Two types of thinking are essential for creativity
Two types of thinking are essential for creativity
1. Post-it power: Each note has a subject and verb
Speed works to generate your idea energy
- Pushes past inhibitions
- Keep the mind sharp
- Does what can’t be done with more time
Divergent thinking (tougher) — Lots and lots of ideas
- Zero judgment
- Quantity yields quality — Set a quota
- Explainin’ ain’t creatin’
- Seek wild options
- Combine and build on other ideas
- Participation required
Convergent (easy) — Picking the best of the lot
- Be deliberate
- Check your objectives
- Groom your ideas
- Be affirmative
Highlighting to help the cull
- Hits — those ideas that grab you, right on the money, solve the challenge
- Clusters — Converge multiple ideas into a better idea or major categories
- Restate — Give little ideas more power, more clarity
2. Focused brainstorming: Osborn-Parnes technique
The steps
• Idea generation — Quality is equal to quantity . Rapid-fire ideas are generated with each participant equipped with pen and pad of Post-It Notes. As an idea pops up, he or she writes it down (in subject and verb form), hollers it out for all to hear, and places it on a flip chart.
• Idea selection — Select and reform the best. After a time limit or you have exhausted the ideas, then the group members cluster and reform the notes to select the best idea to work on. They repeat this procedure for the applicable "finding" steps below. The problem-finding step is the most critical — a well-defined problem is half solved. To get from concept (object finding) to action plan (acceptance finding) can take 40 to 60 minutes.
- Objective finding — List significant challenges and opportunities, then isolate the main ones
- Fact finding — Determining what is known and what has the greatest impact
- Problem finding — List problem statements, then identify the best wording of the central problem. Start statement with "how 2"
- Idea finding — List intriguing ideas, then isolate the best
- Solution finding — List possible solutions from the ideas, then select the best one(s)
- Acceptance finding — Take the action steps needed for successful installation
Source: Duke Rohe, FHIMSS, Performance Improvement Specialist; and Estella Woodard, MS, Clinical Director; M.D. Anderson Cancer, Houston.
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