concepts or methods such as Osborn’s Checklist and Attribute Listing: Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Magnify, Modify, Put to alternative use, Eliminate, Rearrange, Reverse.

Stimulus Analysis
A method in which the solver(s) put the original problem aside to generate alternative ideas. There are a number of ways in which this can be done.
By producing lists of arbitrary thoughts completely unrelated to the problem, by randomly clipping words or tearing images out of a magazine, opening a dictionary on a random page and randomly picking a word (which is how the German Dada movement supposedly got its name), by analyzing a totally different problem or by formulating inherent contradictions, for example. In each case, the generated ideas are then verified to see if they have any bearing on the original problem. Also see Forced Relationships, Random Input, Random Stimuli.

Story Writing (Personal, Group)
Another method to digress from a problem, by writing a fictional story that may or may not have any relation with it. Drawing can be used for the same purpose. See also: Drawing.

Similarities and Differences
By defining a problem as an object rather than an abstract it may be possible to break out of linear thinking. The task is to list as many similar objects as possible, after which a second list is made of similar but different ones (objects in the same category).
Using natural objects is apparently more useful, probably because they allow richer imagery. Metaphor maybe a useful technique to generate the starting point or “trigger-object” for this exercise.

Slice and Dice
Breaking down a problem or system into smaller parts. See Component Detailing, Attribute Listing.

Synectics
Nine-step technique used for collaborative problem solving.
1 - Problem owner’s headline: issue, background, what has been tried, scope of action
2 - Owner’s Big Wish: I wish..., How to...
3 - The solvers try to visualize rather than analyze, generating a series of so-called Springboards. These are not yet ideas for solution, but rather associated or higher-level wishes which expand the framework for creative thinking.
Triggering techniques can be Analogy, Metaphor, Free Association.
4 - Selection of favorite springboards: a more solution oriented approach than the one used in step 3.
5 - Selection of the springboard(s) with the most potential.
6 - Check understanding by paraphrasing the springboard until the solution owners find the paraphrase correct.
7 - Itemize: list every possible positive feature or associated idea of the selected springboard.
8 - One single main concern is expressed as a problem for the springboard; solutions for this concern are listed.
9 - Cycle back to 3 or 4 – depending on outcome and the availability of other ideas with potential – and repeat, or end if a satisfying solution has been found.

THRIL
Thril is a technique by the Brazilian professor Francisco Gomes for his A-Z on Peace Linguistics: A A A - “Aim at Affinity and Alliance”, Z Z Z - “Zero in on peace Zealously as the Zenith”. Thril capitalizes on the principle of Mnemonics or Memorable Meaning-Making; the threefold repetition of the initial letter.
In creating a Thril, the human mind is challenged to generate a meaningful, memorable message. See also: Memes.

Unification (SIT)
Unifying an advertising message with a specifically selected medium, which allows to either reinforce the message or deliver it with more impact.

Utopian Thinking
(Gr.: Utopia - No place). Can be used as a creativity driver. Solvers may want take a certain level of licence and try to imagine a state of perfection or the use of a contradiction in terms: a perfect crime, a friction-less engine or a weightless airplane.

What if?
Similar to utopian thinking, but with the use of a pre-established imaginary or hypothetical situation: What would you do or what would happen if there were an hour per day with zero gravity? Get out of a traffic jam, change light bulbs, fly to work, paint the second floor, prune trees, harvest high hanging fruit, etc..

Why, Why, Why, Why, Why?
A method to develop higher level abstractions or a deeper understanding a problem by either breaking through the obvious or by questioning assumptions. Most people need to start thinking seriously after the third Why?.
Q.: Why are you here? A.: Because I like to learn.
Q.: Why do you like to learn? A.: So I can have a profession.
Q.: Why do you need a profession? A.: So I can make a lot of money.
Q.: Why do you need to make a lot of money? A.: Because having a lot of money makes me happy.
Q.: Why do you think that having a lot of money will make you happy? A.: ?

Methods and Tools for the Creative Production Process

2013-07-31T19:39:00.000-04:00

The following is a series of methodologies to structure the problem solving or creative process.
I describe them here briefly with the purpose of indexing the methods I have found.
If you want to know more about a particular one, I'd suggest you Google the term, since the majority of them were found on the Web during my research.

15 Sparks
A method originally used for internal staff training by the advertising agency McCann Erickson, but by now extensively tried by myself and others in academic practice throughout Latin America.
Although oriented at, and illustrated with, examples from advertising and marketing, it has also proven useful in classes and seminars on branding, innovation, strategic thinking, and so forth.
As the name suggests, it consists of 15 statements directed at changing the mind-set: Instead of asking who we are talking to, ask who we are NOT talking to, Turn your biggest threats into opportunities, Co-create with your consumers, How can your brand, product or service become a tangible part of culture? and If you product were a service, what would it be?, among others.

Adaptive Reasoning
A problem solving strategy that adapts thinking to address a problem as it changes and evolves and includes reasoning based on pattern, “Analogy” or “Metaphor”(see Ideation).

Algorithm of Inventive Problem Solving (ARIZ)
A method that contains 85 step-by-step procedures that incrementally evolve a complex problem to a point where it is (or should be) simple to solve. TRIZ, USIT and SIT all originate from ARIZ.

Ideal Final Result
Description of the best possible solution for the problem situation and a basic concept of TRIZ, however, it can also be used universally to create a “vision” or ideal future. The fundamental proposition of TRIZ is that systems evolve towards increased ideality, where the “Ideal Final Result” marks the end point of this evolution. The IFR has all the benefits and none of the disadvantages and/or costs of the original problem.

