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Creativ-eLetter – Newsletter November 2015

January 5, 2016

NOVEMBER 2015

 

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WHEN STUCK, GO BIG!

Robert H. Frantz, MSc., BSEE
The 9:01 Project™
Creative Oklahoma cSchool Faculty

All of us are stuck on a problem at one time or another. Sometimes it’s a problem with big consequences, and sometimes it is a little problem that just won’t go away.

When you have exhausted all your normal ways of solving problems, what can you do?

One model of creative idea generation includes two simple stages: get a big idea, and then elaborate on it (Davis, 1999). That seems reasonable, but there’s a lot of implied magic there.

Just how do you do that?  Let’s look at four ways.

Future Headlines
During a long-range planning and strategy session for an Oklahoma City non-profit organization, the planning team was rather stumped by the objective to create 5 to 10 goals for the organization 25 years from now. There were just too many unknown factors blocking our imaginations. 

I sensed that most of the planning team members were oriented towards written language – several of them were taking notes, and they were paying a lot of attention to the handouts.

So, we divided our group into teams of 2 – 3 people each. Each team was asked to imagine a newspaper in the year 2037 in which there were two future headlines about the organization. What do those headlines say?

They wrote those imaginary headlines down, discussed them in their small groups, and selected two of them per group. Next, we asked them to work together in their small teams to write the first paragraph of each article to go with each of the headlines. Finally, we asked them to write a few more paragraphs for each article, explaining in more detail how the NPO reached this goal. 
From this, we obtained some crazy and unrealistic goals, but we also obtained 5 very new, fresh and achievable long term goals. This technique overcame the blocks on the imagination by engaging their verbal/written cognitive skills and by allowing them to initially ignore details regarding far-reaching ideas. This released their imaginations to wander into the future, towards more expansive ideas. 
This textually-oriented approach to generating ideas is useful for team members who are verbally referenced in their thinking styles, such as people who draft strategic planning papers, construct policies and procedures, authors, lawyers, and avid readers.
Visionary Thinking
Travis N. Turner, Esq., writes at CreativeLeader.com about another idea generation technique called visionary thinking (Turner, 2011) in which you “set the objectives and ideal destination” for your organization or solution by “conceiv[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][ing] of the result you want to create.” (Citing Fritz, 1989, p. 51). 
Turner delivered a learning experience at the Florida Creativity Weekend in 2012, at which he provided an easy-to-use worksheet that guides a group leader through stages of:
a. Purposeful thinking (listing desired outcomes).
b. Picture thinking (what does it look, sound, feel, smell and taste like?).    
c. Potential thinking (what are all the good things that could happen as a result of the outcomes?). 
d. Possibility thinking (who has done something like this, how did they do it, and how could you do it?). 
This approach to idea generation engages visual centers in cognitive thinking. If you notice your team has a preference towards visual presentations, such as charts and diagrams or graphical designs, I can highly recommend this approach. Mr. Turner’s full presentation and worksheet are available online for downloading. (Turner, 2012).
Storyboarding
Another form of ideational thinking which engages visual cognitive processes is called storyboarding, and it has been used for centuries to organize and plan activities (Forsha, 1995). It is a highly productive idea tool for people who are sequential thinkers. Sequential thinkers are very valuable to organizations because they tend to be excellent planners and project managers. It can be tough, however, to be a sequential thinker and to be asked to make a leap far beyond today’s situation into the future because sequential thinkers inherently want to know all the steps to get there first (e.g., turn by turn directions in a GPS).   
Here’s how storyboarding works:  using 6 to 8 squares or panels, you define your current situation by drawing a picture in the first panel to “capture the essence” of your problem now. Then, you draw an image in the last panel to capture the essence of an ideal future situation, remembering to defer judgment and criticism because this is only supposed to be an ideal solution not a practical one.  Next, you fill in the remaining panels with drawings representing reasonable steps leading from now until then, and lastly, you elaborate on details for each panel. (Puccio, 2011). 
This process helps get your team’s minds off the complexity and magnitude of the problem of today so that the solution can be broken down into realistic steps or stages. It caters to the sequential style of thinking by promising to work out a plan later.   It also helps by shifting thinking away from an emotional response, such as frustration, anger, confusion, and worry, towards spatial and visual analysis modes where we tend to be much more logical and rationale. 
Storyboarding is an excellent idea generation technique for team members who are visually centered and sequentially motivated.  
3D Storyboarding
