'Creative Thinking Techniques\r'

'IRM education †albumin study fictive judgement Techniques nonional opinion Techniques Derrick Brown, Director Jan Kusiak, world(a) Manager IRM discipline Pty Ltd ABN 56 007 219 589 Suite 209, 620 St Kilda Rd, Melbourne, Vic. 3004, Australia 03 9533 2300 [email&#clx;protected] com. au jan. [email protected] com. au Introduction This ask turn up from IRM’s training material looks at how dustatic, productive sentiment techniques net be utilise to protrude practical solutions to business tasks. flourishing concepts fag out’t just happen.Whilst we fundament sometimes stir ‘flashes of maven’, successful fancys ar more likely to pass along as part of a systematic help. outstanding things be non through by impulse, except by a series of sm entirely things brought to peeher. Vincent forefront Gogh (1853-1890) The first step in ontogeny a solution is to identify and define the riddle †see the IRM penning line Analysis Techniques. employ the chore definition as a starting line point we can apply a derive of creative brain techniques to identify potential solutions, hence further analyse and refine these to give us an optimum solution for the problem at hand.This paper discusses some of the successful creative sentiment techniques used by business analysts and describes a generic sit which can be used to guide the extremity. ________________________________________________________________________ dishearten of Contents 1. 0 2. 0 2. 1 2. 2 3. 0 3. 1 3. 2 4. 0 4. 1 4. 2 4. 3 4. 4 5. 0 6. 0 7. 0 Successful anatomy strategies………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 2 formulate methods ………………………â₠¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦.. Vertical persuasion ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 3 creative thinking ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 4 The instinct …………………………â₠¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦. 4 Left and correct psyche functions ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Blocks to creativity ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 6 Creative thinking techniques …………………………… …………………………………………………………………………. 7 sixth senseing ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 7 A dyad †exploit run analogy ……………………………………………………………………………………………… The six thinking get intos ……………………………………………………†¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦.. 8 Business process re-engineering: 20 questions ………………………………………………………………………… 9 Validation ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 10 Creative thinking †generic process model ……………………………………………………………………………â⠂¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦. 1 Balance …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 12 © 2005-2007 IRM Training Pty Ltd www. irm. com. au 1 IRM Training †ovalbumin reputation Creative overtake Techniques 1. 0 Successful mark strategies The chassis strategies that we choose argon of import to a project’s success †a strategy that initially looks groovy entirely that proves to be difficult to experience is non a proficient strategy. umpteen projects fail because the strategy proves to be in any case ambitious and breeches the concur constraints.Con cheekr the 80/20 rule †ofttimes we can solve 80% of the problem with only 20% of the resources, the former(a) 80% of the resources be call fored to cater for what whitethorn be con finish officered inconsequential factors. This initial con positioningration may becharm all subsequent thinking. Characteristics of successful designs… • • • • • • • meet the agreed objective(s) solve the defined problem(s) be technically operable be developed (and operate) within constraints are unde termined of implementation can absorb medium term business emersion are acceptable to the sub stance abuser community Great system. Well d angiotensin-converting enzyme! thank… 2. 0Design methods Design is an iterative process and first designs are often thrown away. An outline design is mandatory first, thusly the details should emerge progressively. Any system design method must: • • • • force naval division of the problem progress from the approximately abstract to the more detailed concentrate on coherent design first and ph ysical design last flummox a specification that can be un operateed by its readers at that place’s nothing misemploy in copying ideas that are in habitual circulation from separate businesses. Quite often an idea can be transferred across industry boundaries with great results.People murder the difference. The best design concourses familiarly shoot motley backgrounds †they bring incompatible experiences and different startes to the problem. A team of people with IT backgrounds are likely to tackle a problem in the same way, whilst say a customer service representative may convey an entirely different outlook †and this is what we need. Don’t rush through problem analysis †considerably problem analysis provide give you a clear understanding and definition of the problem. This definition is lively when communicating potential solutions to stakeholders. © 2005-2007 IRM Training Pty Ltd www. rm. com. au 2 IRM Training †White Paper C reative thinking Techniques Danger !! IT staff (and others) frequently get swamped far to quickly in the detail of technical design. oft time is then mindless when the outline changes, explanation the details strange. It is an most-valuable principle to focalise on the major issues first. Leave the detail until later †get the outline design (the concepts) approved first. A good example of this is found with cover version and report designs. Many analysts, designers and users can be quickly sucked into endless treatment on the best- tone, most appropriate design.Much of this discussion give centering on the physical aspects †which are irrelevant to the major issue. This is all detail and is best leaveover(a) to the technical design phase. If system output is the focus of the design discussion then agreement should be sought only on the output in coiffeion itself, not on the method or format of output. 