WIPED SWABS Thinking Tools

This is a bunch of ten thinking tools I've developed over the years. 

The main point of the tools is to guide my thinking on any topic. It's a bit difficult to define it simply, but basically the idea is that the tools direct thoughts, turning them upside down and inside out to see where they end up.

The ten tools are represented by the acronym WIPED SWABS.

WIPED SWABS stands for:

1) What if I told you...

2) Interruption

3) Positive and negative array

4) Everyone would call it...

5) Dictionary 

6) Superpowers (What would you do if you couldn't fail?)

7) Won't

8) Advice

9) Big or small

10) Sentence operations

I'll go through each of the ten in turn.

The topic I'll be looking at with the tools is: Snakes and Ladders game. At the end of the post I'll link to some examples of the tools used on various topics.

Tool 1: What if I told you?...(WIITY)

WIITY?... is intended to jolt thinking. With WIITY? it's like a mentor is with me who tells me surprise information that provides a jolt. So with the topic Snakes and Ladders, I ask myself, "What information about Snakes and Ladders could surprise me?" and I write it in the What if I told you? format:

What if I told you...There's a Snakes and Ladders club near you.

What if I told you...You can play Snakes and Ladders online.

What if I told you...The most expensive Snakes and Ladders set  is worth millions.

The Feeling Nudge

I can give the way I generate the WIITY a nudge by  naming a feeling to modify the WIITY. I give myself a directive using the template:

Create a WIITY that has an X feeling.

The X will be a randomly generated feeling. Here are three WIITYs that are generated with the feelings critical, general and examine-y:

Create critical-WIITY: Playing Snakes and Ladders might not be as educational as you think.

Create general-WIITY: You could find other games similar to s and l.

Create examiney-WIITY: You could look at your own set and think of ways to improve it.

Tool 2: Interruption Tool

The purpose of Interruption is to simply make myself take a step back and become aware of what I'm doing right now. I will then write it down on paper so I can think about it using other tools. 

It's generated by imagining someone interrupts me right now and says, "What are you doing now?" I answer that question using a sentence or two. So the current simple answer to the question would be, "Writing a blog post about WIPED SWABS". If I was in a game of Snakes and Ladders the answer would be, "Playing Snakes and Ladders".

Baton Approach

There can also be a "baton" approach to Interruption that generates more information about the present activity. With the baton approach, I think about what I would say to the interrupter if I was "passing the baton" to them. That is, asking them to take over my role from that point. In a game of Snakes and Ladders I could respond to the interrupter (baton taker) with, "I'm playing Snakes and Ladders with Steve, I'm on square 37, it's Steve's go".

I can also think about what I would say to a child if I I was passing them the baton. Assuming they're at an age where they know nothing about Snakes and Ladders, I would need to provide a lot of information. It's like the trigger question, "How would you explain this to a child?" It can generate a lot of useful information.

Tool 3: Positive and Negative Array

Positive and Negative Array is about positive and negative thinking. It's also about generating more information to think with. 

It's easy to list a positive and negative for Snakes and Ladders:

Positive: I'll have fun with the family.

Negative: Someone will throw  a tantrum. (Not me.)

With the array I pre-decide a sequence of negatives and positives, then respond to each in turn by applying it to the information above. The sequence for this example is +--+-

The first in the list is +, so:

Positive (of Snakes and Ladders) I will have fun with the family.

The next is -, so:

Negative (of having fun with the family) It might eat up a lot of time.

The next is - again:

Negative (of eating up a lot of time) Chores might not get done.

Then another +

Positive (of chores not getting done) Chores won't matter when it's pure fun time.

And finally a -, so:

Negative (of it being pure fun time) The kids might get too excited and be unable to sleep.

Tool 4: Everyone Would Call It

With EWCI I take a piece of information and ask myself, "What would everyone call it in two words?". So with Snakes and Ladders it could be board game. Or family time. 

The negative thought above listed with Tool 3 - chores might not get done -  could be represented with the two words: chores crisis. Or wrong priorities.  Or balance quandary. 

I can also ask, "What would everyone call it in one word?"

So Snakes and Ladders could be: game. Or competition. 

And for a sentence - like chores might not get done,  the one word could be: problem. 

Tool 5: Dictionary Tool

With Dictionary tool I look at a piece of information - such as a word, sentence, etc - and generate a definition for it that looks like it could be a definition in a dictionary. 

