Thinking about thinking...a great blog

If you're like me and enjoy thinking about thinking - and thinking of ways to improve your thinking - then I highly recommend Luciano Passuello's Litemind site.

The site has a simple mission:

To explore ways to use our minds efficiently.

The site is full of information on creativity skills, memory skills (including such methods as the Major system and Roman Room system), self improvement strategies, and Mind Maps on well-known books (such as The Medici Effect). There are also some wise words on overcoming "the dreaded P" - procrastination!

I can't recommend this blog highly enough.

Flip-flop Technique for Creating Ideas and Fresh, Relevant Brainstorming Challenges

This flip-flop technique can quickly generate a list of ideas and fresh, relevant brainstorm challenges. There are three key stages:

1) I create (or find an existing) brainstorm challenge
2) I create an idea for that challenge
3) (The most important stage) I create a hindsight-brainstorm: that is, I look at the idea created at stage 2 and ask "If a brainstorm challenge had created this idea, what could that brainstorm challenge have been? How would it have been worded?"

Example

Say, for example, I am the boss of a pizza shop and I want to improve my business. I can set the brainstorm challenge:

How can I improve my pizza shop?

It's not too difficult to create an idea for this. Maybe:

Have a varied menu

Now for the hindsight-brainstorm: I ask myself: What brainstorm challenge could've created that idea? Maybe:

How can I attract customers?

The cycle continues and for this I create the idea:

Provide small samples of pizzas

Hindsight-brainstorm: What brainstorm could have created this idea? Maybe:

How can I get people to try my pizzas?

Idea: Go to local sporting events and open a stall with samples

Hindsight-brainstorm: How can I use local sporting events to attract customers?

Idea: Put advertising posters at local sports grounds

Hindsight-brainstorm: How can I use local sports grounds to promote my pizzas?

Idea: Offer a catering service for events/functions held at the sports ground

Problems and possibilities

Problem: Can't think of any ideas?

If my brainstorm challenge is:

How can I make my pizza menu interesting?

and I can't think of any ideas, I can simply ask the question: In what ways is the pizza menu already interesting? One possibility could be:

It has lots of striking colours

which expressed as an idea reads:

Add lots of colour to make the menu more appealing

From this point I can either build on that idea and increase the degree (add yet more colours (maybe to appeal to children?) to the menu) or create a hindsight-brainstorm such as:

What would make my menus more appealing?

Problem: Can't create a hindsight-brainstorm?

If I'm struggling to think of a hindsight-brainstorm for any idea, I can choose one of Kipling's six honest serving men -- what, who, when, where, why, how (here's a mnemonic) -- and pick one random word from the idea to see if I can combine the two to construct a hindsight-brainstorm challenge.

For example, if my idea is:

Provide small samples of pizzas

My hindsight-brainstorms could be (among many options)

(What & pizza) = what can I do with pizzas to attract new customers?
(Who can't create a hindsight-brainstorm for this idea)
(When doesn't work)
(Where doesn't work)
(Why & pizza) = why would I cut a pizza into small pieces?
(How & small) = how can I give customers a sample or "small taste" of my products?

Possibility: Keeping one challenge or idea

Of course, at any stage I can decide to keep using one hindsight-brainstorm challenge and continue creating ideas. If the brainstorm is: How can I use local sporting events to attract customers? My ideas could include:

Sponsor a local sporting event
Start a new sports event -- the "pizza shop cup"!
Put advertising at local sports events
Offer discounts to sports fans who can provide a ticket from the sports event

And I can create multiple hindsight-brainstorms from one idea. If my idea is: attract passers-by by putting special offers in the window, my hindsight-brainstorms could include:

Where can I advertise special offers?
Who would be attracted by special offers in the window?
How can I target passers-by?
Why would I be putting something in the window?

Game/Exercise

I started this game/exercise in BrainReactions' Brainstorming Tool :

Flip-Flop Brainstorming Challenges/Ideas: How Can I Improve My Creativity?

Will be interesting to see how it pans out!



brainstorming
ideas
creativity

Quota Listing

I'm an optician, I'm about to leave my premises to put advertising leaflets on the windscreens of local cars. I have hired a temp to help me distribute the leaflets. We have fifty leaflets each to distribute.


