http://thinkinghow.com a journey into thinking, ideas, creativity and innovation Sun, 11 Mar 2012 10:55:37 +0000 en hourly 1 2006-2007 steve@thinkinghow.com (thinkinghow.com) steve@thinkinghow.com (thinkinghow.com) http://thinkinghow.com/wp-content/plugins/podpress/images/powered_by_podpress.jpghttp://thinkinghow.com 144 144 a journey into thinking, ideas, creativity and innovation thinkinghow.com thinkinghow.com steve@thinkinghow.com no no http://thinkinghow.com/10-actions-for-better-design/ http://thinkinghow.com/10-actions-for-better-design/#comments Tue, 24 Feb 2009 22:18:39 +0000 Steve Swann http://thinkinghow.com/?p=246 http://thinkinghow.com/10-actions-for-better-design/feed/ 1 http://thinkinghow.com/innovation-in-a-down-economy/ http://thinkinghow.com/innovation-in-a-down-economy/#comments Mon, 23 Feb 2009 03:36:51 +0000 Steve Swann http://thinkinghow.com/?p=243 http://thinkinghow.com/innovation-in-a-down-economy/feed/ 4 http://thinkinghow.com/two-words-to-boost-creativity/ http://thinkinghow.com/two-words-to-boost-creativity/#comments Thu, 08 Jan 2009 23:40:30 +0000 Steve Swann http://thinkinghow.com/?p=235 http://thinkinghow.com/two-words-to-boost-creativity/feed/ 2 0:01:26 There are two words that can help us achieve more creative and innovative thinking. Those two words are “What if”. “What if” takes us from our current state directly to an imagined future state. It is an instant leap across a[...] There are two words that can help us achieve more creative and innovative thinking. Those two words are “What if”. “What if” takes us from our current state directly to an imagined future state. It is an instant leap across a creative chasm. The chasm could be narrow and shallow, wide and deep, or any combination in between. “What if” immediately suspends all and any constraints (real or imagined) and allows us to visualise the finished state. What  if … was bigger / smaller? What if … went this way instead of that way? What if … we do it / don’t do it on a Saturday? What if we added / left out …? What if… What if… The hard part of course is getting from the here and now to the imagined “What if”. It does need receptive and open minds ready to consider the imagined state. Every “What if” won’t be a winner, infact very few will have any “legs” at all. But, to get to that gem of an idea, that break-through thought, that innovative seed - start with “What if”. I’d love your feedback. Please leave a comment or contact me directly through the “Contact Me” button under my photo. Ideas, Innovation, Solutions steve@thinkinghow.com no no http://thinkinghow.com/becoming-a-better-thinker/ http://thinkinghow.com/becoming-a-better-thinker/#comments Wed, 03 Dec 2008 09:25:13 +0000 Steve Swann http://thinkinghow.com/?p=226 http://thinkinghow.com/becoming-a-better-thinker/feed/ 0 0:03:36 While reading Malcolm Gladwell’s “Blink” recently one passage struck me and I thought how could it be applied to creative thinking. That passage was: “How good people’s decisions are under fast moving, high stress condi[...] While reading Malcolm Gladwell’s “Blink” recently one passage struck me and I thought how could it be applied to creative thinking. That passage was: “How good people’s decisions are under fast moving, high stress conditions of rapid cognition is a function of training, rules and rehearsal.” I replaced “decisions” with “creative thinking” in the original statement and I get this: “How good people’s creative thinking is under fast moving, challenging conditions is a function of training, rules and rehearsal.” So could this revised statement be true? Can we be more creative and generate better ideas faster if have some rules, train our minds and practice (rehearse). Let’s take a look and see. Rules: Your first thought might be that there should be no rules to creativity and idea generation. But, if the rules are kept simple and everyone knows and agrees with them they can really help. Here are some examples. 1. Anything goes. 2. Record all ideas. 3. Generate as many ideas as possible. 4. Evaluate later. Understanding and applying these rules gives us permission to think freely. When everyone in a group complies with the rules the barriers come down and the ideas flow. Training: Can we train ourselves to be better thinkers? Perhaps it’s actually training us to not be bad thinkers. To do that we need to learn to challenge assumptions. Learn to recognise associations that are limiting our thinking and step around them. We need to train ourselves that it’s ok to have grand visions and then design the way there. We can use observation, discussion and critiques to understand how other people innovate and teach ourselves in the process. Practice: If we understand the rules and can apply what we learn then we have a suite of creative thinking tools we can apply every day in our work, and in other personal and community projects. If we accept that rules, training and practice can increase our ability to generate ideas, think creatively, and innovate at speed; is there anything that could slow our thinking down? One of the points that Gladwell makes in Blink is that people often wait for more information, analysis, or the opinions of others to support their own decisions. With each additional piece of data comes assumptions and associations and thinking becomes more conscious and linear. He argues that when you move away from trusting your instinctive responses the quality of your decisions fall. His argument is that those with a trained mind focused on the right elements can make instant and accurate decisions. Transferring that thought to creative thinking we could say that by applying the rules, our training and practice, the quality, quantity and spontaneity of our ideas will improve. Tim Brown, CEO of the innovation and design firm IDEO, talks about some of these themes in this recently released TED video “forgetting the adult behaviors that are getting in the way our ideas.” Ideas, Innovation, Thinking steve@thinkinghow.com no no 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 Steve Swann http://thinkinghow.com/?p=219 http://thinkinghow.com/getting-other-people-to-contribute/feed/ 3 0:01:07 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.  One of the first articles suggests setting up an Idea Board in a common space eit[...] 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.  One of the first articles suggests setting up an Idea Board in a common space 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 and  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 you have something of value to say. So perhaps the time is good for this very simple and low tech idea to produce some really creative outcomes. Ideas steve@thinkinghow.com no no