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IDEA-FINDING
OUTCOME: A list of potential solutions which seem promising.Tip! Avoid the tendency to judge your solution ideas too soon. (The opportunity to do so will come in the next step, wherein you apply criteria filters.)"We need a way of creating new patterns in the mind." -- Michael MikalkoThere are many, many different tools available for jarring the brain out of its usual thought patterns, and provoking new ideas. We will work with a few in this manual:
The MatrixThe Matrix is an idea generation tool that can potentially give you thousands of new ideas. In a matrix, you take a few main categories, generate a list of items under each category, and then put together various combinations of items, selecting an item from each category. For example, take a very simple list of categories: SKILLS, TOPICS, PEOPLE. Make a list of SKILLS, a separate list of TOPICS, and a separate list of PEOPLE:
Now you can make a number of run-throughs, taking items at random from SKILLS, TOPICS, and PEOPLE to. This will yield new combinations you might never have thought of:
Of course, you will come up with duds, ideas you would never follow up on in a million years. That's quite alright. Just keep playing with new combinations, and enjoy yourself. Somewhere along the line, you will come up with an idea that will inspire awe. You will say, "My God!" or "Ah Ha!" or "That's a great idea!"Below you will find a grid for an expanded Matrix. You can use it to produce your own ideas. It is suggested that you come up with your own categories that you feel will stimulate your own thinking best. However, if you need a starting point, you could use these categories:
Parallel WorldsParallel Worlds is a name used by Michael Grossman and colleagues for a technique involving analogies and metaphor. In this technique, you select some activity or situation that somehow parallels your problem situation, and use the features and aspects of the metaphoric environment to spark new ideas. For example, in doing team building exercises with corporate clients, Grossman and company will ask the group they are consulting with to think of an analogy for their group. In their book, Innovation, Inc., they give an example of a group that used the Olympic gold medal winning American ice hockey team as their analogy. They made a list of features and aspects of the ice hockey team and their games with the Russian team. Then they made flexible connections between those features and aspects to their own situation. They used a technique called Forced Association to create a second list of ideas applicable to their own situation. See the example below.
Parallel WorldsFollowing is a list of possible activities, situations, and images which can be used as analogies to your situation. It may be to your advantage to choose an analogy that is somewhat removed from your problem. The "distance" between concepts is called "strain." The greater the distance, the greater the strain. Thus, if you want to develop an analogy to human behavior, comparisons to gorilla behavior involves a little bit of strain, while comparisons to star systems involves quite a bit of strain. Generally, the greater the strain, the more novel the ideas people come up with. Also, nature tends to be a particularly rich source of analogies.Try comparing your problem situation to one or more of these:
Mind MappingMind Mapping is a brainstorming technique in which you draw an oval in the center of the page and write a one or two-word phrase in the circle that expresses the central theme of your brainstorm. Then you free associate to that theme by writing ideas that pop into your mind on the page surrounding the central oval. As you scatter your thoughts around the page, draw ovals around each separate idea, thought, association, and connect them to the central oval. This technique helps you slip out of the limiting, structured process associated with outlining or even making lists. Let your mind flow fluidly as you work/play with random associations. Once you've covered your page with thoughts, you can go back and reorganize them in a linear fashion, if you wish. An example of mindmapping follows:
Desires/Needs/Skills Overlap ModelAnother useful way of getting ideas for services is to think about what people want. What do you want to do as a business person? What do your potential customerswant? And sprinkle into the mix a list of skills you either have now or are willing and able to learn. This one is particularly fun and interesting to use because you are taking intrinsic motivation into account; i.e., by asking, "What do you/I want?" You can enhance the stimulation factor of this tool by playing around with alternative questions such as: "What do people crave?" What would really jazz me up?" "What kinds of things do people spend their money on?" "What would be fun and exciting and interesting to do?" You brainstorm three lists, and look for the areas of overlap -- that's where you're most likely to find triple wins.
HCI Use New TechnologyHCI stands for "How can I...?" "How can I use new technology?" is a very simple technique, really, but it can be very powerful as a starting-off point to stimulate new ideas. The author introduced this technique to a group of psychotherapists interested in generating ideas for building practices independant from insurance companies and managed care structures. By thinking about ways of using computers, fax machines, teleconferencing, beepers, CD ROM, etc. they started their thinking from new directions, and were almost guaranteed to create new patterns in the mind. Of course, one may come up with ideas you would never consider appying. That's OK. Any given therapist might never do psychotherapy over the Internet, or advertise a video/CD ROM Hemisync hypnotic weight reduction program over satellite TV -but by being open to new thoughts, a person will eventually get ideas he or she would be willing to put into practice.Next Step: Solution-Finding
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