an introduction into creative thinking
TRANSCRIPT
WELKOMWILLKOMMEN
WELCOMEBIENVENUE
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How many years do you think there are between the introduction of the can and
the introduction of the can-opener?
Before we actually start!
An idea can turn to dust or magic,depending on the talent that rubs
against it.
A few cases…….
Case 1
Why? Creativity for ChangeTo find opportunities & to quickly adapt to alterations
Case 2
Case 3
Applied Creative Thinking
The process in which knowledge, thoughts
and inspiration are translated into new
insights, solutions, ideas and concepts,
which have an actual added value for the
context they're developed for.
Definition
A challenge!
How many do you see?squares
THINKINGCREATIVETHINKING
CREATIVETHINKINGCREATIVE
INKINGCREATIVETHINKING
NDIFFICULT!THINKING CREATIVE
FTHINKINGCREATIVETHINKING
CREATIVETHINKINGCREATIVE
THINKINGCREATIVETHINKING
CREATIVETHINKINGCREATIVE
The creative process is almost exclusively done in our minds!
11.200.000bits/sec
5Senses
60bits/sec
Consciously
factor 200.000
Our brain is a network of neurons
100 Billion More than 3000 years!
Millions of bits of information reach our senses per second
The brain is lazy (efficient)
The brain sorts data automatically in existing patterns (archive)
Our automatic thinking system prevents creative thinking
Incoming stimuli follow the paths, proven most successful
Patterns…
Patronen !?Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at an Elingsh
unervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the
ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng
is taht the frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit
pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you
can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm.
Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed
ervey lteter by itslef
but the wrod as a wlohe.
Summer 2009, La douce
Summer 2009, La douce FranceFrance
Unfortunately....
a poor pattern breaker.
The human brain is
a talented pattern maker, and
an excellent pattern recognizer
Why is creative thinking difficult?
LeftLogical Serial processing Reasoning Analysis Abstraction Numbers Language
ImagesParallel
processingOverviewEmotion
GeometryMusic
Art
Creativity in a business-context is about the use of both brain sides:
“whole brain thinking”
Right
Cerebral hemispheres
Try it for yourself!
1-2-3
WRONG
Who is the president of the USA?
Where are we now?
What year is it?
Who was Ghandi?
What color is my car?
Thoughts in our mind always flow in a path of least resistance.
Active diversion is the key to creative thinking
Active diversion is the key to creative thinking
Logical Thinking vs. Creative Thinking
Logical Thinking vs. Creative Thinking
Logical Thinking vs. Creative Thinking
Logical Thinking vs. Creative Thinking
Logical Thinking vs. Creative Thinking
But there are some persistent myths?
Me? I’m not creative!
More ideas, better ideas!
The crazier, the better!
Person Press
How can you make a difference?
Process
Mental Locks!
The right answer
That’s not logical
Follow the rules
Be practical
Play is frivolous
That’s not my area
Don’t be foolish
Avoid ambiguity
To err is wrong
I’m not creative
Challenge
Freedom
Trust –OpennessIdea time
Playfulness -Humor
Conflict
Idea Support
Debate
Risk taking
Dynamism
Red Bull London
Disney Store Headquarters
Box Thinking!
What is the Box?
Step 1: Explore in- and outside the box
Explore
Explore
Step 2: Generate ideas through the box
A: PurgeB: Thinking Techniques
Generate
Step 3: Adjust the box
“If I’d asked my customers what they wanted, they’d said a faster horse” Henry Ford
Step 4: Fit ideas into the box
Nokia: making mobile technology accessible for the elderly
It’s like simple math: + - / *
Stap 5: Play with ideas in the box
Prototype
Step 6: Rank ideas in the box
Have the guts!
Nobody ever achieved greatness
by playing it safe!
Step 6: Rank ideas in the box
Step 7: Enhance ideas in the box
Creativity is 1 % inspiration and
99% perspiration
Step 8: Sell ideas from the box
37 grams of saturated fat
Does this stick?
Step 8: Sell ideas from the box
Does this stick?
Step 8: Sell ideas from the box
PreparationSpace
Time
Mindset
Challenge & Constraints
Principle 1
Springboards
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every
problem as a nail!