Steve J. Hammond, MSc., MBA, an adjunct faculty member for innovation and strategy at the Illinois Institute of Technology’s Institute of Design, with whom I have co-taught a masters of intellectual property law class, has developed 3D storyboarding.  Like regular storyboarding, you start by creating the 6 – 8 empty panels, but instead of doing this on poster board or a white board, you use tape on the top of a table to make the panels. (Hammond, 2015) 
In the first square, the team makes a 3D representation of today’s problem using toys, craft materials, Legos, or even food. In the last square, the team makes a representation of an ideal solution, also using toys, craft materials, food, etc.    Then, the problem solving team fills in the rest of the squares with additional 3D representations connecting the first and last square with imaginary intermediary steps. You can work backwards from the solution, forwards from the problem, or even work from the middle outwards. 
You might think this sounds like a simple variation on the storyboarding technique, and in a way, it is.  However, the three-dimensional aspect of it actually engages different cognitive centers for problem solving.  This technique favors thinkers who have a physical style of cognition and who are spatially referenced, such as engineers, architects, interior designers, sculptors, dancers and athletes. 
And, if you use food for the 3D models, this can be an excellent method of engaging other senses such as smell and taste to trigger more ideas with a greater breadth and variety. It also happens to be a great lunch time activity for a planning session.
Conclusion
So, when you are really stuck for an idea to solve a problem, GO BIG! Imagine an outlandishly, even impossibly perfect solution way out in the future. At first, don’t worry about how you got there or if it is even possible, just let yourself imagine a perfect situation. Make a representation of the crazy good future solution by describing it in text, using toys to illustrate it, sketching it or even playing with your food. 
Then, make a representation of the problem as it stands today. Now, create multiple intermediate steps or stages between now and then, here and there. 
Here’s the magic of these four ideational techniques. While the perfect future situation may remain purely an idealized outcome, you will likely find that one of the intermediate steps is a great and very practical solution. Instead of being a perfect solution, it may be an acceptable improvement on the problem.
And, using these techniques, you already have the framework of the steps to achieve it from your elaboration steps.
You can think of this a little bit like negotiating with your imagination. In negotiations, you should never make your final position as your first offer, right? You always reserve some wiggle room to negotiate with the other party. With the Go Big! idea creating process, you ask your imagination to make you an initial offer, one you will certainly refuse. But, in the negotiations, which are the definitions of the intermediate steps, you find a workable useful solution.
For more information on these techniques or to contact any of the creativity practitioners mentioned, including the author, please contact Creative Oklahoma.
About the Author
Robert Frantz is registered U.S. patent agent and a certified mediator by the World Intellectual Property Organization of the United Nations. He is currently working towards a doctorate degree studying the use of creativity science in mediation, breaking cycles of conflict, and behavioral epigenetics. He holds the Master of Science degree in applied psychology, sociology and neurology in creative problem solving, change management, and innovation from Buffalo State (State University of New York), and a bachelor degree in electrical engineering from the University of Oklahoma.  Robert has received 11 patents and two international engineering competition awards. He has obtained nearly 300 patents for global companies such as IBM, Lenovo, GE, Google, Trend Micro, and Ricoh, as well as for many start-ups and SMBs. He is also part of the Creative Oklahoma cSchool Faculty, a Creative School program founded by Creative Oklahoma.
References
Davis, Gary A. (1999). Creative Process: Steps and stages, perception changes, and imagery.  Creativity is Forever (p. 130). Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt.
Forsha, H.I. (1995) Show me: The complete guide to storyboarding and problem solving. Milwaukee, WI: ASQC Quality Press.
Fritz, R. (1989).  The Path of Least Resistance: Learning to become the creative force in your life. New York: Fawcett-Columbine.
Hammond, S. J. (2015). Retrieved on 09/30/2015 from http://www.stevejhammond.com.
Puccio, G. J.; Mance, M; and Murdock, M. C. (2011).  Creative Leadership (p.147). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Turner, T. N. (2011). Developing Creative Leaders through Creative Problem-Solving & Facilitation Training.  Retrieved on 09/30/2015 from http://www.creativeleader.com/developing-creative-leaders-through-creative-problem-solving-facilitation-training/
Turner, T. N. (2012). Florida Creativity Weekend.  Retrieved on 09/30/2015 from http://www.creativeleader.com/florida-creativity-weekend-march-2-4-2012/
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Creative Oklahoma is a statewide non-profit organization advancing Oklahoma’s creative economy through innovation-focused initiatives in education, commerce and culture. The mission is to transform the state of Oklahoma through projects and collaborative ventures that help develop an improved life quality for its citizens and a more entrepreneurial and vibrant economy. For more information, please visit www.creativeoklahoma.org.






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