So Snakes and Ladders could be:

A game where a number of players traverse a board while sliding down snakes and climbing up ladders. The first to reach the 100 square wins. 

Family time would be: A time set aside where the whole family participate in an enjoyable activity. 

It can get a bit trickier if there is a bigger chunk of information to define. So with the example the kids might get too excited and be unable to sleep I might apply the Everyone Would Call It (EWCI) to reduce the sentence to a more manageable two words. Those two words could be something like: sleepless kids. The definition for that could be: Kids that are too excited from recent activities and can't settle. 

There is another option that can be used with the Dictionary tool. Its ICO. ICO stands for "Is a case of...". The aim of this is to kind of step up the concept level. I look at information and ask, "This (the information) is a case of what?" So with Snakes and Ladders the ICO could look like:

Snakes and Ladders is a case of...what?

Answer: A board game. 

There aren't really any right or wrong answers, so other possibilities could be: family hobby. Or colourful game. Or numbers game. 

The Dictionary and ICO options can be used together. Here's a sequence of Dictionary and ICO applied randomly:

Snakes and Ladders ICO...a family game. 

Family game dictionary definition: Something the whole family can do and enjoy.

Something whole family can do and enjoy ICO family pastime.

Family pastime ICO: activity unit.

Activity unit dictionary definition: A section of time that contains action.

Tool 6: Superpowers; What Would You Do If You Couldn't Fail? 

Tool 6 is about sparking up the imagination. With Superpower/What Would You Do If You Couldn't Fail? I'm asking:

What would I do if I had superpowers? (Or if I were an all-powerful being, godlike entity, etc.)

and

What would I do if I couldn't fail?

I'll explain WWYDIYCF? first.

WWYDIYCF?

To start off, I go intuitive. I look at Snakes And Ladders and intuitively think about things I'd do if I couldn't fail. Maybe:

Invent an improved version that requires strategy instead of luck. 

Make it an educational tool by doing a version that uses more maths. 

Do a version that introduces more characters and objects with different functions. Eg, Magic wand = multiply two dice to decide how many spaces you move. Banana skin = your opponents must move five spaces back. 

Ask WWYDIYCF?  About Something Else

With this approach,  I look at something unrelated to Snakes And Ladders and ask the WWYDIYCF question about that.  Then I see if I can apply the generated idea to Snakes And Ladders. Examples:

What would you do if you couldn't fail about the local playground?

Answer: Make a tree walk among the trees where people can cross from tree to tree by rope bridges. 

Applied to Snakes and Ladders: Make a 3D Snakes And Ladders game that is played among the trees. 

What would you do if you couldn't fail about a robot?

Answer: Get it to do boring jobs. 

Applied to Snakes And Ladders: Get a robot to pack away the game at the end of play. Get it to store all the tiny pieces - the dice, the counters - that are easy to lose.

What would you do if you couldn't fail about snails?

Answer: Be a snail for the day to see what it's like. 

Applied to Snakes And Ladders: Have an option when playing Snakes And Ladders where a player can play the part of a snake for a while. The snake can move around the board, generally making itself a nuisance to other players. 

What Would You Do If You Couldn't Fail and Had Superpowers?

For the first few ideas I start intuitively:

Go back in time and watch myself playing Snakes And Ladders as a child. 

Devise the ultimate Snakes And Ladders game. 

Devise a robot that draws a Snakes And Ladders game with chalk onto the playground. Every board is unique. It washes away in the rain.

Superpowers About Something Else

Again, I look at something else, but this time I'm asking what I'd do to the thing if I had superpowers. Examples:

What would you do with superpowers about shadow puppets?

Answer: Invent magical gloves that automatically move your hands into the correct position to cast the shadow of the required animal. 

Applied to Snakes And Ladders: Invent magical gloves that always roll a six. 

What would you do with superpowers about paper cuts?

Answer: Invent a new type of skin that heals itself quickly.

Applied to Snakes And Ladders: Invent a board that has "skin" that can heal itself when scratched, and move pieces around.

What would you do with superpowers about the periodic table?

Answer: Invent a smart periodic table that can answer any question about any element.

Applied to Snakes and Ladders: Devise a smart Snakes And Ladders board that asks a player their interests then customises the board to suit their interests.