THINKINGCREATIVETHINKING
CREATIVETHINKINGCREATIVE
INKINGCREATIVETHINKING
N4 TECHNIQUESTHINKING
CREATIVETHINKINGCREATIVETHINKING
CCREATIVETHINKINGCREATIVE
THINKINGCREATIVETHINKING
CREATIVETHINKINGCREATIVE
CREATIVETHINKINGCREATIVE
4 Thinking Techniques
Clever Copying
Defy Assumptions
Use the Context
Change Parameters
Technique 1 - Clever CopyingTechnique 1 - Clever Copying
NATURE
SOCIETY
INDUSTRY
CHALLENGE!
!
!
!!
It is worth the trouble looking whether a similar challenge has already been solved in an other field.
This is not about direct copying, but making smart use of already proven solution directions.
This thinking principle is based on abstraction of your challenge to enlarge the area in which you can find useful solution directions.
Step 1 Formulate your challenge and make sure it is clear and concreteE.g.: How can we make a new and safer American football helmet?
Step 2 What is the essence of your challenge? What problem do you actually need to solve? In other words:
what do you need to be creative about?E.g.: How can we minimize the impact from direct hits on the head and brains?
Step 3 Elevate the essence of your challenge to a higher abstraction level E.g.: How can you protect something fragile in a bumpy environment?
Step 4 In what other fields is this essential question already solved?E.g.: The packaging industry (bubble wraps, polystyrene, air cushions)The car industry (air bags, crumple zone) .Nature (bump on head of mail goats, woodpecker)
Step 5 Translate the found solution to your own challenge in a clever wayE.g.: Some construction elements of the football helmet are derived from the way the skull of a woodpecker is
constructed, like the flexible air cushions that are cleverly copied from the sponge like mass within the woodpecker’s skull to absorb the impact of a blow to the head.
Silkscreening ButterIntroducing ‘Daily Fresh Sandwiches’ in their own stores was an obvious opportunity for Marks & Spencer, but how the company drove efficiencies into the sandwich business was anything but obvious.
Listen to Martin van Zwanenberg, former division director for food technology: “At the time we entered the sandwich business I was responsible for home services technology and food technology. When I studied the sandwich business, I saw that one of the things we did was to butter the bread by hand. If we wanted to expand, this was unacceptable. We’d have to have everyone in the company buttering bread. A few days later I was visiting a supplier who makes bed sheets for Marks & Spencer. The supplier was using a silk-screen process to print patterns on the sheets. I asked the supplier whether we might borrow their equipment. A couple of weeks later, we filled up one of the ink vats with butter and screen printed butter onto cotton. Now we silk-screen butter onto bread.
Assignment 1
Generate
Solutions for
the growing
problem of
traffic jams.
Technique 2 - Defy assumptionsTechnique 2 - Defy assumptionsEverybody, creative or not, makes assumptions. Whether they are created from earlier experiences or because someone told us so, they sometimes prevent us from thinking of the most powerful, yet simple solutions.
Which assumptions are imposed by the context, someone else or yourself?
Which assumptions can you challenge to open up completely new solution directions, that were there already all the time?
Step 1 Formulate your challenge and make sure it is clear and concreteE.g.: How can we shorten the cue for counters in the supermarket?
Step 2 Try to come up with several solutions for your challenge. .E.g.: We create more pay desks in order to help more people at the same time, we help people pick the shortest
row to prevent irritation, we make sure the cashiers work faster to help more people at the same time to shorten the waiting time.
Step 3 Look at the solutions you came up with up and spot the things they have in common
E.g.: The cues are formed before a fixed counter and it’s important to pick the shortest line, we help people one after the other and people do nothing while waiting.
Step 4 What would happen if we ignore one or more of the assumptions? E.g.: People are not helped one after another at a fixed location, leads to: it doesn’t matter where you are in the
shop to pay and you don’t cue before a fixed desk, as long as you have paid before you leave the store, leads to: RFID chips track your shopping's wireless and you can pay at one of the paying machines
with your credit card.
Millennium Bridge NewcastleThe Gateshead Millennium Bridge is a pedestrian and cyclist tilt bridge spanning the River Tyne in England between Gateshead's Quays arts quarter on the south bank, and the Quayside of Newcastle upon Tyne on the north bank. The award-winning structure was conceived and designed by architects Wilkinson Eyre and structural engineers Gifford.The bridge is sometimes referred to as the 'Blinking Eye Bridge’ or the 'Winking Eye Bridge’ due to its shape and its tilting method.
