solving problems creatively
TRANSCRIPT
SOLVING PROBLEMS CREATIVELY
How To Create Million Dollar IdeasChapter 8&9 Summarized
Chapter 8 - Creating Problem Solving
Chapter 9 - The Brainstorm
www.joynwobi.com
WHAT ARE THE SIMILARITIES?
PROBLEM SOLVING
DECISION-MAKING
GOAL ACHIEVEMENT
www.joynwobi.com
In trying to make a decision, it’s like a simple problem that we trying to solve.
Most times, in making decisions, we have very few alternatives to pick from.
But in solving problems, we are faced with an endless list of possibilities.
www.joynwobi.com
With goal achievement, it’s a point we want to reach…
So the problem to be solved here is, moving from where we are now to where we want to be.
www.joynwobi.com
SO…
PROBLEM SOLVING
DECISION-MAKING
GOAL ACHIEVEMENT
…are closely related functions of Creative Thinking.
www.joynwobi.com
MOVING ON…
7 STEPS IN SOLVING PROBLEMS CREATIVELY
www.joynwobi.com
a. Define the Problem Clearly
A problem well stated is half-solved. Be sure to understand the problem before working on the solution.
www.joynwobi.com
b. Write Down Everything You Know About The Problem
Many times, this information may come from books that have statistical data, your past experiences, experiences from friends and families, business associates who know
something about the problem or are authorities in that area.
www.joynwobi.com
c. List of People or Organisations That Are Authorities On The Problem
This is your opportunity to go all out for facts.Call them up, ask questions that will give ideas on how to solve the problems.
www.joynwobi.com
d. Write down additional information.
Make notes on each information that is critical to solving the problem.
Don’t risk forgetting anything or think it’s unimportant that could help you find the best solution.
www.joynwobi.com
e. Individual Ideation
This is a personal/individual brainstorm – thinking with the brakes of judgment off.
Don’t try to decide first if it’s a good or bad idea. Just write it down immediately
it comes to you.
Later, you can choose and rate the ideas.
www.joynwobi.com
4 BASIC RULES FOR BRAINSTORMING
• No Negative Thinking
• The wilder the Ideas, the better.
• A large number of ideas is essential. Have as many as possible
• Combination and improvement of ideas is your goal.
www.joynwobi.com
Most times, one idea leads to a better idea. E.g when we first started out with Calcon (Quality Mgt developed to ISO Cert.)…
Some ideas may seem far fetched and impractical but focus on that. You are looking for all the ideas you can possibly find.
Don’t reject any, write them all down.
www.joynwobi.com
RATE FOR EFFECTIVENESS AND FACILITY
Rate Effectiveness by:
- Very effective- Probably Effective- Doubtful
Rate Facility by:
The Idea being:- Easy - Not so Easy- Difficult
www.joynwobi.com
Rating ideas with these parameters will indicate the likely success of any possible solution.
It’s best to consider the ideas that are rated both very effective and easy.
www.joynwobi.com
f. Group Brainstorming (optional)
Here, you are putting the minds of others to work.
More people are involved in this form of brainstorming.
www.joynwobi.com
• No Negative Thinking
• The wilder the Ideas, the better.
• A large number of ideas is essential. Have as many as possible
• Combination and improvement of ideas is your goal.
The same rules for getting ideas apply here
www.joynwobi.com
Get as many ideas as possible and write them all down with no criticism or judgment.
When all the solutions are in, rate them using the two parameters we mentioned earlier:
- Predictable Effectiveness - Ease of Implementation
www.joynwobi.com
WARNING!!!Rating the ideas must come last.
If you pass judgment on any idea while the brainstorm is in progress, you kill the
brainstorming process.
This step is optional. You may not want group brainstorming on every problem.
www.joynwobi.com
g. List ideas that have the highest rates for Effectiveness and Facility
The final step: Write down only the ideas
with the highest ratings, (is it effective and
easy to implement?) then, give an estimate on
how long (time) and how much it will cost to
implement each idea.
www.joynwobi.com
THIS BECOMES YOUR ACTION PLAN – YOUR SCHEDULE FOR PUTTING THE BEST IDEAS TO WORK
You now have the ideas that check out best for:
Effectiveness – how effective the idea is
Facility – ease of implementation
Time – how long it will take to implement the idea
and Cost – how much it will cost to implement
www.joynwobi.com
After you review an idea in your ACTION PLAN, you decide on 4 things:
• Who might do it;
• When it might be done
• Where it will start
• How to do it.
www.joynwobi.com
Give yourself a deadline.
