Thinking Thinking is:
A conscious process Creative thinking:
Can be learned Can be done in various ways
2 waysPractical thinking: Act Evaluate Improve Plan new action
Creative thinking: Explore/Discover Develop ideas Evaluate Check
Thinking process (2 steps)
1. Observation:• Is about feeling, sensing, intuition.• Answers questions like:
• What can you see?• What could it be?
• Is about reality.
Thinking process continued2. Evaluation
• Involves the mind, common sense• Is about action• Is about questions like:
• What does it mean?• What do you think?
4 basic rules
Don’t offer criticism Free wheeling is good We want quantity (rather than quality) Aim for improvement and combinations
4 more rules
Just start – don’t wait for inspiration Focus – on the task at hand Pay attention -just one way of thinking Concentrate- just go on, don’t give up
During a brainstormDo: Call out freely what’s
in your mind Associate, create links
& relations Use numbers, words,
images etc Think about
synonyms, opposites etc
Don’t: Judge what’s being
said Think about practical
matters Say things like ‘This
won’t work’ etc
Team: the chairman Leads the session Prevents people from talking at the same
time Encourages people to contribute Prevents evaluation Summarises ideas Checks the time
Team: the thinkers
Should be people with: Different skills Different tasks/functions Different talents
Techniques ‘Why not’ questions
Be silly, outrageous, fantasize! Use an oracle
E.g. a dictionary. Flip it open and randomly pick a word.
Use metaphors Word imagery, proverbial sayings etc.
Techniques continued Reason by analogy
This looks like/is like…because… E.g. This is like doing the dishes because.. Use a list of activities to do this
Visualize Think of an image, play a movie in your head
and write down what you see
More techniques Think of a story
Describe what the world/your product etc would look like if…
Identify How would you deal with this problem if you
were…an astronaut, George Clooney, Bugs Bunny etc?
Even more techniques Reverse
Rules, techniques, procedures, Habits, conventions, etc.
Note: A more detailed description (steps and aims) of these kinds of techniques can be found in the following PP on this website: ‘Thinking techniques_an overview’.
What you need A room:
Large enough for the group With good light, fresh air
No phones Good atmosphere Flip overs, blackboards, markers Paper, pencils Dictionaries, magazines, papers, books etc
Creative listening
While you are listening, your mind will start working
Write down what you think This way you will be able to listen again!
After the session
Evaluate your ideas Pick the best, most suitable. Start stage 2 of the thinking process.
ComparisonBrainstorm Write the ‘word’ in the
middle of the paper Write down everything
you can think of Anywhere… Use words, numbers,
colours, images etc
Mind Map Write the ‘word’ in the
middle of the paper Draw ‘branches’ for
different categories Make sub branches Use words, images,
numbers, arrows etc Make new versions for
large branches, different ways or ordering the information etc.