http://thinkinghow.com a journey into thinking, ideas, creativity and innovation Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:24:27 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 en © steve@thinkinghow.com () steve@thinkinghow.com() steve@thinkinghow.com No no http://thinkinghow.com/wp-content/plugins/podpress/images/powered_by_podpress.jpg http://thinkinghow.com 144 144 http://thinkinghow.com/getting-other-people-to-contribute/ http://thinkinghow.com/getting-other-people-to-contribute/#comments Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:21:13 +0000 http://thinkinghow.com/?p=219 http://thinkinghow.com/getting-other-people-to-contribute/feed/ 1:07 I recently downloaded a great little ebook from Nigel Collin's website. It's a collection of 21 articles from Colin's Weekly Bits -The Early Years. nbsp;One of ... I recently downloaded a great little ebook from Nigel Collin's website. It's a collection of 21 articles from Colin's Weekly Bits -The Early Years. nbsp;One of the first articlesnbsp;suggests setting up an Idea Board in a common spacenbsp;either at work, or at home. Then you write up a problem and invite others to contribute to the solution. I'm going to give this a try. Colin makes the point, and I totally agree, that this is a great tool to foster creativity andnbsp; collaboration in an organisation. The phenomenon of blogging, the likes of twitter, other online networks, and commenting in general on the "net" have set the expectation that it's quite ok to anonymously or publicly contribute. Of course it helps if younbsp;have something of value to say. So perhaps the time is good for this very simple and low tech ideanbsp;to produce some reallynbsp;creative outcomes. Problem,Solving,,Tools,amp;,Resources,,ideas steve@thinkinghow.com no No http://thinkinghow.com/sharing-your-ideas-with-others/ http://thinkinghow.com/sharing-your-ideas-with-others/#comments Mon, 10 Nov 2008 21:05:23 +0000 http://thinkinghow.com/?p=208 http://thinkinghow.com/sharing-your-ideas-with-others/feed/ http://thinkinghow.com/writing-a-problem-statement/ http://thinkinghow.com/writing-a-problem-statement/#comments Mon, 13 Oct 2008 07:11:23 +0000 http://thinkinghow.com/?p=121 http://thinkinghow.com/writing-a-problem-statement/feed/ http://thinkinghow.com/more-than-one-solution/ http://thinkinghow.com/more-than-one-solution/#comments Wed, 08 Oct 2008 21:54:49 +0000 http://thinkinghow.com/?p=100 http://thinkinghow.com/more-than-one-solution/feed/ 1:23 Have you ever needed a quick and tangible way to illustrate that there may be more than one solution to a problem? This might just ... Have you ever needed a quick and tangible way to illustrate that there may be more than one solution to a problem? This might just be thenbsp;examplenbsp;you need. Start with three squares of paper. The Problem: each square of paper needs to be divided into 4nbsp;parts. The goal is for each partnbsp;to be equal. So, after you have folded the paper each section of the paper will be the same size, same shape, and same volume as the other 3 parts. The illustration above shows 3 solutions, each following the rules but each having a very different outcome. One is a square, another a triangle, the third a rectangle. This excercise is useful for two reasons. First, it helps an individual or a group physically experience an abstract concept;nbsp;the concept being that there can be more than one acceptable solution to a problem. Secondly, This example has a very good problem statement so it's a great way to set up people's thinking about defining problems before they tackle solutions. I'll cover problem statements in a the next post. Doing,,Solutions,,Tools,amp;,Resources steve@thinkinghow.com no No http://thinkinghow.com/beware-the-intelligence-trap/ http://thinkinghow.com/beware-the-intelligence-trap/#comments Fri, 19 Sep 2008 10:04:35 +0000 http://thinkinghow.com/?p=87 http://thinkinghow.com/beware-the-intelligence-trap/feed/ 1:57 I've been reading two books recently and picked up a theme from both that's worth mentioning. In Chip and Dan Heath's book "Made to Stick" they ... I've been reading two books recently and picked up a theme from both that's worth mentioning. In Chip and Dan Heath's book "Made to Stick" they talk about the Curse of Knowledge. In short this is the assumption that other people know what you know, or the inability to see things as other people might. In Edward De Bono's "Thinking Course" he talks about the Intelligence Trap and two ways that it manifests it's self. The first is that intelligent people take a position and use their intelligence to defend that point of view. Equally, the speed in which an intelligent person can dispose of another's argument simply reinforces the original position. And there's the trap! Does this imply that creativity and innovations come from those who are less intelligent? Not really. What it does say is that you need to look out for embedded attitudes that might be inhibiting your creativity. Have you ever listened to or read an interview of a successful person where they've said "If I'd known then what I know now I probably wouldn't have done it." What got them through the hard time and past the failures? Was it simply naivety, was it just guts and determination, or was it a grand vision. It was probably all of those things and more. They certainly broke out of the Intelligence Trap and shattered the Curse of Knowledge. How did they break the trap and shatter the curse? I think it was Openness. They were able to look for and consider alternate view points. They did it by challenging assumptions about the current state. They did it with passion, not for their current position but for finding something new, something not yet discovered. Doing,,ideas,,innovation,,thinking steve@thinkinghow.com no No http://thinkinghow.com/tools-for-getting-your-ideas-in-order/ http://thinkinghow.com/tools-for-getting-your-ideas-in-order/#comments Thu, 21 Aug 2008 03:47:47 +0000 http://thinkinghow.com/?p=68 http://thinkinghow.com/tools-for-getting-your-ideas-in-order/feed/ http://thinkinghow.com/where-do-innovations-come-from/ http://thinkinghow.com/where-do-innovations-come-from/#comments Sun, 10 Aug 2008 12:10:45 +0000 http://thinkinghow.com/?p=42 http://thinkinghow.com/where-do-innovations-come-from/feed/ http://thinkinghow.com/think-how-urban-farming/ http://thinkinghow.com/think-how-urban-farming/#comments Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:56:49 +0000 http://thinkinghow.com/?p=34 http://thinkinghow.com/think-how-urban-farming/feed/ http://thinkinghow.com/a-simple-idea-a-powerful-message/ http://thinkinghow.com/a-simple-idea-a-powerful-message/#comments Sat, 02 Aug 2008 03:47:15 +0000 http://thinkinghow.com/?p=28 http://thinkinghow.com/a-simple-idea-a-powerful-message/feed/ http://thinkinghow.com/think-fast-and-get-more-ideas/ http://thinkinghow.com/think-fast-and-get-more-ideas/#comments Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:14:55 +0000 http://thinkinghow.com/?p=8 http://thinkinghow.com/think-fast-and-get-more-ideas/feed/