Journalistic Six
A checklist which allows to cover all the “angles” related to a given event: What happened?, Where did it happen?, When did it happen?, How did it happen?, Why did it happen?, Who is involved?
Obviously, the “Six” can be phrased in many different ways, allowing to focus on different topics: What is the Problem?, Where does it occur?, When do we need to solve it?, How can it be solved?, Why do we need to solve it?, Who owns it?, etc.

LARC Method
Left and Right Creativity. A method that stimulates right-side (creative) brain activity in association with the left (logical) side of the brain. There are 5 versions of LARC, each one with a higher level of abstraction and complexity, to deal with increasingly complex problems. The basic functions that all LARC versions – with the exception of LARC 1 – have in common are: Drawing, Smashing, Creating, Rearranging.

Memes
Concept first coined by Dawkin (1976) to denominate the imitation units that he considered the building blocks of culture, much like genes are the building blocks of evolution.
Jay Conrad Levinson, in his book “Guerilla Creativity” (2001), further developed this concept by placing it in a social communication context.
Levinson defines memes as enticing symbols, claiming them to be the most powerful communicators known to humans. A Meme is not a logo; it is an idea unit, something that is simple to remember and – at the same time – a single-minded summary of what a product or brand have to offer.
Although not easy to create, when the generation of a Meme is defined as a problem or objective, virtually any creative technique may used to create one.

Preliminary Questions (5x W 1x H)
See: “Journalistic Six”.

Six Thinking Hats
A framework for innovative thinking, both linear and lateral, created by Edward J. de Bono.
White hat: facts and figures. Red Hat: intuition and feelings, no logic required. Black hat: judgement, logic and caution. Yellow Hat: why it will work. Green hat: creativity, alternatives, proposals. Blue hat: overview and process control.

Systematic Inventive Thinking (SIT)
Unlike all other described methods, SIT actually contains practical, creative thinking tools. Although derived from or related to methods such as ARIZ and TRIZ, the creators of SIT were apparently the first to realize that laying out a process or model may be conductive to systematic thinking, but not to creative, innovative thinking.
The company has created specific models for Problem Solving, New Product Development, Marketing Communications & Advertising, Strategy and Conflict Resolution.
I have extensively and successfully used the Marketing Communications & Advertising model, which contains nine creative thinking tools: Absurd Alternatives, Activation, Extreme Behavior, Extreme Consequences, Extreme Efforts, Inversion , Metaphor, Problem-as-a-Solution and Unification (See Ideation).
For more information, visit the Sitsite

TRIZ Teoriya Resheniya Izobreatatelskikh Zadatch. Althuller (1959)
Russian acronym for the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TIPS), TRIZ is a method directed originally at improving on the random approaches to problem solving – habitual at the time of its conception – specifically in engineering complex systems. Althuller categorized known solving techniques into 5 levels of inventiveness, each next level demanding a higher level of abstraction.
The method evolves around three basic principles: resolution of contradictions, the evolution of systems and the ideal (final) result (IFN). The basic concept of TRIZ is resolving the contradiction(s) that arise from placing mutually exclusive demands on a given system. It includes a series of different solving tools, 40 inventive principles and contradiction tables.
For more information, click here

Unified Structured Inventive Thinking (USIT)
A simplification of TRIZ which makes it simpler to learn and apply while – methodologically – similar to SIT, without the creative thinking tools, however.

Analisys. No creative process can do without it.

2012-05-06T17:43:00.000-04:00

In previous articles we have already established that creativity is a process, and that certain levels of preparation, critical thinking and analysis are necessary for successful creative production.
Even so, in the ICPP or 7-Step model for Integrated Creative Planning & Production I describe here, analysis (or review) is virtually permanent; present in some form or another at every step of the way.

It starts with the client briefing in step 1, but kicks in at full creative force once data gathering has been completed and the “Intelligence” generation process begins (step 2.3).
From there on to the very end of the process, critical thinking and analysis are necessary – for example – to determine which strategic proposal is likely to be the most successful, which idea or ideas have the most potential, which arguments are the most appropriate to “Sell” and/or “Bullet-prove” the creative product, or which media are the most effective to reach specific target audiences.

Analysis is ongoing even when the creative production cycle has ended in step 7, because after publication, the media- and research departments keep tracking and analyzing the consumer- and marketing data generated by any given campaign.
These data and their respective analysis are not only used to measure the impact and effectiveness of the effort, but also as input for the next campaign cycle, for example to fine-tune or modify strategy.

In advertising the strategic-creative process is a permanent, virtuous cycle, with every next campaign building on the knowledge generated by previous ones, combined with the profundization of the team's knowledge of the brand, product(s) customers and markets.
Contrarily, in many organizations – even large ones – this permanent feed-back and analysis cycle appears to be rather less habitual, in spite of the sometimes astounding pace of change which can be observed in virtually any marketplace, today.

At least amongst the clients that I have had the opportunity to work with, Corporate Strategy or even Marketing Strategy revisions are fairly infrequent, rarely take place on a regular schedule and even less frequently involve the complete team - which ought to include representatives from the organization's ecosystem.
This is particularly curious because modern strategic thinking theory clearly establishes that the future – especially the short-term future – is increasingly nebulous and that Strategy ought not to be static, but rather a permanent succession of small, adaptive adjustments, be that because of moving competition, shifting markets or changing customer needs.

The following are analysis tools that can be used for a wide number of purposes: prospective, scenario planning, strategy generation, problem definition, product improvement, etc., etc..

Analysis Tools.

• AIDA.
Analysis of Interactive Decision Areas. A matrixing method, which allows to eliminate conflicting solutions in interrelated problem solving, where the solution for one problem may negatively affect an interacting or related problem.

