Nine Creative Thinking Strategies and Techniques - With Definitions (Q3, Q4 & Q5)

3. Nine Creative Thinking Strategies and Techniques

4. Definitions of the Nine Creative Thinking Strategies and Techniques
5. Outline and Define a Technique for Each Creative Thinking Strategy 

(1) Knowing How to See - This is the strategy of progressing through multiple lenses to find different perspectives on the problem. Becoming more and more "abstract" in problem solving can help generate novel solutions, that typically would not be found in one narrow lens. Techniques: Fishbone Diagram, Questions.

(a) Questions - Dissecting a problem by isolating it in different question formats. Each format has a color coordination:
Green (Creative) - "What if we ___?"
Yellow (Objective) - "What is ___?"
Blue (Hopeful) - "What should we do?"
Red (Negative) - "What can't be done?"

(2) Make Your Thoughts Visible - The idea of putting everything in your head on paper, so you can find ways to connect them, compare/contrast them, or arrange them and come up with creative solutions. Often times it is pictures, diagrams, graphs along with words that help generate creative ideas. Two Techniques: Mind Map and Force Field

(a) Mind Map - Alternative to linear thinking. It helps us deliberately extend our associations by writing down an essence of the subject, brainstorming all possible things that come to mind (pictures, graphs, words), and arranging them into themes. 

(3) Thinking Fluently - The idea of first having the notion that NO idea is a bad idea, to then sit down and brainstorm as many ideas as possible, record them, and elaborate and improve them. This promotes the idea of production and quantity to find results to a particular problem. The more ideas you have, the more fluent you are to finding a solution. Technique: SCAMPER

(a) SCAMPER - An acronym that lays out questions in order to modify something that already exists, into something new and novel.
How can I Substitute?
How can I Combine it with something?
How can I Adapt something to the subject?
How can I Magnify or add to it?
How can I Modify or change it?
How can I Put it in to another use?
How can I Eliminate something from it?
How can I Reverse it?
How can I Rearrange?

(4) Making Novel Combinations - This is the strategy of recognizing that the combination of original ideas, can be novel and unique. It also demonstrates that you need to think of "absurd" or "crazy" ideas so you get your mind thinking in a different way. Pushing concept to the extreme allows us to work back and find a reasonable solution. Technique: Combinatory Matrix

(a) Combinatory Matrix - Specifying a challenge, separate different parameters in the challenge, bellow the parameters list as many variations as possible and then combine random variations from each parameter to combine a unique idea/solution. 

(5) Connecting the Unconnected - Forming new ideas or solutions by looking at something completely unrelated and finding ways that they could be connected. A lot of the time, unpredictable ideas are the ones that work or stand out. To get the unpredictable ideas, focusing in a different subject can trigger a novel concept. Techniques: Random Object, Five Senses

(a) Random Object - Generating a list of random objects not related to the problem, to then generate a list of characteristics and essences about each object, and later connecting the essences to the real problem. This opens your mind to connect things that you would typically never think would be relatable. 

(6) Looking at the Other Side - The technique of reversing the idea to find solutions that would typically not be found in the "boundary" if looking at it straight on. Reversing it to the complete opposite destabilizes your conventional thinking patter which allows free flowing ideas. Technique: Reverse Assumptions

(a) Reverse Assumptions - Listing assumptions about your subject (ex. book stores have books) and reversing it completely (ex. book stores without books) which usually strikes an outrageous idea, but allows you to work backwards to come up with a unique realistic solution that could strike the market. 

(7) Looking in Other Worlds - Looking at analogies in completely different areas to generate common concepts that would provide a solution. Techniques: Imaginary Excursion, Parallel Worlds

(a) Imaginary Excursion - Sitting down and thinking of a random trip, vacation, or excursion that you are going through. Write down everything that comes to mind in that excursion and draw analogies from what you have written down to your problem. This allows you to find unique relationships that can be used to solve the problem. 

(8) Find What You're Not Looking For - The idea that unexpected events can generate creative thoughts and solutions. This concept means keep an open mind and run off of events or items that typically you might avoid or just not worry about. Latent potential exists in every subject. Techniques: Crossbreeding, Abstraction, Imagineering

(a) Abstraction - Taking the abstract definition of a problem and reconstructing it to eliminate barriers and find different paths to a solution.

(9) Awakening the Collaborative Spirit - This is the notion that open and honest thinking allows collaboration which promotes honesty, clarity and dialogue with each other. This is the concept of brainstorming as a group with no judgement, filters and a risk-free environment. Instead, provide a "yes, but" or "yes, and" dialogue. This generates MORE ideas and the more, the merrier. Technique: Brainwriting

(a) Brainwriting - Writing down ideas on cards and passing them along with a group. Each member should think of the idea and either add to it or think of another idea which was stemmed from their partner's idea. At the end of the exercise, vote on the best solution and running with that idea.