Initially the group thinks as [...]]]> The Disney Method is a parallel thinking technique which has some similarities with the Six Hats. It is particularly useful as a group analysis tool for an issue and it leads to idea generation and idea review.  The team adopts four different thinking modes as outsiders, dreamers, realisers and critics.

Initially the group thinks as outsiders and review the facts, data and external viewpoints regarding the issue at hand. They might take the roles of consultants, customers, suppliers or competitors in order to get a more rounded view of the issue.

The group then leaves the room and re-enters (or goes to another room) but this time as dreamers.  They strive to imagine an ideal solution without any constraints.  They brainstorm all sorts of ideas to resolve the problem using divergent thinking.  No criticism or judgment is allowed.  Many ideas are generated and written down.

The group leaves the room and then returns as realisers – realists with a practical, constructive mindset.  They review the ideas that the dreamers generated and apply criteria to converge on the best ideas.  Once they have selected the best idea they work it up into a project plan with costs timescales, risks and benefits.

The group now turns to the fourth thinking style and everyone becomes a critic who reviews the plan in order to identify problems, obstacles and risks.  They are not negative or cynical but critical and constructive.  Their objective is to spot the issues with the plan and to make it better.

At this stage the process might be complete or you might want to go back to one of the other styles in order to get an outsider’s view of the plan, to dream of new or enhanced plans or to work as realisers on the details of the plan.

Some people find this method easier to use than the Six Hats.  It will generally deliver good ideas and a well-considered project plan.

Paul Sloane

Introduction to Brainstorming – the Principles

Two Advanced Methods – SCAMPER and Random Word

Each consists of slides and audio.  They will quickly help you to brush up your skills and to learn some highly effective tools to make your [...]]]> I am in the process of making some tutorials on brainstorming.  Here are the first two:

Introduction to Brainstorming – the Principles

Two Advanced Methods – SCAMPER and Random Word

Each consists of slides and audio.  They will quickly help you to brush up your skills and to learn some highly effective tools to make your brainstorm meetings more effective.

Paul Sloane

A company had an issue with its sales force. Morale was low and team spirit was poor. Sales people complained about [...]]]> If you are planning a creative thinking session around a particular topic then one way to help displace your thinking and inspire ideas is to bring in an expert from an entirely unrelated business.

A company had an issue with its sales force. Morale was low and team spirit was poor. Sales people complained about poor leads and poor commissions but the company directors were sure the real problems lay with the motivation and drive of the sales team. So they planned a creative thinking session and put together a team to tackle this problem. They started the meeting with a talk from an outside expert – a Major who had served many years in the Army and knew how the Armed Services recruited, trained and motivated its staff. How did they instil courage, team spirit, discipline and drive? It certainly was not through bonuses and commissions. The Major presented and the team members asked him questions. Later in the meeting they were able to adapt many of the Major’s ideas into workable improvements of their own. They improved leadership, training and recognition (even giving a form of medal for most sales calls in a month) and transformed the performance of the team.

Say you are concerned about human resource issues then consider getting a completely different point of view by bringing in an external speaker such as:

A bishop
The head teacher of a school
A hospital manager
The director of a charity
A zoo-keeper
An army officer
The manager of a large hotel

Say you want to improve creativity, design or innovation you might start your meeting with a talk from:

A movie director
An interior designer
A web site designer
An ad agency creative director
A chef

Leaders in other walks of life have faced similar problems to yours but in very different circumstances. See if you can find people to share their experiences with you. Their different views on life can be enlightening and will help displace you from your comfort zone and kick start your creativity.

Paul Sloane

After an initial ice-breaker [...]]]> We ran the Ideas Jam meeting yesterday and it went well. It was an intensive idea generation session. There were 18 participants from various companies who each brought a challenge from their business – e.g. How can we communicate our new strategy to thousands of people? The morning worked like this:

After an initial ice-breaker we had 45 minutes of ‘speed dating.’ Each person met another person for 3 minutes and acted as a consultant for their challenge. The consultant asked questions and made suggestions (which could not be rejected or criticised). Then the roles were reversed. After the six minute date people moved on to their next date.

Next we divided into three groups of six. Each group choose one challenge and then used the ‘nominal’ brainstorming method to quickly generate 60 ideas. We used the Novel, Attractive, Feasible criteria to select the best ideas from each group and then presented back.

We formed new groups of six and used ‘Reverse the problem’ to generate ideas for another challenge. Finally we used Pass the Parcel to come up with really radical ideas for a further challenge.

Each delegate then chose the best idea(s) for their challenge and identified the benefits and next steps.

The feedback showed that the participants went away with great ideas and some powerful new tools to improve idea generation and implementation in their businesses.

Paul Sloane

The next meeting of the BQF Innovation Unit will consist of an Ideas Jam to be held in central London on the morning of Tuesday July 13.

This is a highly interactive workshop style meeting in which people generate creative ideas for challenges which have been brought to the meeting.

I keep six honest serving men, they taught me all I knew.

Their names are What and Why and When

and How and Where and Who.

We probe the topic using these [...]]]> This problem analysis method examines an issue from twelve different viewpoints.  It is based on the words of the poem by Rudyard Kipling:

I keep six honest serving men, they taught me all I knew.

Their names are What and Why and When

and How and Where and Who.