• Alternative Scenarios.
Method used in prospective research for possible futures. Alternative scenarios may be created by taking the same problem or strategy, but analyzing them from different environmental perspectives or influencing forces.

• CATWOE.
Customer, Actors, Transformation Process, World View, Owner (of the problem), Environment. Checklist for problem or goal definition in systems. It analyses the system that contains the problem/objective for possible solutions, rather than focusing on the given problem or objective itself.

• Comparison tables.
Matrix which allows to compare and weigh a series of alternatives in relation to their multiple properties, such as used in product comparisons, for example. Similarly, it can be used to weigh and rank ideas, strategy proposals, pros & cons, etc..

• Decision Seminar.
Conceptual framework for prospective analysis and/or decision making. Consists of 5 intellectual tasks, 7 information categories, 8 key values for analysis and a 7-step decision process. Depends heavily on the participation of experts in the given study area.

• DELPHI.
Method for expert analysis of complex problems. It makes use of multiple questionnaires and – in some cases – large groups of participants (up to 100), which makes it expensive and difficult to administer in comparison with similar methods (“Decision Seminar”, “Think Tank”, “Brainstorming”).
Even so, the method has proved its usefulness, especially when analyzing extremely complex problems where resources are not a relevant limiting factor.

• Dimensional Analysis.
Checklist akin to the “Journalistic Six”, useful for initial problem exploration or the evaluation of alternatives, particularly in the case of those of social-, rather than technical nature.
It consists of 5 dimensions: Substantive (What), Spacial (Where), Temporal (When), Quantitative (How Much) and Qualitative (How Serious).

• Do Nothing.
By asking “What would happen if we do nothing” the solver(s) may be able to – alternatively – determine that the problem does not need solving, analyze the benefits of solving it and/or generate alternative problems, scenarios, solutions.

• Fish-bone Diagram.
Ishikawa (1985). Helpful technique, similar to “Force-field analysis”, for identifying and structuring possible problem causes or “root problems”.
It creates a graphical representation in which the spine represents advancing time and the fish-bones the relationships between the different forces or factors that are related to the problem.

• Force-Field Analysis.
Describes the conflicting forces in a given situation. By identifying the so-called “Driving Forces” and “Restraining Forces”, the solver(s) may be able to correctly analyze and weigh the factors that are likely to influence the problem solution, after which various ideas to either strengthen the drivers or weaken the restrainers may be generated.

• Gap Analysis.
Methodical investigation tool, which studies and analyzes a given business area, industry or market for “gaps” or “openings” – such as uncovered customer needs – which may create opportunities for innovation, product development, etc.

• Idea Box.
Structured problem solving analysis tool which uses a matrix of problem related parameters and their variations to cross examine or recombine different possible solutions.

• Problem Inventory Analysis - PIA.
A technique to develop a generic problem into multiple sub problems, by asking (users) about how it expresses itself in specific ways.
For example: this store is performing poorly. Why? Wrong location, wrong assortment, too much competition, looks expensive, poor product presentation, bad customer service, ill-behaved staff, etc.

• Reframing Values.
A technique to allow reframing a given problem by defining it in various bipolar or contradicting concepts, expressions, and then reversing each one on itself; negative, positive and v.v..

• Sequential Attributes Matrix.
Checklist matrix for problems that consist of sequentially connected, interdependent elements, which generally present themselves in intricate systems.
Attribute listings of generic modifications (such as Osborn’s checklist) often treat parts of a system or process as independent of each other, when in reality changes in one part – according to General System Theory, almost without exception – affect the entire system.

• SODA.
Strategic Options Development and Analysis is a methodology for group research which contributes to the clarification of the various viewpoints related to a specific problem or problem area.
Part of the method is the use of “Causal Mapping”, which is helpful to visualize the perception of the situation by the research subjects.

• Strategic Assumption Testing (SAT).
A method which uses the opinions and assumptions of outsiders to ensure that problem definition or strategy outlines are consistent and free of ambivalence.
A 2 x 2 matrix is used to map the statements in terms of Potential (high/low) vs. Likelihood of occurrence (likely/unlikely).

• Strategic Choice Approach (SCA).
A technique used for analyzing and solving complex problems and their sub-problems based on 5 basic principles:
- Shaping (identifying problem areas),
- Designing, (possible solutions, their potential and disadvantages),
- Comparing (evaluation of ideas),
- Choosing (the best possible ideas),
- Compiling (action plan).
According to research, SCA is recognized by an increasing number of decision makers as particularly useful when working under (time) pressure.

• SWOT Analysis.
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Treats. Probably the most widely used strategic analysis tool, today. While very useful to map the current status quo of an organization, in my opinion it has one mayor weakness, which is that it tends to trap the analyst into “Inside the Box Thinking”.
This limits its potential for opportunity recognition, even though this has more to do with the creative capability of the analyst(s) than with the methodology itself. “Reframing Values” is one example of various methods that may be helpful for the analyst/solver to think “Outside the Box” when creating a SWOT analysis.

• Technology Monitoring.
A method similar to “Gap Analysis” that systematically logs the technological advances in a particular discipline or field, and is aimed at recognizing convergence or breaking points that allow for dramatic technological innovation.

• Think Tank.
Group of experts, dedicated at developing know-how in a particular knowledge field.

• Tug of War.
Very similar to “Force Field Analysis”. Consists of: Problem definition, White scenario, Black scenario, Help/Hinder and Analysis of modifiable helpful and opposing forces.

• Using Experts.
Not a method in itself, but rather a description of situations where the use of experts may be helpful. Methods are DELPHI, Decision Seminar, SODA and Think Tank, amongst others.

