Tag Archives: creative problem solving
To innovate: Steal don’t imitate
When no one knows what’s going to happen we’ll naturally look at other people for clues on how to behave. This is the basis of imitation, and it’s a survival tactic. Simply said, in an environment where the world is changing, the best strategy is lots of imitation. The problem with this is we’re rarely aware of how ‘much imitation’ is necessary and outright imitation is stupid plain and simple. It’s a balancing act to decide what to copy and what not.
Practice ‘Smart Stealing’
The best strategy is to ‘steal’ from different sources, ideally ‘the best’ sources outside your industry.
Examples abound of companies who have ‘stolen’ from others. Apple stole Xerox’s musical interface and mouse ideas. Facebook and MySpace stole Friendster’s social network idea. Microsoft stole Netscape’s browser idea. Kobe Bryant has stolen moves from other basketball greats. It’s even happening in the Venture Capital Industry where one popular VC firm models itself after a Hollywood talent agency. (more…)
Use constraints to fuel your creativity
Quickly think of as many white things as you can in ten seconds. Now think of white things in your kitchen. Did the more constrained prompt spark more ideas? Yes.
Recent research on the best approach to creating novel things says that the number one key to innovation is scarcity. In other words, constraints help you focus on what matters. Apple knows that embracing constraints helps them focus on what matters. Google is popular for using constraints to fuel their design and development process which have resulted in ‘perceived innovations’ in user experience. The ever popular 37 Signals, maker of online business management apps, pretty much runs their business on constraints.
So how does placing constraints to fuel creativity look like?
Fueling creativity
A few months ago a client of mine let me know that they’re in the process of opening another restaurant and that this one will focus on Mediterranean food. With months away before it opens, they asked me if I had any ideas on whatever.
I won’t go into full detail about our discussion, but what I will do is show you how placing constraints changes the ideas you generate by shifting your perception.
Time constraint
1st Approach: How much time does the average family spend at a restaurant? An hour to an hour and a half (we mexicans like to take our time).
- What if we created a concept restaurant experience so they only spend 30 minutes? What would that look like?
2nd Approach: What if the menu was composed of only five different meals?
- What activities would need to be done so the client stays an hour and a half with us? How would the
3rd Approach: How would Apple do it?
- If Steve Jobs walked in, what would be the ‘crappy’ stuff he would tell us to eliminate?
Money constraint
Another constrain often times is money. For example, how much does the average family spend at a restaurant? $50 – $80
- What if we have a policy that clients spend less than that? How would our plates change? Meals? People?
The questions above are things I thought out rather quickly with no real goal in mind, just thinking out loud. The answers will be all over the place but that’s the key, to unlock your brain you have to ask the ‘unquestionable’.
The key is asking the questions that actually matter. This is tricky.
Closing thoughts
The thing about constraints is it forces you to look at different angles to approach a problem. It’s also important to have balance and look at the opposite of placing constraints, creative stretching, for coming up with unseen ideas.
While my example applies to a restaurant, you can use constraints on anything. How have I used constraints? I’ve used it to accelerate my basketball conditioning in less time, to write short blog posts that get to the point, to tweet less stuff but that actually matters, to read less but get more out of it.
Fuel your creativity!
How do you use constraints in your work, life?
To find a better way to do things, stop and think!
I’ve argued before that innovation is the result of consistently trying to do something better than it’s done before, sometimes this also means that it has to be different. This simple idea is well understood but not easy to put into action because it’s very difficult for most people to think about why they do what they do and how they could do it better. Routines and habits are very very powerful!
With this in mind, one newsletter I look forward to reading every two weeks is Jeffrey Baumgartner’s JPB newsletter. The most recent one talks about the need to ‘stop and think’ before solving a problem the same way it was solved before.
A litmus test for solving a problem in a different way is when you see that problem keep coming up consistently and becomes a pattern. This is a signal that the system is stuck, a process has become rigid and is plagued by the same problems over and over again. This is an opportunity for a new order of things, for innovation!
I encourage you to read the JPB Newsletter, it has other articles in there that are also worth reading 
UPDATE: Mitch Ditkoff pointed me to The ultimate STOP AND THINK article on his blog that is well worth reading, very interesting indeed. Thanks Mitch 
Related articles by Zemanta
- Routines: Comforting or Confining? (psychologytoday.com)
- Generate killer ideas with these 20 suggestions (theglobeandmail.com)
- What is the REAL Problem? from Reality Refracted (realityrefracted.com)
- 4 Tips When You Find Thinking Hard! (theengagingbrand.typepad.com)
- Stop thinking and more doing. How? (ask.metafilter.com)
A notebook that will help you solve your problems
I’ve got a really fresh brain after this weekend because I read Jack’s Notebook by creativity and innovation expert Gregg Fraley, it’s my first time reading a literal business novel so it was refreshing to have a book put my visual senses to work and putting me in the story. Jack’s Notebook is essentially about a guy named Jack Huber and his friend Manny who is a professional problem solver that helps Jack get his life straight through the use of CPS (Creative problem solving) to solve his work and personal problems.
So what is CPS? It’s a technique developed by Alex Osborn who coined the term brainstorming and it basically helps you have more ideas and therefore more solutions to any problem you encounter. CPS brings order to the chaos that is solving problems, it’s a systematic process of creating lists and then making decisions. That simple!
Like business and life, the story has twists and turns and the problems that Jack faces are solved using CPS in a very simple way. This leaves you with this feeling of ‘uh that was easy!’ and I think this is really the big takeaway most people will get from the book…solving problems doesn’t have to be hard, it can be fun!
So if you’re stuck in a corner and always seem to do the same thing over and over again with the same result because you try the same old ideas then I recommend you read this book. In fact even if you think you’re pretty fly at solving problems already and don’t think you need anymore lecturing, you should read this book because most likely your brain has gone stale and need some refreshing…we all do!
Mr. Fraley has given us a notebook with all his secrets and he wants to help us solve our problems in a fun way and the plus is it’s also a great story. Get it. Read it. Start your own notebook.
Once you’ve read it, follow Gregg Fraley on Twitter and tell him what you think.
P.S. Thank you Mr. Fraley!