We probe the topic using these questioning words from a positive and negative perspective.  The issue is defined as a question and then 12 sheets of flip chart paper are arranged around the room.  On each sheet one of the 12 questions is written as the heading and the team then comes up with answers to that question.  Suppose the issue is, ‘How can we improve customer service in our retail centres?’   The questions could be constructed as follows:

1. What is good customer service?

2. What is not good customer service?  (Or what is bad customer service?)

3. Why do we get good customer services?

4. Why do we get bad customer service?

5. When is there good customer service?

6. When is there bad customer service?

7. How do we get good customer service?

8. How do we get bad customer service?

9. Where is there good customer service?

10. Where is there bad customer service?

11. Who gives good customer service?

12. Who gives poor customer service?

By repeatedly approaching the questions of good service and bad service and by forcing people to come up with new answers and inputs a broad picture is painted of the issue and the underlying factors.  The ideas on the sheets are analyzed, prioritized and combined to give a deeper understanding of the problem and some insights as to why it is happening.  These ideas then become the starting point for a plan to address the issue.

Paul Sloane

1. Copy someone [...]]]> How hard is it to innovate?  Not once but over and over?  How can you repeatedly implement great new products, processes or services?  Continuous innovation is not easy and if you keep using the same method you will experience diminishing results.  Try innovating how you innovate by employing some of these ideas. 

1. Copy someone else’s idea.  One of the best ways to innovate is to pinch an idea that works elsewhere and apply it in your business.  Henry Ford saw the production line working in a meat packing plant and then applied to the automobile industry thereby dramatically reducing assembly times and costs.

2. Ask customers.  If you simply ask your customers how you could improve your product or service they will give you plenty of ideas for incremental innovations.  Typically they will ask for new features or that you make your product cheaper, faster, easier to use, available in different styles and colours etc.  Listen to these requests carefully and choose the ones that will really pay back.

3. Observe customers.  Do not just ask them, watch them.  Try to see how customers use your products.  Do they use them in new ways?  This was what Levi Strauss saw when they found that customers ripped the jeans – so they brought a line of pre-ripped jeans. Heinz noticed that people stored their sauce jars upside down so they designed an upside down bottle.

4. Use difficulties and complaints.  If customers have difficulties with any aspect of using your product or if they register complaints then you have a strong starting point for innovations.  Make your product easier to use, eliminate the current inconveniences and introduce improvements that overcome the complaints.

5. Combine.  Combine your product with something else to make something new.  It works at all levels.  Think of a suitcase with wheels, or a mobile phone with a camera or a flight with a massage.

6. Eliminate.  What could you take out of your product or service to make it better?  Dell eliminated the computer store, Amazon eliminated the bookstore, the Sony Walkman eliminated speakers and record functions.

7. Ask your staff.  Challenge the people who work in the business to find new and better ways to do things and new and better ways to please customers.  They are close to the action and can see opportunities for innovation.  Often they just need encouragement to bring forward great ideas.

8. Plan.  Include targets for new products and services in your business plan.  Put it onto the balanced scorecard.  Write innovation into everyone’s objectives.  Measure it and it will happen.

9. Run brainstorms.  Have regular brainstorm meetings where you generate a large quantity of new product ideas.  Use diverse groups from different areas of the business and include a provocative outsider e.g. a customer or supplier.

10. Examine patents.  Check through patents that apply in your field.  Are there some that you could license?  Are some expiring so that you can now use that method?  Is there a different way of achieving the essential idea in a patent?

11. Collaborate.  Work with another company who can take you to places you can’t go.  Choose a partner with a similar philosophy but different skills.  That is what Mercedes did with Swatch when they came up with the Smart car.

12. Minimize or Maximize.  Take something that is standard in the industry and minimise or maximise it.  Ryanair minimized price and customer service.  Starbucks maximised price and customer experience.  It is better to be different than to be better.

13. Run a contest.  Ask members of the public to suggest great new product ideas.  Offer a prize.  Give people a clear focussed goal and they will surprise you with novel ideas.  Good for innovation and PR.

14. Ask – What if?  Do some lateral thinking by asking what if…..? Challenge every boundary and assumption that applies in your field.  You and your group will come up with amazing ideas once the normal constraints are lifted.

15. Watch the competition.  Do not slavishly follow the competition but watch them intelligently.  The small guys are often the most innovative so see if you can adapt or license one of their ideas – or even buy the company!

16. Outsource.  Subcontract your new product development challenge to a design company, a University, a start-up or a crowdsourcing site like Innocentive or Ninesigma.

17. Use Open Innovation.  Big consumer products companies like Proctor and Gamble or Reckitt Benckiser encourage developers to bring novel products to them.  They are flexible on IP protection and give a clear focus on what they are looking for.  A large proportion of their new products now start life outside the company.

18. Adapt a Product to a New Use.  Find an entirely different application for an existing product.  De Beers produced industrial diamonds but found a new use for diamonds when they introduced the concept of engagement rings.  It opened up a large new market for them.

19. Try Triz.  Triz is a systematic method for solving problems.  It can be applied in many fields but is particularly useful in engineering and product design.  Triz gives you a toolbox of methods to solve contradictions e.g. how can we make this product run faster but with less power?

20. Go Back in Time.  Look back at methods and services that were used in your sector years ago but have now fallen out of use.  Can you bring one back in a new updated form?  It has been said that Speed Dating is really a relaunch of a Victorian dance format where ladies had cards marked with appointments.

21. Use Social Networks.  Follow trends and ask questions on groups like Twitter or Facebook.  Ask what people want to see in future products or what the big new idea will be.  Many early adopters are active on social network groups and will happily respond with suggestions.

The ways to innovate are legion.  Try some approaches that are new to you in order to boost your innovation capability.

Paul Sloane