The Question (5Ws/1H) Technique

The Who-What-Where-When-Why-How questions or 5Ws/1H, aid in expanding your view of a problem or opportunity, to try to make sure that all related aspects have been considered. By going through several cycles of the 5Ws/1H, alternatives related to the problem or opportunity can be explored exhaustively. This technique is one of the most useful of all creativity techniques because it can be used after each phase of the development cycle. By asking the 5Ws questions you have greater assurance that you are covering the full set of alternatives to be considered. The response to the H (How?) question provides approaches to implementing the ideas you have generated with the Ws. The answer to the H question should be a resource budget covering the 6Ms: Men, Materials, Machines, Methods, Market and Money. Procedure for use: 1. Develop a question for each of the Ws and the H. 2. Develop responses to each of your questions. 3. Evaluate alternative approaches suggested by your responses to your questions. When an improved approach results, determine its cost-effectiveness; and change the problem solution accordingly.

CAPS

The CAPS concept enhances and supplements the 4Ps and has special significance in the marketing of services. The following connections may be considered. Procedure for use: Consideration refers to the inconvenience that is caused to the customer. This could be loss of time, safety or loss of dignity. This adds to price. Access refers to the ease with which a service can be used. Promotion is a little different when we consider that many aspects of a service are intangible. Finally service is of course something that has far more dimensions than a product. Service cannot be touched or smelt but only experienced. Example for use: Apply CAPS to a bank to improve customer service. Consideration – The paper work could be made easy to understand and someone may be deputed to help. Access – Computer and Internet access may be provided so that people can complete their transactions from home or office. 24/7 ATMs improve access. Promotion – Member-get-member programs may be used. Service – Home delivery or office delivery of cash could be offered to selected clients.

Bug List Technique

Innovators share the feeling of being driven by a real or perceived failure of existing things or processes, to work as well as they might. Fault finding with the world around them and disappointments with the inefficiencies with which things are done appear to be common traits among inventors. According to Marvin Camaras, an inventor, “Inventors tend to be dissatisfied with what they see around them … maybe they’re dissatisfied with something they’re actually working on or with an everyday thing... They say this is a very poor way of doing it.” The Bug List techniques were developed to capitalize on this tendency of faulting things around us – to lead to corrective action. Procedure for use: 1. The group is asked to identify things that irritate or “bug” them. Each person is asked to identify 5 or 10 bugs. 2. Then the list is consolidated to identify the bugs common to most persons. 3. The group is led through the list and asked to vote. 4. Then the group brainstorms ways to resolve the bugs.

Experiential Attribute Matching

Experiencing an event is totally different from thinking about it. Information from the five senses rushing in reflects the ecstasy of the experience. One of the groups in my training program went on a turtle walk on a beach. They saw a large turtle alone on the sand; one of them came up with the idea that individuals in an organization should be allowed space to grow, without interference, in solitude. Yet another saw the slow and clumsy turtle and came up with an idea that postulated the exact opposite: let the organizational plan be clear and precise. Learn to capture dreams, visions, floating thoughts and to synthesize them into your plans. For example, the best way to understand a tree is to become a tree in the storm.

Tent Thinking vs. Marble Palace Thinking

A bank wanted to rapidly open branches at a minimal cost. They were not sure which locations were most likely to succeed. An I Lab came up with the idea of using existing organizations such as schools, petrol bunks, and panchayat halls to set up branches. This solution has two advantages: 1. It was inexpensive 2. It could be easily dismantled or closed if not successful. Today, the speed at which corporations are required to grow, involves experiments. An experiment should be inexpensive. In fact, in an experiment, there is no success or failure; there is only feedback. This essentially is Tent Thinking. A tent can be put up, change shape, it can expand or reduce and it can be put up elsewhere. Marble Palace Thinking involves a fascination with permanence. Permanent structures, people and systems are expensive and difficult to dismantle. Permanent staff is a fixed overhead, which cannot be reduced as a swift response to falling demand in a recessionary market. This is the Marble Palace mentality. Success in today’s scenario goes to those who are swift, dynamic and able to respond to mercurial changes in the environment. Adaptability is the most important quality this millennium demands. Marble palaces become fixed overheads, which are difficult to adapt to any other use.

Company Wide Innovation Tools

It is only through the systematic learning of tools, the generation and testing of new ideas that organizations can improve their Innovation Quotient (IQ). Company-wide innovation is not about nurturing solitary genius in sterile laboratories, but requires the bubbling enthusiasm of teams, playfully ping ponging wild ideas, taming them, using old ideas as a foundation for innovation and finally carefully hand-holding and nurturing innovative teams through the long and messy process of implementation. Companies wanting to be innovative need to draw a clear line between thinking and doing. Thinking can be outrageous, intuitive, and dangerous. It can only add new dimensions to understanding the situation. The rules for thinking are different from the rules for doing. Implementation is possible only with a clear foundation of rational thought and practical application. ‘Thinking enables us to explore alternatives before choosing the most suitable, profitable and satisfying solution. ‘Doing’ requires different analytical skills. But many companies make people afraid even to think beyond the beaten path. Today any company traveling the traditional path may be driven off the road by innovation in technology, as in the case of the ,textile units in Coimbatore. The greatest paradox is that the biggest risk of all is not to be innovative, never to do anything new, even at the experimental level. The business or individual who never experiments and continues to do things ‘the way we’ve always done it,’ feels safe and comfortable, but risks being caught out by changing circumstances. An experiment should not destroy the company. An experiment should provide feedback and not be judged for its success.

Thinking Tools

Thinking tools are formulae and methods to help people think out of the box. The use of a thinking tool enables every participant to generate ideas. Each idea is usually different because people are unique and bring to the table their own unique experiences and assumptions. The best way out of a deadlock in the discussion is to use a thinking tool. Thinking tools make the teaching of creativity simple. Tools can help us replicate innovation quickly across the organization. The world’s foremost companies have insisted on teaching creativity and innovation skills. IBM, Coco Cola, Unilever, Sony, ICICI, Ashok Leyland, TI, HLL, TVS - the list goes on. IBM even has a two year program for all its engineers. MindsPower I-Labs, over the last 20 years, have been dedicated to improving the creative potential of Asian companies.