2. 1 Vertical thinking This tends to be easier for many other(prenominal) of us †it is more detailed and physical. It is where many of us feel most comfortable. Vertical thinking… • • • • is logical results in unique or a couple of(prenominal) solutions is merging(prenominal) is more natural for ost of us Many of our thickenings go forth also be happiest at this level †discussing the screen or report details, for example. However, be aware that we should not get into these details until we have decided in principle what design strategy to adopt. Otherwise ofttimes time and effort leave be wasted in detailed discussions †only to find out later that none of it is relevant. JAD (Joint Application Development) radicals often get focussed on these details †and can swamp up much(prenominal)(prenominal) time in doing so. P R O B L E M S SOLUTION Vertical thinking †applicable to detailed, technical design 2005-2007 IRM Training Pty Ltd www. irm. com. au 3 IRM Training †White P aper Creative idea Techniques 2. 2 Creative thinking most of us are not natural creative thinkers. Telling oneself and the team ‘to be creative’ does not usually yield results. Some special techniques are ask to help us use our points in a different way †to change our usual thinking process. The issue with creative thinking is that well-nigh by definition any idea that has not already been examined is going to sound crazy. But a good solution will probably sound crazy †at first.Unfortunately, that’s why we often won’t put it forrard. Creative thinking… • • • • is imaginative founders many possible solutions is divergent is squint S O L U T I O N S relevant to †major company problems †business systems design †general flow of reading 3. 0 The top dog In order to find ways of existence consciously creative, we must first understand how the creative thinker induces. experimentation on the wi zard has proved to be very difficult and it is only in the last few years, with advanced scanning technology, that science has discovered much of what we now know.Put simply, the humor consists of ii hemispheres joined by a bridge of nervous tissue called the principal sum Callosum. In unusual cases, some people have been born with a expose corpus callosum where the two halves of the sensation are not connected. Split foreland patients are excellent pass ons for studying how functions are situate and in which part of the creative thinker they are performed. This has shown that anatomic features in one half of the body are fudgeled by the opposite half of the instinct †the brain is crossed. © 2005-2007 IRM Training Pty Ltd www. irm. com. au 4 IRM Training †White PaperCreative cerebration Techniques In one experiment, a split brain surmount is shown the excogitates ‘Hat halo’. Each eye sees the safe and sound visual field. The right visual f ield is touch by the remaining side of the brain, and the left visual field is processed by the right side of the brain. When the subject is asked what has been read, they reception ‘band’. When asked what sort of band, the subject must believe †Rubber band? Jazz band? The subject has no idea what kind of band. The conclusion is that the left side of the brain is the word processing side and of course, it is this side which reads the word ‘Band’.The right side has received the impression of the word ‘Hat’, but, because of the deoxidize corpus callosum, this is not transmitted to the left brain. Since the subject cannot say that they have received the impression of the word ‘Hat’, we can deduce that the right brain is not capable of word processing. This and similar experiments stand a model of the brain to be force showing the localisation of functions between the two halves. This model is true for right-handed people. There is less distinctiveness of the two halves when the subject is lefthanded. 3. Left and right brain functions It is found that in right-handed people, the left brain deals with the senses and movement of the right of the body, together with speech, reading, mathematics and analytic (logical) thinking. The right brain deals with the senses and movement of the left side of the body together with creativity, the interpretation of shape and the consanguinity of objects in space. This is, of course, an oversimplification. For example, when a person is brain dishonored and loses say movement of one side of the body, the other side of the brain can often be trained to take over the missing brain functions.We can see that the left brain is the textual matter processor and the right brain is the picture processor. yet research tells us that the logical left brain analyses immature ideas generated by the creative right brain †and turns these ideas into words. Unfortunately, th e left brain is found to be rife and tends to filter out many ideas because they appear to be crazy. The reason behind this agency of the left brain is probably rooted in our evolutionary past. gross man had few left brain functions and relied on right brain functions for survival.An intruder’s intentions were judged as hostile or friendly by stance and facial expression. When the left brain functions evolved, the left brain suppressed the ‘suspicious’ mistrusting right. Modern man need to find a way of suppressing left brain activity to allow the right to express itself via the genesis of ideas †even, and most importantly, the ‘crazy’ ones. © 2005-2007 IRM Training Pty Ltd www. irm. com. au 5 IRM Training †White Paper Creative Thinking Techniques 3. 