• Value Engineering.
A systematic approach for optimizing a product or service’s value-for-money in terms of its functions. Analyses the following: Basic Function, Secondary Function, Supporting Functions, Cost-Effectiveness of each function, cost effective Function Improvement.

This week's interesting articles

2012-05-04T16:27:00.000-04:00

Here are this week's articles I consider worth reading.
I regularly post links to articles like these on my Twitter stream so, if you like my likes and want to stay updated, you might want to follow me: @gerardprins

Business Insider: 14 Lessons From Benjamin Franklin About Getting What You Want In Life
Forbes: Why Creativity is more Profitable than Competitiveness
Forbes: Creating Innovators: Why America's Education System is Obsolete (Ed.: And not just America's)
Harvard Business Review: In Praise of Irrational Innovators
Harvard Business Review: Collaboration Will Drive the Next Wave of Productivity Gains
New York Times: The Creative Monopoly

More on creative and strategic thinking tools in my e-book

2012-04-27T22:51:00.000-03:00

If you have the time to wrestle yourself through roughly 150 poorly written pages, you can download my thesis in e-book format
The 11 chapters I here present contain everything from the history of creative strategy to competitive environments of permanently accelerating change to an analysis of the Apple's reinvention strategy and the challenges that present themselves to modern, western society and its leadership.

It includes techniques and tools for creative, strategic and systemic thinking and an analysis of why I believe that many modern leaders are failing in creating an innovation inspiring corporate environment and/or in stimulating creative thinking in their peers and subordinates.
Happily not all of it is b-mol: I have found -- and cite -- the thoughts of authors who have interesting suggestions on how to create and foster loyalty- collaboration- and creativity-inspiring leadership, starting with Sun Tzu...

Recent interesting articles on Creativity, Strategy and Innovation

2012-04-27T16:56:00.001-03:00

Here are some articles from the last few weeks that I consider worth reading.
I regularly post links to articles like these on my Twitter stream so, if you like my likes and want to stay updated, you might want to follow me: @gerardprins

Forbes: The Only Two Types of Enterprise That Really Matter
Forbes: Sony: How Industrial, MBA-Style Leadership Killed a Once Great Company
FastCompany: Has Innovation Lost Its Meaning?
FastCoDesign: What MBAs and MFAs get wrong about solving business problems
Harvard Business Review: Six Secrets to Creating a Culture of Innovation
Harvard Business Review: The Power of Small Wins
The Atlantic: How So-Called Strategic Intelligence Actually Makes Us Dumber

Problem Definition. The Most Critical Step.

2012-04-23T17:39:00.000-03:00

It is no casualty that “Problem Definition” – in some wording or other – is an integral part of all the step-models described in a previous post.
However, considering Kevin Kelly’s tenth paradigm: “Opportunities before Efficiencies” subtitled: “Don’t solve problems; seek opportunities”, problem-definition seems to be too limiting a term in many of today’s competitive environments of accelerating change.

Moreover, an organization may not have or perceive to have any particular “problems”. This does not mean to say that it can sit on its laurels, though, even if only because competition, changing customer preferences, technological breakthroughs or even an ad-hoc crisis may present any given organization with a “Houston, we have a problem” moment at any given point in time, more often than not when least expected.

Therefore, I feel it is more adequate to speak of “Problem Definition & Opportunity Finding”, especially because these two are not in any way mutually exclusive.
In fact, the realization that an opportunity has presented itself to the organization, then turns into a “Problem” in the classical strategic-creative context, because it constitutes the problem definition that focuses the creative effort: How to take advantage of it?

Solid problem definition is of absolute essence, whether when solving problems or finding opportunities, because a badly focused, fuzzy problem- or opportunity definition leads inevitably to bad “output”: poor, or – worse – useless ideas and a waste of precious time, thus, resources.
This may not be a disaster in the case of a failing advertising campaign, however, in the case of corporate strategic planning, it may well mean the difference between life or death for an organization.

One of the most frequently observed obstacles in the problem definition process is the inability or unwillingness to “discriminate” – or, in plain English: to choose.
Wanting to be everything to everybody is by far and large the most certain road to poor ideation, closely followed by “fuzziness”: the inability to properly weigh, define or choose between a number of possible problem/opportunity definitions.
This is why “Single-Minded” is one of the most universally used terms in advertising- and marketing briefing models: one single problem to solve, one single target group to address, one single customer need to satisfy, one single proposition to make.

Problem Definition Tools.

• Boundary Examination.
Method to relax, examine or clearer define the problem definition box or outline, ideally taking it to a higher level of abstraction. Also popularly called “Pushing the envelope” which is both an appreciated attitude in a creative person and a mind-set for ideation: “Let’s see how far we can push the envelope”.

• Causal Mapping or Cognitive Mapping.
The creation of a type of concept map in which the links between nodes represent causality or influence. Causal maps can be particularly useful when analyzing intricate problems or complex systems.

• Chunking.
Breaking down a complex problem, product or a system into its constituent parts.

• Clarification.
Language analysis tool which helps to determine whether a problem definition is properly worded. Checks for deletion, referential index deletion, unspecified verbs, nominalizations, modal operators, lost performatives, generalizations and universal quantifiers, (pre)suppositions, inadequate causal modelling and mind reading, all of which are lingual phenomena that stand in the way of clear, concise, single-minded and unequivocal problem definition. Ed.: Although “jumping to conclusions” is not part of the original description of clarification, it is – in my experience – also often part of ill-defined problem definitions.

• Component Detailing.
A method similar to chunking, especially practical for product improvement or the analysis of complex systems that may be broken down into multiple parts or sub-systems. Instead of looking at the system as a whole, problem analysis and definition focuses on its parts, multiplying the solving opportunities.