Okay, so I'm an optician and I'm sat here ready to distribute the leaflets. Now, suppose that someone walks into my optician's premises and asks "Who's the boss?" Of course, I would answer "I am!" Job done? Question answered satisfactorily? Not necessarily. I can set a quota for my answering of the question; I step into fuzzy-thinking territory and find out how many answers I can create to the question "Who's the boss?"

I call this listing technique quota-listing 25/100. At first I try to create twenty five possible answers to the question and then proceed to thoughts of the first hundred and then beyond. As I do this, I allow a high degree of 'fuzz' in my thinking: I consider how many people could -- even if it's by the smallest, slightest degree -- be labeled "the boss".

The first 25

Boss 1 = me

Boss 2 = my receptionist
Obviously my receptionist plays a pivotal role in the running of the business. So, to a degree, my receptionist is the boss

Boss 3 = my wife
My wife makes a contribution to the business by providing feedback and helping me maintain my well-being.

Boss 4 = the temp
Helping me to distribute the leaflets on this day. A valid contribution to the business

Boss 5 = my most regular customer
Providing regular custom and feedback, and telling their friends and colleagues how good my service is.

Etc to 25

Up to 100

I can opt to complete the listing up to 100, or I can merely acknowledge and entertain the possibility of completing the list to 100; I can ask myself "What sort of person would be numbered 89?" etc.

Boss 38 = the manager of the restaurant next door
How is he the boss? Well, if he provides good food then more customers will come to his shop/the area and thus more people will see my premises.

Boss 50 = the future boss of this opticians
I don't know who he/she is yet, but surely someone will take over the business in the future.

Boss 78 = the editor of the local newspaper who edits my advertisement in the paper
The editor has the power to help my business by printing my adverts.

etc to 100

Beyond 100

I can continue listing beyond 100, or, as discussed before, merely acknowledge the possibility of listing beyond 100. Again I can ask myself questions like "What sort of person would be numbered at 250 or 2400?".

Boss 312 = Tony Blair
Tony Blair? Yes, he's boss to a degree. His decisions will affect the economy and ultimately affect me and my business.

Boss 1045 = my first ever customer
Played a (very minor) role in shaping the business. Made me realise some mistakes I'd made. Put me in a good mood on my first day.

An example of quota-listing for the optician's location

So the question/directive is:

Name the business's location

Location 1 to 25

Location 1 = 22 New Cambridge Road, London
Obviously at number one is the address.

Location 2 = the east end of the street

Location 3 = next to the barber's shop

Location 4 = South England

etc to 25

Location 26 to 100

Location 26 = my home
I take some of my work home. Many important documents are at home. My home address is, in effect, an extension of my work premises.

Location 27 = my car
Contains documents and I spend much time in my car thinking about the business

Location 36 = the map/sign at the end of the road that shows the names of all the shops in this road

Location 57 = the local newsagents: there is an advert for my opticians in the window

Location 89 = the local park
Where I often walk and think about my business

100 plus

Location 101 = the advertisement for my business in Yellow Pages
Another way that my business extends beyond the four walls.

Location 140 = the home of one of my regular customers

Location 812 = the pair of glasses that Mr Rogers bought five months ago
These were once on my premises. There is a chance (and a very slim chance, seeing that this is number 812) that someone will see his glasses (just as they do the glasses on show at my premises) and ask where he bought them.

Location 3063 = the local swimming baths
Providing a great service for opticians: where many people lose contact lenses that need replacing!

etc

The switch to creative mode

There is also a creative mode for quota-listing. Here I make the switch from listing information to trying to generate new ideas. With the listing I was answering the directive:

List (25/100) the boss

but now I set the creative directive:

Create (25/100) bosses

(I colour this blue to differentiate it from the listing.)

The creative-mode is very different from the listing-mode. My first directive reads:

Create boss 1

and I consider what this could mean. The first possibility is this: that I get a partner in the business. I can continue with my creating up to 25:

Create boss 2 = promote my receptionist

Create boss 3 = train the temp in the business

Create boss 4 = start looking for a replacement for when I retire

Create boss(es) 5 = sell shares in the business

etc to 24

26 to 100

There comes a point when I can use the information listed at the listing stage to inspire ideas. For example, number 78 on the list of bosses was: the editor of the local newspaper that prints my advertisements. So although I'm not taking the extreme choice of stepping aside and installing him as boss, I can ask myself how he can play more of a role (a 'boss role', if you like) in the business and pay more of a contribution. The initial answer is obvious: I can proactively ask him if he thinks there is any way my advert in his paper can be improved or if the newspaper can play any role in promoting my business.