The bridge’s design is due to one of the constraints in the design brief. The bridge had to open and close for a minimum amount of energy.
The architect could not solve the problem with the conventional solutions. During the design process they chose to defy one of the largest assumptions of all. A bridge should go from A to B in a straight line.
Until today it is the only bridge on earth that has this unique and innovative design and solution.
Assignment 2
Design a innovative table
Sharing SpaceRoof tiles are so heavy, when transported, the truck has only a pile of about 50 cm of them in the back. Stack them any higher and the maximum amount of weight is reached.
An owner of a company in the Netherlands who produced roofing tiles always found this to be an irritation, because he transported also a lot of air.
One day he drove by a company, also in the Netherlands, that produces roofs made out of Styrofoam. Thinking about how much Styrofoam weighs, he got an epiphany.
He called the owner of the roofing company and asked him if his company exported to the countries he exported his roof tiles to. After hearing that this was not the case he convinced the owner to do so and share the transporting costs. (Styrofoam does not weigh anything so the air in the trucks was filled with Styrofoam)
Technique 3 – Use the ContextTechnique 3 – Use the ContextThere are some challenges in which the context of the challenge can help us in solving our challenge by using things that are already there or actions that already taking place.
What things are already there in your context or what actions do already happen in your context.
How can we use these elements and solutions in a solution for our challenge?
Step 1 Formulate your challenge and make sure it is clear and concreteE.g.: How can I get 40 crates of beer to my apartment on the third floor for my party tonight?
Step 2 Make a list of things already there in the context.E.g.: Stairs, myself, roommates, guests, bike, neighbors, boxes, elevator etc.
Step 3 Make a list of al actions taken place in your context
E.g.: Elevator moving up and down the whole day. Guests arriving, Dancing at party, Neighbors arriving and leaving,
Roommates arriving and leaving. Phone ringing etc.
Step 4 Find a solution by using one or more things and actions from your list.E.g.: Put a sign on the elevator door that asks all arriving guests to bring up one crate of beer per person.
Crowd ControlEveryone has at least once in his live stood behind a temporary fence during a parade or a concert. These fences are found all over the world.
These fences however have one big safety issue. If the crowd behind it panics and wants to flee. The more people pushing against these safety fences, the higher the chance that it will topple over. When this happens a lot of casualties will come from falling over these metal fences. Broken and bruised legs is a common injury in these cases.
When redesigning these fences, after another tragedy, the designer came up with a very smart idea. He realized that the crowd has besides a horizontal force that topples the fences, also has a vertical force in its weight.
He designed a fence with a horizontal piece mounted to the vertical part of the fence. This way the whole system strengthens when more people are pushing against the fence.
Assignment 3
Find a solution for spraying water on the windshield, without using an electromotor.
Technique 4 - Change parametersTechnique 4 - Change parametersWhen solving a problem, in most cases, we add something new to our old situation to solve the problem.
By carefully analyzing our problem, finding the elements that make it what it is (the unique elements) and treat these elements differently by playing with functionality, we can find new solutions without adding new elements.
Step 1 Formulate your challenge and make sure it is clear and concreteE.g.: How can we shorten the time to market of Benetton clothing, and still make sure the colors
of the season match with the fashion shows?
Step 2 Break down your challenge in the unique elements of the context.
E.g.: Benetton wrote down the process steps for bringing new garments to the market and formulated what contextual elements define each step. The unique situation is that “ready to wear manufacturers” have to wait for the “prêt a porter shows” to see what colors will be in fashion and then can start the manufacturing process.
Step 3 Treat each element as if it were separate from the others and play with it. You can change the parameters (literally or metaphorical) of the element by asking yourself: What if I reduce
this element? What if I turn it upside down? What if I combine or integrate two elements? What if I split functionality of this element? What if I change this element in place or time? .
E.g.: Benetton changed the place of the process step of dying the white cotton cloth to the end of the complete process, so that before the cloth was given a certain color, the shirts and trousers were already sown. After it was clear which colors were “in fashion” the uncolored clothes first were colored and brought to the market within weeks.
Increase
Reduce
Turn upsidedown
Breaksymmetry Change
in place or time...
Combine
Assignment 4
Find a solution for shooting clay pigeons, without having to pick up the pieces.
Ideas must work through the brains and arms of the good men, or they
are no better than dreams
10 Golden Rules
And remember to…….
Never think outside the box
again