• Concept Fan.
A method that allows focusing on a problem definition beyond the original one. Mostly used when the original problem description does not lead to satisfying solutions. Concept fans may also be useful in ideation or concept development.

• Criteria for idea-finding potential.
(Isaksen, Dorval, Treffinger [1994]) Checklist for reviewing a problem statement: Does it show the way to lots of ideas?; Is it the right question?; Does it clearly locate ownership?; Is if affirmative in its orientations?; Is it free of criteria?; Is it stated briefly and clearly?

• Envelope.
Problem definition “box” or outline. Treating and visualizing the problem definition as an envelope may be more conductive than visualizing it as a box, because its higher flexibility leaves more room for redefinition.

• Goal Orientation
(Rickards [1974]; VanGundy [1981; 1988]). Checklist for analysis of problem statements: detailed general problem description; outline of the desired outcome; needs, problem implied inherent difficulties and external constraints.

• Multiple Redefinition.
Generally the result of poor, fuzzy problem definition or multiple disagreeing problem owners. During the ideation process, the solver(s) are confronted with repeated problem redefinition, which – apart of being extremely frustrating – renders solving efforts all but useless. Multiple redefinition is also a creative technique which allows different angles on a given problem by rephrasing it’s definition.

• Nominal Group Technique.
(Bartunek and Murnighan [1984]). Used to determine poor problem definition. Team members and/or outsiders are asked to list ideas related with the defined problem. If these ideas cannot be clustered into (somewhat) coherent groups, the problem may be considered ill-worded, ill-defined or both.

• Other People’s Opinions.
Allowing outsiders to review or criticize a problem definition or solution. Also frequently used in advertising agencies for off-the-wall consumer review: “Let’s ask the secretaries”.

• Problem Owner/Stakeholder.
Individuals or parties responsible for or affected by the problem and/or the problem definition, and – therefore – the approval of its proposed solutions. It is possible (or even likely) that a problem has multiple owners, however, it is of essence that they agree on its definition.
If the problem owners turn out not to concur – which generally becomes obvious only after the ideation process has started – a phenomenon called “Multiple Redefinition” tends to present itself, leading to lost time and wasted resources.

• Union Skinning.
A problem redefinition method that either looks to redefine the problem definition by expanding it beyond its boundaries – wording it in more generic or different terms, taking it to higher level abstractions or by looking at adjacent areas (layering) – or by narrowing it down – for example by focusing on problem sub-areas (peeling).

216 Creative-Strategic Thinking Tools, Classified into Categories.

2012-04-22T15:45:00.000-03:00

Since my original research into models and theories for applied creative thinking – almost ten years ago – a number of new models have surfaced, while the associated list of concepts, methodologies and tools has grown considerably; apparently for two reasons:
1 - The inclusion of the Strategic Thinking parameter in the research field.
2 - An explosive growth of interest in “Creativity” since the turn of the millennium. In the first place from local and/or national governments and researchers, but also from corporate leadership, educators and parents.

As a result of this renewed interest, a large number of publications and studies address the topic and at least three Web sites contain extensive compilations on creativity, strategy, problem solving and most everything related.

On the other hand, being Advertising the oldest and by far the largest of all the so-called Creative Industries, it is a little disappointing to have to come to the conclusion that its contributions to a better understanding of creativity and creative thinking are scarce, in spite of its long-standing collaboration with the cognitive sciences, particularly anthropology, psychology and sociology.The most important individual contributions to the field come from advertising agency BBDO co-founder Alex Osborn, who is the father of Brainstorming, still – by far and large – the most widely used tool for collaborative ideation, Creative Problem Solving (CPS), 7-step model, and Osborn’s Checklist.

Sources.
Apart of influential works by authors such as Edward de Bono (Lateral Thinking [1970] and Six Thinking Hats [1985]), Roger van Oech (A Wack on the Side of the Head [1985]) and Michael Michalko (Thinker Toys [1991]), some interesting recent publications are “Guerrilla Creativity” by Jay Conrad Levinson (2001), “Creativity Workout” by Edward de Bono (2008), Frans Johansson’s “The Medici Effect” (2010) and “The Dark Side of Creativity” by David & Arthur Cropley, James Kaufman and Mark Runco (2010).

The most helpful on-line resources have been the Techniques for Creative Thinking and Virtual Salt Web sites by Robert Harris, the site Dictionary of Creativity by Russian Ph.D. Eugene Gorny and – most of all – a site maintained by UK-based Mycoted.
All of these have been an invaluable source of information and the starting point for further research, while Wikipedia has been primary consulted as a complementary source.

After cross-referencing all the information available from previous research, literary- and on-line sources, eliminating duplicates and inapplicable references, I ended up with a long-list of 216 models, techniques, tools, methods, theories, systems or processes which are – in some way or another – deemed by their authors to be oriented at or related to creative-, innovative-, strategic thinking or problem solving.

Among these, I have introduced my own, personal, and rather unscientific tools, such as “Union Skinning” and “Mental Visualization”, for example, not claiming to have invented something new (since there is nothing new under the sun), but rather to illustrate personal creative thinking tools that may be useful to others.

Classification into Categories.
The first – apparently untried – step for getting a better insight into this ocean of data, is to classify topics into categories, after which it might be possible to cluster similar techniques, briefly describe each one and there upon ascertain their usefulness and possible areas of application.
Further analysis of the found terms allowed to classify them into 11 grand categories, according to their – primary – area of application. Even though a number of terms could have been categorized in more than one category, I have (subjectively) assigned them according to their apparent primary field of application, so to avoid duplication in multiple categories.