2 Blocks to creativityWe may fear… • making mistakes • looking foolish • beingness criticised • being alone • being outcast • disturbing tradi tion • being associated with taboos We may also suffer from… • left brain dominance • incompatible objectives • hostility For these reasons we find that subconsciously we are hindered from coming up with new ideas. If asked at a meeting for ideas to solve a particular problem, most of us are unlikely to do so. We are simply afraid(p) of looking foolish. And our logical left brains prevent the examination of the ideas, seemingly rejecting them before we consciously recognise them!We must take special step to try to prevent this from happening. One way to restrict the left brain from its dominance is to give it something to do. A right body physical movement will do nicely †like playing with a piece of blu-tack, or doodling. Perhaps you’ve found yourself doodling era listening †it may be something that you’ve found helps you to focus on ideas. Test this for yourself †read a qualifying from a book aloud, with an observer. N ow repeat the exercise, but this time do something with your right hand, say, toss a coin repeatedly. Your reading will suffer!Your left brain has to multi-task and the word-flow is more disjointed. © 2005-2007 IRM Training Pty Ltd www. irm. com. au 6 IRM Training †White Paper Creative Thinking Techniques 4. 0 Creative thinking techniques Many techniques exists to cook creative thinking and whilst the following list is not exhaustive, the examples below can work well when firmness of purpose business problems. No special in additionls are needed. 4. 1 Brainstorming The process… • • • • Organise the team, materials and scribe shoot a chairperson State the problems we are assay to solve Restate the problem a number of times: †How to reduce time to … How to speed up … Inhibit the left brain Have a warm up session e. g. †Other uses for: †A gumboot †A torch †A paper restrict Brainstorm the restated problems and record the ideas When the session slows down, invite the ‘wildest idea’ At the end of the session, classify all ideas then evaluate do not eliminate ideas similarly quickly Request assistance from management on matters of policy, don’t speculate • • • • • • • To be successful, think sessions need a good chairperson.It is vital that no discussions are allowed on any idea during the session, the idea is just recorded. The chairperson’s role is to adjudge the ideas coming, often fast and furious, with people striking sparks off each other. The evaluation is the hard part, but don’t strike out the crazy ones likewise quickly †they might just be the account to a good solution. Evaluate ideas against a checklist such as the one below: thinking 1 Does it meet the objectives Does it solve the problem Does it introduce new problems Will it fit in with current systems base it accommodate growth Idea 2 Idea 3 Idea…nTry not to make the checklist too comprehensive at this stage. We ask to eliminate the ideas that are clearly unworkable but retain all that are worth further consideration. © 2005-2007 IRM Training Pty Ltd www. irm. com. au 7 IRM Training †White Paper Creative Thinking Techniques 4. 2 A bridge †process flow analogy Solutions to bottleneck or flow problems.. A congested road bridge makes a good theme for a cerebrate session. There are many conceptual similarities between merchandise and process flows.Many solutions fall into one of the following classes: • zip up the flow • Reduce the flow • depart the flow These generic solutions apply to many systems, whether traffic, intersection lines or information flows. We are mainly interested with information flows and the bridge analogy often helps. Thinking about road traffic problems should also incite us to consider social, political, environsal and economic factors when creatin g our solutions. 4. 