Tool 7: WON'T

The Won't tool is used to list more information about a subject and look at different angles. To apply the tool all I do is name something about the topic I won't do.

For example:

I won't play Snakes and Ladders right now.

I won't learn the maths to work out the probability of winning from any stage of the game.

I won't try to find the set I used as a kid. 

I can also use the Won't sentences as an introspection tool, where I can look into the psychological reasons why I won't consider an option; am I automatically saying no to something when it could be worth pursuing the idea?

The Absolutely Last Thing I Would Do

To expand the thinking a bit I can also generate ideas about the absolute last thing I'd do. Some examples:

I won't spend the rest of my life playing Snakes and Ladders. 

I won't visit the factory to see how it's made.

I won't start collecting different Snakes and Ladders games. 

Tool 8: Advice

With Advice tool it's like a mentor is with me who offers advice. 

Intuitive start

I start by intuitively making up some advice a mentor could give me:

See if you can play Snakes and Ladders online.

Find out if your family want to play.

Work out a way to play it so pre-maths children can join in.

Advice With a Feeling

I can also create advice where the feel of the advice is coloured by a feeling. The template for this reads:

Create advice with (feeling) feel.

With the feeling dirty selected this looks like:

Create advice with (dirty) feeling = Find out ways you can cheat. 

More examples:

(Greyhound-y) advice: Make a version with cats and dogs instead of snakes and ladders. Or do one with spiders and electric eels.

(Fast) advice: Do time limit for games.

(Leggy) advice: Do a long term tournament with legs, sets, leagues etc.

(Stick) advice: Put Blu Tack on counters so they don't move when board is nudged. (Yes!)

(Teenage-y) advice: Introduce game changes so it's more exciting for teens.

(Link: How to list feelings.)

Tool 9: Big or Small

The purpose with Big or Small is to evaluate the importance of something to me. So with Snakes and Ladders I'll be asking:

How do I see Snakes and Ladders?...as a big or a small thing? Is it a big or small thing to me?

Answer: It's a small thing to me (unless I'm doing blog posts) and as a game it gets quite boring quite quickly.

Big or Small...what?

I can also become mindful of the scale of things by asking the questions:

It's a big...(what?)

and

It's a small...(what?)

and then let those two questions lead me to thinking of an apt word or words.  For example, Snakes and Ladders could be:

A big problem.

A big hobby.

A big challenge.

A big waste of time.

A big argument causer, etc.

It could be:

A small irritation. 

A small pastime.

A small burden. 

A small matter.

A small project, etc.

Tool 10: Sentence Tools

This last tool is made of two tools. Label the Whole and Extract.

Label The Whole

To Label The Whole I choose a word to represent the sentence. I always start with using the label sentence. Thus:

The Snakes and Ladders game last night was great = sentence.

So when I'm referring to "the sentence" I'm referring to "The Snakes and Ladders game last night was great". 

Once I've labelled the sentence as a sentence, I then aim to find more words that could label the sentence. I do this by asking myself:

That sentence is a (what?)

The sentence The snakes and Ladders game last night was great is also: a perception, a fact, an opinion, an information-container, a reflection, a memory, etc. 

Once I've represented the sentence with label words, I can use the labels to generate ideas by thinking what actions I could take on them. Examples:

The perception: Challenge it!

The opinion: Spread it.

The memory: Log it. 

Extract

With Extract Tool I take a word out of a sentence and opt whether to treat it as a verb or a noun. 

For example, with the sentence:

Playing Snakes and Ladders is educational.

I can extract the playing and treat it as a noun (often by putting the word "the" in front). Thus: The playing.

I can extract the educational and treat it as a verb (by adding "ing"). Thus: educational-ing. (I can define what this means if it were listed in a dictionary as a verb. It could mean To use Snakes and Ladders as an education tool. )

I can extract the Snakes and treat it as a verb - Snakes-ing. (If defined by a dictionary it could mean the action of sliding down a snake in a Snakes and Ladders game.)

Brackets

I can also extract chunks of words using brackets and again treat them as a verb or a noun. For example, with:

Playing Snakes and Ladders is educational.

I can bracket (Snakes and Ladders) and turn it into a verb: Snakes-and-Ladders-ing. (Which defined in a dictionary would mean Playing a game of Snakes and Ladders.)

Examples of the Tools Used on Topics