Turncoat

Play Devil’s Advocate. As a discipline, think of the exact opposite of the view you have been holding. If you’ve been saying ’Yes’ get the motivation for ‘No’. If you are an optimist, as a discipline work out the motivations of the pessimist. Most of us tend to see situations through the flawed windows of our own nature. We are optimistic or pessimistic and do not really participate with others in understanding all aspects and connotations of a problem. The Six thinking hats can help a group or even a person to study all aspects of a problem. Here are the hats and what they stands for. Each of us wear each hat in turn or persuade other to wear them. I’d like to state here, that while thinking one should remove all barriers and obstacles. Thinking is the easiest way of testing a solution. Thinking through all possibilities can prevent major financial distress. But most people are as careful and timid with their thinking as they are with their actions, thus losing the possibility of nurturing creative ideas. People feel busy and productive, leaping into activity. One can happily be busy doing work which may be non productive. In my view thinking should be the major activity of managers. The rules of action has been already codified by Edward De Bono as ‘Physical nature of shoes’. Creativity helps us to find alternative to successful activities. But progress lies in constantly striving through innovation to delight the customer.

ADI

Building relationships, lifetime relationships if possible, through good communications provides the right environment for creativity. Reducing conflict improves creativity. Innovators are good negotiators because of their ability to invent a variety of alternative ways of handling the problem. Conflict is reduced by the ability to invent variety of alternative ways of handling the problem. A good tool to reduce conflict is Edward De Bono’s ADI. Take any conflict situation and do a ADI which is mapping the situation. A Areas of Agreement D Areas of Disagreement I Areas of Irrelevance It is often found that the two parties agree on 95% of the points. All heated arguments and conflict may be about 3% of the points while 2% may be irrelevant. Creativity helps teams to cope with change. They are able to use change not as a threat but as an opportunity and a challenge to improve their problem solving abilities.

PO3

PO3 is a tool to generate alternatives. When a system is working well, as a matter of routine, PO3 should be used to encourage thinking of 10 alternate ways of doing it better. This is an important and interesting tool to prevent stagnation.

PO2

PO2 is very similar to attribute matching. They help us to put together dissimilar ideas and expert solutions from different fields. Example: If you would like to get fresh ideas on education compare it to a motor car. The attributes of a motor car are, 1. It moves 2. It should be regularly filled with fuel 3. It can carry people 4. It provides a good view of the country 5. It has four wheels Aplying some of the ideas to education will ensure that we get a whole group of creative ideas like educational programme should put different types of people together in close proximity (as in a motor car) and enable them to share ideas in a time bubble away from others. Education should provide regular inputs from an outside source (like fuel).

PO

PO is a tool perfected by Edward De Bono and is a word used to protect delicate new ideas from destruction. PO1 PO1 is used to protect an impossible idea from immediate destruction. The tool used here to protect the idea is intermediate impossible. Example: Parking on Mount Road becomes a problem due to over crowding and lack of adequate parking space. You can use an intermediate impossible here: Drivers should be encouraged to park only on weekends. This can lead to the idea to provide parking spots for car on different days of the week. So each car would receive special facilities only on certain days of the week. This would encourage car pooling and a shift of leisure time activities to times when the congestion is less. The intermediate impossible helps to put a fence around an idea which is impossible, thus allowing it to develop without immediate attack.

Differentiation of Stars from Seekers

Stars, on the whole, are very positive about their company and its future. They believe that the quality of their products is higher, and that their market share was increasing. Employee satisfaction levels were high, possibly, because people were committed and engaged. Stars had a greater belief in the need for creativity in the organization. Innovation was clearly mentioned in their mission statement. They had systematic customer satisfaction measures and use the information to make course corrections. New ideas are often obtained through market research. They make use of outside consultants. They use cutting edge technologies to impact bottom lines. They are able to ensure that different departments use their ability to come together. They excel in environment scouting for ideas. They have a shared process of idea generation, which however, could be used better.

Outward Bound Type Programmes

These programmes employ an exotic location and new situations to stimulate creativity. It is common to develop a positive climate through teamwork concepts learnt on location. The use of physical adventure is particularly attractive to desk bound executives with their notoriously sedentary life styles. Building trust and breaking down communication barriers can often result in heightened creativity, growing out of the environment or positive field in which innovation thrives. Music has the power to purify the emotional field like nothing else. Pranayama helps you sing without losing your breath. The mindspace becomes sweetly harmonious and no harsh words can be spoken there. Here is a quote from Rabinranath Tagore’s Geetanjali: “I touch with the edge of the far-reaching wings of my song, thy feet which I could never aspire to reach”. Every day we should choose the sounds that allowed into our field. Perhaps we could set a song for the day in our mind. Those who met us would see the sparkle of that song in my eyes and feel the rhythm of its harmony in our, limbs. Why should we allow foul language into our mind? ‘Shabdh or sound is Vani Saraswathi, the Goddess of Learning. Words are sacred to her. Choose to say beautiful words, to hear lovely words. Banish harsh, angry and foul language from the inner spaces of your heart. A sure happiness killer is stress, hence beware of it.