Primary Application Areas:
1 - Problem Definition
2 - Analysis
3 - Creative Process
4 - Creative Thinking Methods
5 - Tools & Techniques for Ideation
6 - Collaborative Ideation
7 - Idea Evaluation / Selection
8 - Psychology & Creativity
9 - Education
10 - Organization & Human Resources
11 - Out of Scope

Important note:
All the basic concepts explained on this site are either cited, rephrased, summarized or compiled from one or more of the sources mentioned previously, and do not pretend to be original thought.
The sole purpose of this has been to create a searchable catalog of creative- and strategic thinking processes, methods and techniques, in order to fulfill on my objective of identifying, classifying and qualifying pedagogic methods and means aimed at contributing to the advancement of creative- and creative-strategic thinking in individuals and organizations.
In the large majority of cases, I have expanded on this basic content by adding personal experiences and recommendations, reflections, observations, anecdotes and examples. The latter are – without exception – mine.

Models for the Creative Production Process

2012-04-20T00:55:00.000-03:00

The creative process consists of a series of identifiable stages, documented in models such as the 5-step model (Wallas - 1926), 7-step models (Rossman - 1931; Osborn - 1953), 3-step model (Creative Problem Solving or CPS; Osborn - 1979), 6-step model (revised CPS model; Isaksen/Treffinger - 1985), and the “Model for Creative Strategic Planning” (Bandrowski - 1985), the latter aimed at achieving a better balance between the creative and analytical aspects of the afore mentioned models.
The existence of many more models – like the Basadur Simplex Process, for example – has been confirmed through desk research, however, none of these appear to contain significant new insights into the processes as described in the mentioned models; they generally either recombine steps from one or more of these, add intermediate steps, or are a combination of process and method, as is the case of TRIZ (Teoriya Resheniya Izobreatatelskikh Zadatch), for example.

The following models are universally recognized by experts and educators as either the most relevant or easiest applicable theories on the subject.
As their names aptly suggest, all consider a series of sequential processes or steps, some of which coincide, while others not.

3-Step model (original CPS model - Osborn):
• Fact-Finding
• Idea-Finding
• Solution-Finding

5-Step model (Wallas):
• Preparation (definition of issue, observation, and study)
• Incubation (laying the issue aside for a time)
• Intimation (the sensation that a solution is emerging)
• Illumination (the moment when a new idea arrives)
• Verification (reviewing and qualifying the solution)

6-Step model (CPS revised; Isaksen/Treffinger):
• Objective-finding
• Fact-finding
• Problem-finding
• Idea finding
• Solution finding
• Acceptance finding

7-Step model (Osborn):
• Orientation (problem definition)
• Preparation (data gathering)
• Analysis (review of the relevance of gathered data)
• Ideation (generation of ideas)
• Incubation (laying the problem aside)
• Synthesis (stripping ideas down to their essence, recombining ideas)
• Evaluation (selection of the most valuable ideas)

7-Step model (Rossman):
• Observation of a need or difficulty
• Analysis of the need
• Survey of all available information
• Formulation of all objective solutions
• Critical analysis of possible solutions for advantages and disadvantages
• Invention – the birth of the new idea(s)
• Experimentation – find/select most promising solution(s), perfection of their final form

Model for Creative Strategic Planning (Bandrowski):
• Analysis
– standard planning
– insight development
• Creativity
– creative leaps
– strategic connections
• Judgment
– concept building
– critical judgment
• Planning
– action planning
– creative contingency planning
• Action
– flexible implementation
– monitoring results

The Advertising Agency: Strategic Planning and Creative Production.
As you may have realized, these models are – without exception – flow-models of the processes to take place. Notwithstanding, they do not provide any practical tools for applied creative thinking, nor assign responsibilities to specific areas of knowledge or expertise.

Contrarily, observed standard advertising agency practice divides the strategic-creative production process into specific knowledge areas, such as Account Planning, Creative, Client Services, Media and Production, in all of which different levels of applied creative thinking (are supposed to) take place.
Yet, the two areas in which the most mission critical creative thinking processes of any advertising agency take place are the Strategic/Account Planning & Creative departments.

7-Step model for Integrated Creative Planning & Production (ICPP):
The “typical” advertising agency creative production process is in practice probably closest to the Bandrowski model, with 2 additional steps (1 - Orientation and 8 - Presentation):
1 – Orientation (client briefing/problem definition)
2 – Analysis & Preparation (strategic planning)
---- Orientation analysis
---- Prospective (data-gathering and research)
---- Intelligence (inventive data processing)
3 – Input Analysis (data- strategy- and creative briefing review)
4 – Ideation (creative production)
---- Idea generation
---- Incubation (laying the problem aside)
---- Illumination (the aha moment)
5 – Evaluation & Discrimination 1 and 2 (internal reviews)
6 – Presentation (client review)
7 – Implementation (execution, production & publication)
---- Follow-up and Feedback

1 – Orientation. In many cases, the client briefing goes well beyond the “Problem Definition” as described in the Osborn 7-step model. The agency briefing may include a wide range of other data, such as target groups, consumer research, competition analysis, marketing strategy, and so forth.

2 – I have divided the Preparation step in tree separate processes, based on models for (military) prospective study, aiming at more precisely describing the processes that take place in an advertising agency’s so-called Strategic- or Account Planning Department.
2.1 – Orientation analysis is a process oriented to determining whether or not the briefing is complete (which it rarely is) to generate a list of questions for the problem owner (Client) and/or a list of "Need to Know" data that cannot be provided by the client and must be gathered through research.
2.2 – Prospective is oriented at gathering relevant data about (possible) objective markets, target groups, competition, and (hidden) customer preferences or -needs, amongst others.
Data gathering is further enhanced by ad-hoc and/or permanent market monitoring, desk research, consumer studies, and so forth.
2.3 – Intelligence is a data analysis process oriented at uncovering unique, unsatisfied needs of customers, so-called “Insights” – part of the Bandrowski Analysis stage – at the creation of added-value- and/or positioning proposals, as well as analyzing markets, competition, opportunities and so forth.

