Creative thinking techniques. help us learn to proliferate ideas. When we learn to propagate ideas, we become better at divergent thinking – one of the most powerful tools in a troubleshooter’s tool belt.
When someone asks you to come up with ideas to solve a problem, how many do you usually come up with? A? Two? Five?
The example below illustrates how we can use some simple creative thinking techniques to generate tons of useful ideas.
The problem: In how many different ways can we use a brick?
Our goal is forty ideas.
Step one: empty your mind
Make a quick list of all the ways you can think of, off the top of your head, to use a brick.
- build a wall
- build a mailbox
- Side-a-house
- Use it for a desktop paperweight
- Use it as a melee weapon (hit someone in the head)
- Use it as a projectile weapon (throw it at someone)
- Use it to pave a sidewalk or patio
- build a deck
Eight total. Not many.
Step Two – Group Items into Common Themes
Several of my ideas fell into the ‘building material’ category. So, focusing on that, what other things can be built with bricks?
- Pots
- landscaping
- mailboxes
- barbecues
- smokehouses
- latrines
- Shelving
- outdoor bar
Eight more right there. My running total: 16.
Also, some of the ideas fall into the category of ‘small, hard and relatively heavy objects’. What other uses are there for it?
- Door stopper
- insect thrasher
- Ballast
- Fasten sheets of cloth, plastic, etc.
There are four more. My running total: 20
Step Three: Consider Common Attributes
What are the attributes of bricks?
- Hard
- Sustainable
- rectangular
- Rather small
- Holds heat/insulates well
- Compact
- They come in various earth colors
- Cheap
“Keeps heat well” inspires a new approach to ideas.
- Oven
- Coating for a metal grill.
- Something to protect a vulnerable surface from a hot pot or pan
- Mount a metal grill/smoker on a wooden deck
- Install a hot water heater on a hardwood/tile/linoleum floor
Also bricks are “hard”. Do some uses require greater strength or durability?
- Hazardous Materials/High Explosive Storage Buildings
- High Explosive/Hazardous Materials Handling Facilities
- stop for a shooting range
- shooting position
- Vault
Ten more there. Running total: 30. We’re three-quarters of the way to the goal, and we’ve kept things pretty basic.
The creative thinking techniques I’ve used so far are pretty linear. To come up with really new and different ideas, we need to become more abstract in our thinking.
The next tool takes us into the abstract arena. It falls under the category of “forced connections”, which determines the relationship between two seemingly unrelated things.
Step Four: Force Connections
‘Random Words’ is a basic tool for forcing connections. I pull out a list of random words, close my eyes, and point my finger:
- walnuts
- fart
- dough
- hospital
- trophy
How can these words help me think of more uses for a brick?
Simply make a list of the things you associate with each word and “force” a connection with the bricks.
Here are the words and phrases I associate with each:
- walnuts – small, savory, almond, pecan, squirrel, fiber, pecan, cake, cookie, peanut, sold in bags, baseball games, sold alone or mixed
- fart – dog, cat, hamster, gerbil, snake, lizard, sold in specialty stores, cute, pet food, fish tank
- dough – catholic, church, service, eucharist, sanctuary, baptism, wafer, wine, pope, priest, nun, prayer, pardon, collect
- hospital – emergency, rooms, beds, patients, doctors, nurses, operations, x-ray, mri, expensive, health care, ambulance, surgery, cure
- trophy – award, engraved, given to the winner, valuable, prestige, mantle, showcase, pride
Forcing connections with the words and phrases I get these ideas:
- Pet – dog – Build a doghouse
- Nut – squirrel – Build a squirrel/bird feeder
- Mass – service – Build a memorial
- Mass – service – Build an outdoor altar
- Hospital – x-ray – line of an x-ray or radiology room
- Mass – baptism – Build a baptismal font
- Trophy – cloak piece – Build a fireplace
- Trophy – display case – Build a trophy case
- Pet – fish tank – Build an aquarium stand or case
- Trophy – Engraving – Create Engraved Pavers for Fundraising
That’s ten more, bringing my total to 40. Goal achieved!
To be honest, this was too easy. You could have continued to generate idea after idea using other creative thinking tools.
And just think what a GROUP of thinkers would come up with: in an innovation workshop, for a group of five, I would have set the goal at 100-150 ideas.
“Forty uses for a brick” might have sounded daunting at first, depending on the ideas at the top of our heads.
But, as I’ve shown, it doesn’t take much thinking to proliferate ideas, as long as you do it systematically, using proven tools and techniques.
Idea generation is the foundation of divergent thinking, which drives business creativity. Learn to propagate ideas this way and you will become a better innovator.