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Posts Tagged ‘Learning to Think’

10 Actions for better design

February 24th, 2009 by Steve Swann | 1 Comment | Filed in Doing, Ideas, Innovation, Problem Solving, Sharing, Thinking

In my last post a suggested some ways to innovate in a down economy. Two suggestions I made was to Observe and to Collect Ideas, but I should’ve  also added Share.

In that spirit I’d invite you to take a look at the following article which presents 10 actions for better (sustainable) design.

Allan Chochinov, editor-in-chief at Core 77, was a speaker at Compostmodern on Saturday, and presented some great steps for designers. He calls them “Denting an Impossible Design Problem in 10 Sustainable Steps.”

While these are intended to apply to sustainable design I think that they are equally applicable to any project requiring creative thinking. Allan’s steps were:

  1. Acknowledge the privilege you have as a designer.
  2. Use the word “consequence”.
  3. Question authority.
  4. Surround yourself with the awesomest people you can.
  5. Don’t play fair.
  6. Be intentionally dumb.
  7. Redistribute – then reduce, reuse, and recycle.
  8. Broaden your market.
  9. Indulge in discursive design.
  10. Talk to anyone who will listen.

For an expanded commentary of the ten steps take a look at the TreeHugger article.



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Two words to boost creativity

January 8th, 2009 by Steve Swann | No Comments | Filed in Ideas, Innovation, Solutions

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.

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A parable for modern times

December 18th, 2008 by Steve Swann | 2 Comments | Filed in Ideas, Inspiration, Problem Solving

I recently took part in a discussion which asked the question “are there any differences between Ideas and Suggestions?” My contribution was to propose this metaphor:

that suggestions are seeds, ideas are seeds that have sprouted, and innovations are plants in full bloom.

Here is a short parable based on that metaphor. It has the current financial crisis in mind and I hope it prompts us to think about how we might respond. 

Click here (for pdf): Parable of the Beautiful Town (495)

The shory is in a pdf file. Click the link above and it will open in a browser window. Right click the link and “save target as” if you’d like a copy or wish to share it with others.

 

I’d like to acknowledge contribution from the following people who each provided elements for this story in the original discussion:   Prakasan Kappoth, Senior Manager KM, Systematic Innovation Facilitator & Innovation Consultant at MindTree;   Kevin Paylow, Innovation, Knowledge Management & Strategy Activist;   Nigel Collin, Business Creativity Speaker & Consultant;    Grant Bosnick, Chief Executive Thinker at YES (Your Empowering Solution); and    Marian Thier, Owner, Expanding Thought, and Professional Training & Coaching Consultant.

I’d love your feedback. Please leave a comment or contact me directly through the “Contact Me” button under my photo.



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