The Intelligence process provides quality input for strategic- and creative decision making, resumed in a “Strategic Plan” which – in turn – leads to a so-called creative briefing or simply: “Briefing”.
Most large, international agencies use proprietary models to structure the briefing itself, requiring the delivery of specific answers to predefined topics, such as target group, competition, product promise, supporting evidence, etc..

Brand Key

The “Brand-Key” model – originally created for Unilever’s brand-planning – but now universally used in academic practice, is an excellent example of one such a model.

3 – Input Analysis is a process oriented at the review of the creative briefing, to identify possible lagoons in information and deciding whether or not the proposed strategic orientation is in line with the client briefing and conductive to creative development.

4 – Creative Production is a process oriented at the generation of large amounts of applicable ideas. It is cyclical and alternates between idea generation (divergent thinking) and idea selection (convergent thinking).
4.1 – Ideation is oriented at the generation of initial ideas, and a ongoing process. Ideation sessions are typically interrupted or paused when they loose momentum, to allow for an attention shift (see: Discontinuity Principle) and/or to make room for incubation.
4.2 – Idea selection and generation is an integrated part of the overall process and takes selected existing ideas to either generate new ideas or “growing” them through modification, expansion, combination, fusion, etc.
This is mostly done after the solver(s) have taken their mind off of the problem (a pause), have given some time to incubation, or because a member comes up with a new idea that's worth discussing.
4.3 – Incubation is a psychological process that takes place on both a conscientious and in-conscientious level. Trained, experienced creative people are capable of mentally processing large amounts of related and unrelated data, until the point of producing a number of qualifying, valuable ideas.
4.4 – Illumination is the “Eureka!” or “Aha Erlebnis” moment. The large majority of creative people know instinctively when they have a valuable, applicable idea, because it is virtually always accompanied by a sensation called “elevation” in Positive Psychology, a phenomenon best described as a near physical state of euphoria.

5 – Evaluation 1 and 2 are internal reviews, the first an ongoing process within a creative team (Art Director, Copywriter) and with creative department leadership, oriented at pre-selecting and/or growing the most valuable ideas.
The second is a more formal review which involves creative department heads, client services executives and – in some cases – agency top management. The objective of the latter is to determine if the ideas are as good as the creative team believes them to be and to check consistency with the client briefing and the outlined strategy.

Even though these steps are named one and two for practical purposes, there is no rule for the number of reviews that may take place during any given creative production process.
If the process goes smooth or a team member has a brilliant idea early-on, reviews may be limited to two or three.
However, it is no exception – especially when working on complex problems or large campaigns – that informal and formal reviews run into the dozens, involve different team members and address different related sub-topics, such as TV-, radio- or print campaigns, digital, specific creative pieces, artwork, and so on.

6 – Presentation or “Selling” is a review of one or more ideas with the client, in which creative proposals or “concepts” are – again – checked against the briefing and evaluated for their potential to generate “impact” with the target group and their ability to help achieving the outset marketing-communication objectives.

7 – Implementation is the execution or production of the client-approved idea(s), with the assistance of designers, film directors, audio producers, photographers, illustrators, etc., after which the Media Department publishes these materials in predetermined media such as television, radio, print media and the Internet, amongst others, according to a pre-established, client approved, so-called “Media Plan”.
7.1 – Follow-up and feedback. The large majority of agencies and client do regular research on campaign performance, top-of-mind, traffic generation etc., information which is fed back to either modify a campaign in execution or to be used as Orientation (step 1) input for a next campaign.

It is important to emphasize that the previously described model is not particular to any specific agency, but has – as far as my knowledge goes – been extensively, successfully used on a global scale and throughout the advertising industry for at least the last 50 years.

What is creativity?

2012-04-11T16:21:00.000-03:00

The term creative is “fuzzy” – in others words – means many different things to many different people.
This makes it necessary to clarify both the meaning and context of the word within the framework of this blog.
There are numerous definitions of the term, but English creative education expert and Ambassador for the European Year of Creativity and Innovation – Sir Ken Robinson – defines it so: “The process of having original ideas that have value”.

This is a practical definition for two reasons:
1 – It establishes that Creativity is the result of a process.
2 – It establishes that the Creative process is directed at generating valuable, original ideas.

Derivative of this definition is that the quality, originality and value of an idea are “umfeld” – environment – determined: where it may have value in one context, it may be worthless in others.
Moreover, where it may be unoriginal in one context, it may be original – thus – valuable in others; this explains why the “copy/paste method”, that is: copying an idea from one context to another, is a basic, yet useful creative tool.

In his book “The Medici Effect” environmental scientist, Harvard MBA and writer Frans Johansson extensively explores this concept, explaining how copying or “borrowing” concepts from one culture, field or area of expertise to another may inspire the generation of large quantities of new, valuable ideas.

Changing the context or application of an idea is a creative process considered as valid as generating “new” ideas, because context-idea recombination is a “lateral thinking” process, directed at creating value from something that is initially worthless.
Another example is ”Cliche Recombination”, which is a frequently used creative technique in advertising.
It derives its value from taking a universally known stereotype, truism, fact or “played out” idea and putting it into a new light.
A recombined cliche is universally recognized by its target audience and derives its impact from a surprising new context or meaning.

