Creative people seem to be able to generate and evaluate ideas on the fly. They often describe a surge of thoughts that are developed and filtered almost as soon as they are generated. This brief process allows them to come up with ideas that are not only original and interesting, but also feasible and realistic. Colleagues, friends, and “innocent bystanders” may look at this with the same admiration that is usually reserved to virtuosic musicians, circus acrobats and masters of martial arts. Continue reading ‘Ideation Tai Chi’
Tag Archive for 'Ideation'
December 1, 2010
Ideation Tai Chi
October 14, 2010
Confident Creativity
In this post, we investigate three different personal approaches to creativity, and discover a somewhat surprising common thread.
October 12, 2010
Innovation Tip:
In developing new products, people intuitively tend to add new features to an existing product. Try to apply the opposite approach: instead of adding features. remove them, particulary those that seem desirable or even indispensable.
December 25, 2009
What do cloud watching and new product ideas have in common?
When’s the last time you did some cloud watching?
Now there’s a creative, relaxing activity to do with the kids! Think about a kid who looks up at the sky and sees a cloud in the shape of a camel. The shape of the cloud is, of course, determined before the child attributes it with the function of being a camel. 
How does creativity change in the transition from a process that begins with a function to a process that begins with a form? The cognitive psychologist, Finke, examined this in an interesting experiment:
A test group was given the task of creating an idea for a new product. The invention had to be made up of 3 items (or forms) out of a collection of 15 items that were presented to them. The items included a circle, a cone, a rod, wheels, string, and … additional 10 shapes.
Each person was asked to create a new, useful, product out of 3 items.
To keep the thinking process more focused, a general category was chosen - toys, for example, and their invention had to fit in to this category.
Continue reading ‘What do cloud watching and new product ideas have in common?’
August 14, 2009
Innovation Barriers | Chapter 2: Unpopular Psychology
This is the second of a series of posts discussing innovation barriers. This series does not intend to encompass all that can be said on the subject. That would take a series of books. It does intend to describe, however, several types of barriers we face when we try to innovate, and some of the innovation methodologies that have been developed to address them.
What is more challenging: coming up with an innovative idea, or sharing it with a group of people that may love it or hate it? Most of us will agree that this is a simple question. We might, however, disagree on the answer… In the previous post in this series I called the group of barriers relating to the act of coming up with innovative idea “Cognitive Barriers.” The complementary group of barriers – those that have to do with sharing innovative ideas with others – were labeled “Psychological Barriers.”
Although people differ in their “susceptibility” to these different barriers, most us will agree that objectively (whatever that means..) the cognitive barriers to innovation are harder to overcome. The importance of the psychological barriers is due, to a great extent, to the fact that some of the best ideas come up during group discussions. The worn-out saying goes: “none of us is as smart as all of us.” While I have several issues with this approach (as, I suspect, you may as well) – there is some truth to it, especially when it comes to ideation sessions.
Continue reading ‘Innovation Barriers | Chapter 2: Unpopular Psychology’
May 5, 2009
Innovation Barriers | Chapter 1: Why We Struggle
This is the first of a series of posts discussing innovation barriers. This series will not encompass all that can be said on the subject. That would take a series of books. It will describe, however, several types of barriers we face when we try to innovate. It will also discuss these barriers in relation to the innovation methodologies that have been developed to address them.
Dr. Gadi Segal, a business partner and a good friend, told me once that “the more therapeutic options you have for a disease, the more likely it is that none of them is really effective.”
When I make the analogy to the realm of innovation I hesitate to conclude that none of the innovation methodologies available is really effective… Let’s just agree that the abundance of approaches and technique is indicative of the magnitude of the challenges posed by innovation.
Continue reading ‘Innovation Barriers | Chapter 1: Why We Struggle’
March 25, 2009
How to better manage your brainstorming sessions?
Brainstorming, in my view, is first and foremost a copywriting concept.
Today, whenever someone wants to summon a group of people to think together, he/she invites them to a brainstorming session.
And indeed brainstorming is a great name. It seems to have the effect of charging energy and stimulating enthusiasm in most individuals.
But does it really work? Do the nice ideas of cross-fertilization among team members and suspense of judgment really deliver?
In all the brainstorming sessions that I’ve participated in, I noticed that although the brainstorming techniques were explained, most people reacted to other people’s ideas judgmentally, without displaying even a sign of being “cross-fertilized”.
Continue reading ‘How to better manage your brainstorming sessions?’
December 19, 2008
A better alternative to brainstorming
“None of us is as smart as all of us” is the Japanese proverb that opened a recent NY Times article citing the SIT method. The article talks about some of the downsides of the traditional brainstorming technique, within the wider recognition of the positive aspects of the meeting of minds, collective creativity, and the fact that innovation is a team sport.