Create boss 26 = give the newspaper editor an opportunity to give input

Create boss 36 = (using Tony Blair, number 312 at the listing stage) give Tony Blair a one per cent share in the business. An unusual idea -- perhaps to make some kind of political statement. Sure to attract much publicity. Also, my business could be labeled as a 'typical example of a business' and, at budget time, be used to show how the changes in a budget will affect a typical business.

Create boss 78 = (using 1045 from the listing -- the first ever customer) give some randomly chosen customers the chance to give feedback. Maybe by some market research by phone or maybe by actually bringing them to the premises and asking them for feedback on my services and procedures.

100 plus

Create boss 101 = collaborate with the other shopkeepers in this street: create a "shopkeepers club" where the owners meet up regularly and discuss ways to promote the area and each business

Create boss 983 = utilize passers-by. Stop them and say "Ten seconds of your time. What's your first impression of this opticians as you pass?"

Create boss 4038 = Find the remotest opticians in the world and install it as a 'twin' opticians (like the twin-towning scheme).


Tags:
creativity ideas idea generation brainstorming

500 uses for a paperclip: stepping up the concept level and naming/listing

Stepping up the concept level

There's a solitary red paperclip on my desk that needs five hundred uses. However, when considering that challenge, am I creating uses for that paperclip, all red paperclips, all paperclips in general, or what? What I like to do at the start of a brainstorming challenge is "up" the concept level to dictionary level. On a written brainstorm I remind myself of the need to do this by writing:

The paperclip is a paperclip

where the latter paperclip is the paperclip(s) I would consider as a result of reading a dictionary definition.

Naming/listing

Now that I know I am considering paperclips at the dictionary-level of a concept I can start naming and listing paperclips. The directive can read:

Name paperclip

and I can name paperclips off the top of my head, but I can improve the search by using the directive:

Name X paperclip

where the "X" will be replaced with a random word to help list more paperclip examples.

Naming/listing: using words of two or three letters

For my directive's "X" I usually start by using words of two or three letters. With the random word "key" My directive reads:

Name key paperclip.

I try to list two or three types of key paperclip:

Important paperclips, paperclips used as a keyring, the first ever paperclip manufactured.

Uncovering the "hidden" examples

I like to create a considerable list with the two/three letters approach. This helps to create a multifarious list and uncover the "hidden" examples. For example, the directive:

Name sad paperclip

made me think of an unusual example of a paperclip: Office Assistant. Copious listing helps to uncover more examples -- both the obvious and non-obvious -- and map out the terrain for the challenge.

Using longer words and naming concepts

For my naming/listing directive I can use any random word. So for example:

Name famous paperclip

made me think of this: I traded one red paperclip for a house

However, sometimes a directive will suggest a concept that is worth considering in its own right. With the directive:

Name future paperclip

I can name examples of future paperclips (paperclips I will own, future designs of paperclips etc.) or I can conclude that the concept of future-paperclip is worth listing and remembering in its own right. I can represent this concept with a hybrid-word or opt to make up a neologism.

Using the hybrid-word to list more examples

I can use the above hybrid-word future-paperclip to list more examples. With the directive:

Name next future-paperclip

I could consider: the next paperclip to arrive on the market, paperclips that will by used at the store Next, mooted paperclip designs etc.

Name 500 uses for a paperclip: starting out

As I start out on the classic brainstorming challenge about naming as many uses for a paperclip as possible, there are a number of preliminary stages that I consider:

Switching to present moment awareness
Stating the creative directive
Stepping up the concept level
Naming/Listing

Switching to present moment awareness

Instead of rushing into the exercise of creating uses for the paperclip I can start out by considering present moment awareness. This takes the form:

Now Here Me Doing: creating 500 uses for a paperclip

The full benefits of this will be considered in a later post. But briefly, this information can be changed with the sentence restructuring technique to provide different insights into the challenge and maybe create some other challenges. I could rearrange the information to read:

Creating 500 uses for a paperclip is being done here now by me.

