Formulating the problem in a general way, without specifics
Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2025 10:43 am
Stage 1. Focus. Formulate the task that needs to be solved as specifically as possible. For example, “create an unusual series of creatives for an online illustration school on iPad, be sure to use the image of a person and an iPad with a stylus.”
Stage 2. Lateral gap . Generate "shifted" solutions. There is no need to explain or motivate anything! Here are the main techniques for creating a gap.
Supplement – adding elements to the picture. Example: instead of one iPad in the picture, we use two.
Inversion – we change some element to the opposite or distant one. Example: instead of a person we depict a cat.
Exception – remove an important element. Example: iPad without a stylus.
Hyperbolize: exaggerate something. Example: a stylus as thick as wood.
Substitution – we change a logical object or action to any other. Example: a person does not draw on an iPad, but hammers a nail with it.
Reversal of order – we change the order of actions with an object. Example: a person draws a bright illustration with one stroke without preliminary sketches.
Step 3. Creating new connections. This is where we need to give meaning to all the madness we generated above. We ask the question, “What idea can this image convey?” For example, the creative with a cat can be given the meaning “We will teach anyone to draw on an iPad!”, and the creative with hammering a nail – “It seems you are not using the iPad for its intended purpose… Learn to draw on it!”. We came up with all this on our knee in 5 minutes, but can you imagine what you can invent if you get together as a whole team?
Synectics
This is both a method of generating ideas and a method of developing creativity, developed by D. Prince and W. Gordon. In a very brief summary, its essence is as follows.
Format. We conduct a brainstorming session with several singapore mobile phone numbers database participants, ideally 6–8 people, one of whom is the manager and one is an outside expert. It is important that everyone speaks out.
Stages. Five stages of discussion:
Specification of the problem by each participant as he sees it;
Generation of ideas, search for analogies of 5 types (more details below);
Linking ideas to the problem, critical assessment by an expert;
Working out a better analogy.
Contents: In the process of searching for solutions, you need to find 5 analogies to this problem:
direct ones – the most obvious ones from the fields of science, culture, everyday life, etc.;
personal – made from the position “I = the subject under discussion”;
symbolic - analogy-opposite to the sought object;
figurative - the object is replaced by any other object to which an analogy is sought, and then associated with the sought object;
fantastic – not existing in reality.
Stage 2. Lateral gap . Generate "shifted" solutions. There is no need to explain or motivate anything! Here are the main techniques for creating a gap.
Supplement – adding elements to the picture. Example: instead of one iPad in the picture, we use two.
Inversion – we change some element to the opposite or distant one. Example: instead of a person we depict a cat.
Exception – remove an important element. Example: iPad without a stylus.
Hyperbolize: exaggerate something. Example: a stylus as thick as wood.
Substitution – we change a logical object or action to any other. Example: a person does not draw on an iPad, but hammers a nail with it.
Reversal of order – we change the order of actions with an object. Example: a person draws a bright illustration with one stroke without preliminary sketches.
Step 3. Creating new connections. This is where we need to give meaning to all the madness we generated above. We ask the question, “What idea can this image convey?” For example, the creative with a cat can be given the meaning “We will teach anyone to draw on an iPad!”, and the creative with hammering a nail – “It seems you are not using the iPad for its intended purpose… Learn to draw on it!”. We came up with all this on our knee in 5 minutes, but can you imagine what you can invent if you get together as a whole team?
Synectics
This is both a method of generating ideas and a method of developing creativity, developed by D. Prince and W. Gordon. In a very brief summary, its essence is as follows.
Format. We conduct a brainstorming session with several singapore mobile phone numbers database participants, ideally 6–8 people, one of whom is the manager and one is an outside expert. It is important that everyone speaks out.
Stages. Five stages of discussion:
Specification of the problem by each participant as he sees it;
Generation of ideas, search for analogies of 5 types (more details below);
Linking ideas to the problem, critical assessment by an expert;
Working out a better analogy.
Contents: In the process of searching for solutions, you need to find 5 analogies to this problem:
direct ones – the most obvious ones from the fields of science, culture, everyday life, etc.;
personal – made from the position “I = the subject under discussion”;
symbolic - analogy-opposite to the sought object;
figurative - the object is replaced by any other object to which an analogy is sought, and then associated with the sought object;
fantastic – not existing in reality.