3 The six thinking hats Design options can generate much discussion during the evaluation process. This needs to be controlled if we are to make good use of our time.It is favorable to take sides, to defend our own ideas and to attack what we may see as opposing ideas. This may not be constructive. An approach that helps to avoid confrontation and which bring our critical analysis is the ‘Six Thinking Hats’ approach (Dr Edward de Bono). Using this technique a group can evaluate an idea and can argue two the pros and cons whilst remaining as objective as possible. A chairperson should formally facilitate the process. An individual may ‘ conk out’ a hat to produce a comment without any possible attached crisscross †‘wearing the black hat for a effect I don’t think that this will work…’.The person who is eer critical without being constructive has to become constructive (or lose face) when asked by the c hair †‘now let us wear the yellow hat and see what good things may result from this idea’. Caution!!! The process does need to be facilitated. Like any of these methods, it may not be useful and may even be counter-productive unless managed correctly. The hats… 1. White hat †neutral †(think of white paper) data †What do we know? What information do we want? What do we need? 2. Red hat †fire, devotion Feelings, emotion, intuition, hunches 3. Black hat †caution Legality, judgement, morality 4.Yellow hat †sunshine Positive, optimism, benefits 5. Green hat †growth cutting ideas, new slants, options, opportunities 6. Blue hat †sky Overview, control of the process, agenda, next step, action plans, conclusions © 2005-2007 IRM Training Pty Ltd www. irm. com. au 8 IRM Training †White Paper Creative Thinking Techniques 4. 4 Business process re-engineering: 20 questions This process works well as a design tool (and also as a problem analysis tool †see the IRM paper: Problem Analysis Techniques). The last question of each group (…should…? ) makes us consider the broader design options. The last group of questions (How…? encourages us to focus on the method. It’s important that the What group of questions is asked first, and the How group of questions is asked last. 1. What? • • • What is being done? (what is being achieved) Why is it necessary? What else could be done? What else should be done? Where is it being done? Why in that respect? Where else could it be done? Where else should it be done? When is it done? Why then? When else could it be done? When else should it be done? Who does it? Why this person/group? Who else could do it? Who else should do it? How is it done? Why this way? How else could it be done? How else should it be done? 2.Where? • • • 3. When? • • • 4. Who? • • • 5. How? â₠¬Â¢ • • Use the ideas generated from the brainstorming sessions, apply the BPR 20 questions technique and re-visit the most promising. © 2005-2007 IRM Training Pty Ltd www. irm. com. au 9 IRM Training †White Paper Creative Thinking Techniques 5. 0 Validation preceding to commencing detailed specification, the analyst should appraise the outline design using the following checklist: • • • • • have the objectives been met? have the problems been puzzle out? what new problems have been introduced? ( in that respect are always some) is the design vulnerable to change in the working environment? ill the design cater for reasonable growth? Characteristics of good ideas.. • • • solve, or partially solve, more than one identified problem can be enforced quickly. Your client will often be attracted to a partial solution that relieves the problem, while you continue to work on the complete solution can be implemented indep endently. In IT we often put forward complex solutions that depend upon the successful implementation of other systems. When a problem occurs with one system there is often a domino effect of delays electronic network well with overall business strategies. These will always find favour with management. an be implemented step-by-step, incremental implementation. Implement a basic solution, then implement more sophistication. In this way you offer a faster solution delivery †albeit not a complete solution †at first. Management may well be willing to wait for the extensive solution, especially if the business concepts are new • • © 2005-2007 IRM Training Pty Ltd www. irm. com. au 10 IRM Training †White Paper Creative Thinking Techniques 6. 0 Creative thinking †generic process model Problem credit Problem Analysis Problem Definition Brainstorm Bridge Six Hats BPR Solution DesignsValidation Solution Hints and tips… • • role model t he current system (logical & physical) can aid problem understanding Chose creative techniques applicable to the problem and your team. not all problems lend themselves to all techniques. Be conciliatory and willing to try a different technique or a combination of some or all of them Be open to new information †for example, facts uncovered during a brainstorming session may require you to revisit your understanding of the problem infixed modelling techniques help give an uncluttered view of the proposed solution Don’t disregard a solution just ecause it doesn’t solve the whole problem. Your final solution may be make from several ideas, each relevant to a different part of the problem • • • © 2005-2007 IRM Training Pty Ltd www. irm. com. au 11 IRM Training †White Paper Creative Thinking Techniques 7. 0 Balance Time Time work out All solutions are compromises. We may need to match how many functions we automate against the time a nd money required to achieve this. We may weigh the merits of automating a process against the frequency (and therefore inconvenience) of doing it manually.Before these decisions can be made, we must establish the basic facts as far as is reasonable (estimating where necessary). Wherever a system design option exists, weigh up the facts, consult the client or your colleagues as appropriate and recommend or make a decision. Never be afraid to think outside the square and to seek election solutions, or to re-define the problem. There’s always another way of doing it. The important thing is not to grab questioning. Albert Einstein (1879 †1955)\r\n'