With "me" as the focus word I could consider alternatives such as asking others to participate in the project, etc.

Stating the creative directive

The creative directive reads:

Create 500 uses for a paperclip

As before, the sentence restructuring approach can provide variations or insights into the challenge. So if I rearranged the information to read:

There are 500 uses for a paperclip that you must create

then with "create" as the focus-word I can generate other alternatives such as:

List 500 uses for a paperclip
Find 500 uses for a paperclip
Improve 500 uses for a paperclip.

Stepping up the concept level and naming/listing

Idea generation: the grid technique

I use this grid technique to generate ideas. With this technique I choose an object and mentally superimpose a grid onto the object. With any/each of the squares of the grid labelled as a "square/area" I create a creative directive:

Create X square/area

where the 'X' will be replaced by an adjective or word with an adjectival function.

Example

For my starting object I'll use an object that already has a grid and individual squares in its structure - the tennis net of a tennis court.

I choose a random word to complete my creative directive: in this example my random word is "blood". My directive reads thus:

Create blood square/area

I can consider that the "square/area" part of the directive applies to one specific square, any square, or all the squares. I then ensure that I complete the challenge and guarantee newness - either by creating a thought experiment (or lateral thinking provocation) or by creating a specific new idea.

Here are my thoughts on blood square:

A square that absorbs any blood that lands on it.

My immediate thought is that if the net was from a top tournament like Wimbledon then somebody could sell that part of the net on eBay. Which leads to the idea: cut up the net after tournaments and auction/sell the sections to raise money for a charity.

More tennis net examples (from a 'live' brainstorm)

Create chemist square/area
First thought: the "+" of the squares could be coloured green to advertise a chemist. Which leads to: the squares could alternatively be circular (sponsorship from a tennis ball manufacturer). Further thoughts: some of the circles could be filled in, with the name of the ball manufacturer on the circles.

Create flow square/area
First thought: all of the squares on the net could constantly move (flow along). Further thoughts: sometimes a shot will hit the net and 'bobble over' to the other side, winning an easy point. Is the chance of that happening the same if the ball hits the other side of the net? Problem to highlight: unfair advantages caused by players being at different ends (I'm aware that players swap ends). Example: the problem of the sun in the eyes of a player at one end. Preliminary thoughts on solution: a small portable blimp to block the sun?

Create beg square/area
First thought: a square on the net with the message "please advertise your product/service here for £10,000". Further thoughts: some value is apparent here -- the message would act as a kind of advertising teaser; due to the unusual nature of the message people would be more likely to notice any advert when it eventually appears. Here I also notice an assumption I've been making: that the net is at a top tournament. What if that message appeared on every tennis net in the country? Stepping to a broader concept level: perhaps an advert could appear on every example of a specific thing throughout the country. For example, marathons have a blue-dash line on the road to show runners the route. Perhaps each of the dashes could be replaced with a photo of an energy drink?

Create molecule square/area
First thought: would it be possible to create a version of tennis played at a molecular level? Table tennis could be considered to be a miniature version of tennis -- how far could the miniaturisation continue? What if: the game of miniature tennis occurs on a 'court' the size of a shoe box? Each participant could play the game via a computer which would control the 'rackets' in the box. Further thoughts: maybe there could be a computer game where participants play their opponent via the internet and the game is played on a type of real tangible court at some location.

A second level grid

If I choose to, I can select any of the squares of my grid and again mentally superimpose a grid onto that. With the tennis net example, I can either visualise my grid on objects only (the strands of the tennis net) or imagine my grid within the space of the square (in effect, some of the resulting squares would be in 'thin air').

Project: name five hundred uses for a paperclip

I've been meaning to get this project started and blog about it for some time. The project is based on the classic brainstorming/creativity challenge "Name as many uses for a paperclip as possible". The purpose of this project is to find the most productive ways to create and find uses for the paperclip, explore how focus switching and changing of perspective can occur and, of course, find five hundred uses for a paperclip.