Most people work hardest and efficiently when there is a definite
time element involved.
You complete project or achieve goals when you put a time element to it.
It’s advisable that you even write down a second date just incase you don’t meet up with the first one you set.
www.joynwobi.com
No matter how big and complex your problem is, there is a solution.
All you have to do is find it.
Have an organized, step by step approach and you can attack the problem.
www.joynwobi.com
CHAPTER 9
THE BRAINSTORM
www.joynwobi.com
2 KINDS OF BRAINSTORM
INDIVIDUAL IDEATION
… an individual thinking up solutions to a problem on his own
GROUP BRAINSTORMING
… a number of people working together on solving a problem
www.joynwobi.com
THE MIDDLE GROUND – TEAM OF TWO
A situation where two parties work together in creative collaboration and idea improvement.
The team of two work like the sparkplug and brake system.
www.joynwobi.com
THE SPARKPLUG AND BRAKE SYSTEM
One half (the sparkplug), are the thinker uppers – they are the thinkers.
The other half (the brake), are the toner downers – they are the judge. They put the thoughts in the right perspective.
www.joynwobi.com
This model is very productive and can be done with business associates or friends and family.
But this isn’t Brainstorming.www.joynwobi.com
WHAT A BRAINSTORM REALLY IS In Brainstorming, there are only
sparkplugs.
Only thinker uppers. The mind is left to soar. Think without restraint. Think out of the box.
There are no brakes, no judgments, no criticisms until all ideas are in.
www.joynwobi.com
INDIVIDUAL IDEATION … an individual thinking up solutions to a
problem on his own
Same process as I mentioned earlier.
Define the problem clearly.
Think about it’s nature and it’s limits, till it is clear in your mind and you can easily write down the complete problem in one statement.
A good working definition, gives you a clear target.
www.joynwobi.com
Now the individual brainstorm starts.
Come up with as many ideas and as many possible solutions you can think of and
write them down.It may not be easy at first, but it can be
done.
You are looking for quantity now, quality will come later.
www.joynwobi.com
It needs concentration, determination and perseverance to find the best ideas to solve a problem.
The more you write, the more ideas you’ll keep getting.
www.joynwobi.com
Don’t limit yourself, because many times, your problems pick their own best solutions if you give them enough choices.
Have a large quantity and variety of ideas.
www.joynwobi.com
THE GROUP BRAINSTORM This is a technique where a number of
people hold a meeting with a single purpose in mind, to think up together as many ideas as possible in order to solve one well-defined problem.
www.joynwobi.com
WHAT THE GROUP BRAINSTORM IS.
Have a gathering of 5 to 10 people in the group.
Each member should know about the brainstorm session
in advance.
They should each have a clear written statement of the
problem.
Each member should spend some time on personal
research and brainstorm before the group brainstorm
meeting.
At the meeting, each member should have a pad and a
pencil so he can write down new ideas before he
presents them to the group.
There should be a minute-taker in the group.www.joynwobi.com
After the brainstorm session, the minutes should be collated and transcribed and passed to all members in the group for further improvement and combination of the ideas.
Always have a leader but keep the brainstorm as informal as possible.
Encourage everyone to contribute.
www.joynwobi.com
4 BASIC RULES FOR BRAINSTORMING
• No Negative Thinking allowed - The wilder the Ideas, the better.
• Suspend any judgment, ideas will be judged after.
• A large number of ideas is essential. Have as many as possible
• Combination and improvement of ideas is your goal.
www.joynwobi.com
NOW THE BRAINSTORMING BEGINS.
Attack the problem from all sides. Once the ideas start flowing, there’s a chain
reaction that takes place and firecrackers go off.
In a short time, there are a lot of ideas generated.
Studies show that this brainstorm technique is 50% more effective than working individually
to think up ideas to solve a problem.
www.joynwobi.com
Don’t pass judgment on any idea while the brainstorm is in progress, or you kill the
brainstorming process.
www.joynwobi.com
THE GROUP BRAINSTORM ENCOURAGES:
More ideas
Friendly rivalry
Personal interaction
More contribution
www.joynwobi.com
SOLVING PROBLEMS CREATIVELY
Both are based on the same principles:
Thinking things up
Writing them down
Improving them
Judging ideas after they have all come in.
Try anything, everything, and write it all down. www.joynwobi.com
Thanks For Listening
www.joynwobi.com