Further on in this blog I will be discussing a series of models and tools related with creativity and strategy: strategy tools, prospective research & scenario mapping, problem definition, creative process and tools for creative thinking, amongst others.

Am I creative?

2012-04-10T01:57:00.000-03:00

Popular believe has it that creativity is reserved to the so-called “Creative Elites”, located at the top of the white-collar chain in so-called “Creative Industries”, e.g. arts, advertising, design, motion picture, engineering, R&D, and so on.
This conviction is probably the most undesirable of all collateral damages caused by industrial-revolution education, and nothing could be less true.

Human beings are born creative, human evolution is the result of that creativity and people apply it in every aspect of their everyday lives.
People consciously or unconsciously use creativity to solve every day problems, but probably the most obvious example of human creativity is lying: the ability to present others with more or less elaborate constructs of alternative truths.

Unlike the many creative skills extinguished by industrial-revolution schooling, lying is the one universal creative social skill that upbringing and education are apparently incapable of eradicating, even though it is most likely the first “do-not-rule” parents and educators bring to bear on a young child: “Thou shalt not lie”.
The richness of the concept and its deep embedding in universal culture is best illustrated through language.
An article on Wikipedia identifies no less than 21 different types of lies, while cognitive science has busied itself with the phenomenon ever since Augustine of Hippo’s “Taxonomy of Lies” (± AD 395).

Thus, where creativity assessment is useful to determine the kinds and levels of creative ability an individual possesses or preserves, the question “Am I creative?” may be answered rhetorically: “How well do you lie?”.
Since children start to lie convincingly at a very early age (four and a half years) – a milestone commonly known as Machiavellian Intelligence – there is still hope for the survival of creativity in our children, society and organizations.

Big Ideas vs. Small
Along with the misconception of the creative elites, the industrial revolution left behind another immovable concept in today’s business practice: the “Big Idea”.
As a result, “Small Ideas” from non-members of an organization’s established creative elite – secretaries, janitors, drivers, etc. – are often discarded, ignored or ridiculed, instead of fostered and “grown”.
Small ideas are frequently the result of the close observation of habitual business practice, combined with an intimate knowledge of an organization, while commonly hidden or self-censored for fear of rejection.

The lack of attention for small ideas contradicts one of the fundamental concepts and objectives of General System Theory (von Bertalanffy [1967]) called “Leverage”.
Leverage, in the Archimedean sense of the word, means exercising a small force to generate a big effect.
Thus, leaders looking for innovative change and a “Big Future” better start paying attention to small ideas and take heed of Man of the Millennium Leonardo da Vinci who is attributed this quote: “Observation is the most important skill of an artist”.

Contrary to the habitual practice in “non-creative” environments, observed applied creativity practice in advertising and other creative industries does not discard any idea – small or big – until careful further examination.
Big ideas can often be grown, or built from, one or more recombined small ideas, while small ideas are also often “Big” enough to solve the pesky little problems that lie at the root of serious, big problems.

One of the first steps any manager can take to stimulate an organization’s creative adoption process is to start listening for small ideas, eliminate the most common barriers for “ideation”, encourage innovative thinking through incentives and publicly recognize and protect valuable ideas and their creators.

What is Creativization?

2012-04-09T13:22:00.000-03:00

With innovation becoming more and more a decisive factor for corporate survival, and – according to the 2010 IBM Global Survey – a concern for 80% of CEO’s worldwide, it is surprising to observe how few organizations have innovation high on their strategic agendas, or even on their strategic agenda at all.

I believe that innovation starts with creative ideas, while innovation – as seen from a strategic point of view – involves the successful implementation of these ideas within the organization.
Even though in most organizations individuals or small groups may be responsible for the actual generation of new ideas, their implementation is a task that must be shared by the entire organization, and most particularly by its leadership.

The latter is, however, impossible to achieve without the strategic conviction that permanent innovation and reinvention are the only way for an organization to survive and thrive in an environment of permanently accelerating change.

A first problem – according to my research – is that many corporate leaders consider themselves “creative” or “very creative”, while – in fact – they are not; at least not according to classical creative assessment standards.
It seems fair to conclude that leaders who believe themselves to be (very) creative, but are not in fact, are likely to have similar misconceptions about the creative environment in their organizations, the incentives placed on ideation and the openness, receptivity towards the ideas of its members.

58% Of my respondents believed that their organizations encourage ideation by their members “considerably” or “very much”, while the same percentage believed to have “good” or “very good” mechanisms in place to receive these suggestions or ideas.
This is stark contrast with the 2007 McKinsey Global Survey, which found that – of 2.100 senior managers interviewed – over 65% were only “somewhat”, “a little”, or “not at all” confident in this area.

According to the same report, although more than 70% of senior management consider innovation key to their corporate future and a top-priority, only 34% say that they manage innovation as a part of their leadership team agenda, another third say they manage it on an ad-hoc basis (whatever that may mean), while for an astounding 19% neither growth nor innovation are part of their strategic priorities.

Furthermore, in many organizations creativity is still seen as a threat to stability and creative people as “loose cannons”, which could actually be true if an organization has no strategies in place to take advantage of the creativity of its members.
Also, the concept of innovation is often limited to the context of creating new things (products, services), while omitting the other positive and stimulating effects an innovation-fostering corporate environment may have: allowing people to express- and enjoy themselves, to grow, feel fulfilled, listened-to, challenged, happy to go to work.

In this blog I will be discussing a number of ideas, tools and strategies that may help organizations as well as individuals to transition into the permanent change model required by XXI Century business.
In other words: “Creativize” their thinking, strategies and organization.
Please feel free to comment, debate and/or contribute.