Looking at the uses for a paperclip there are the usual offerings : a toothpick, a bookmark, a hair pin, a key ring, a nail cleaner etc. But I also want to look into how focus-switching and changing of perspective can occur. I mean the kind of focus-switching that can lead to these considerations and ideas:

Start a 'Name a million uses for a paperclip' blog
Contact paperclip manufacturers and ask them for inventive uses
Find more uses by Googling "uses for a paperclip"
Ask other bloggers to post about the challenge on their blogs

Feel free to contribute any uses or new perspectives on the problem.

Ing-est: another technique for listing information about a subject

If I am considering a subject the ing-est technique is a quick technique for directing attention and listing information. With this technique I spot an action that is occurring to the highest degree.

For example, say my creative subject is: the Olympics. I use the format:

What's (action) est?

I choose an action - say, blowing, and insert that into the format thus:

What's blowing-est?

Which means: what is blowing the most?

Possible answers: the Olympic flame, flags, the wind, the javelin as it flies through the air, etc.

People

I can also use the method to list people. This time my question takes the format:

Who's (action) est?

So, with the Olympics example, I can choose an action and insert this in the format:

Who's shouting-est?

Possible answers: a patriotic fan, a coach, an athlete shouting as they win an event etc.

The superlative's superlative

As I go about my daily business I like to nurture a creative attitude - I'll spot problems, ask 'What if?' and be aware of the here-and-now. With such an array of creative techniques available to help think creatively it's possible to suffer from a kind of 'option blindness' -- or paralysis by analysis, like the centipede that doesn't know which leg to move next. The superlative's superlative is a great entry point for creativity and a simple way to set a creative challenge and get the thoughts rolling.

Objects

Aware of the here-and-now I'll consider an object near me or an action I'm doing at the time. With an object, I consider how I could make that object or action into the superlative/ultimate form. So if I was opening a door I could set the challenge in the format:

Make the door the door-est door.

This can be provoke many questions and lead me to consider what the ultimate door (the door-est door) would be like and how it would be defined...

The greatest door? The most efficient door? The largest door? The door that can be used 24/7? The door that can be used by the most people? The most famous door? The door most universally recognised as a door? A door that recognises people who shouldn't use the door and thus automatically locks itself? If I choose one of these possibilities (say, the most efficient door) I can consider how I would go about realising that goal.

Actions

I can also use the technique for actions. So if I'm in discussion with someone I can set a challenge in the format:

Make the discussion the discussion-est discussion.

If a discussion was the ultimate, perfect discussion what would it be like? Super efficient? Super problem-solving? Super honest and free from hidden-agendas?

See also: Fiction: a quick way to make up interesting characters

Using adverbs to help write information about a subject

Adverbs and adverbial phrases can be used with 'prompter questions' to quickly create a list of information about a particular subject. Say, for example, my subject is 'Live8'. My prompter question is in the format:

What's done...(adverb)?

Using the techniques from the Listing Adverbs and Adverbial phrases post I list the following adverbs/phrases:

in the air, with eggs, secretly.

My first question thus reads:

At Live8, what's done in the air?

Possible answers: the airship/helicopters filming the event. Throwing something into the crowd. Waving hands in air.

My second question reads:

At Live8, what's done with eggs?

Possible answers: feeding the performers and stage staff. Throwing eggs at bad acts (!)

And the third thus:

What's done secretly?

Possible answers: smuggling in surprise guests, counting the money collected on the day, big stars leaving the arena.

Cyclical approach

I can use the information listed to list more adverbs. The question "What's done secretly?" led to the answer "big stars leaving the arena". I can now consider adverbs (or adverbial phrases) that fit the action of big stars leaving the arena. For example:

Big stars leaving the arena is done: in a limo, at the end, with bodyguards etc.

I can pick one of these adverbs ('at the end') to form another prompter question:

At Live8, what's done at the end?

Possible answers: the grand finale, the goodbye, crowd dispersion, the big clean up, a final collection at the exits etc.

Ideas

I've found that using this approach can trigger ideas with very little creative effort:

Listing 'throwing eggs at bad acts' led to the idea of doing a comedic Live8 with bad acts such as those who failed in X Factor shows, or groups that released awful records.

Asking 'What's done with regret?' resulted in the answer 'Stars of the 1985 Live Aid watching the show at home sorry about not being included'. This led to the idea of a Live8 that would feature the acts of 1985 who didn't feature at 2005.