Techniques of creative thinking

TECHNIQUES OF CREATIVE THINKING

BYPranav Kumar Ojha

Siddharth Kumar Upadhyay

Contents

• Introduction• Different techniques of creative thinking.

– Focus Groups– Brainstorming– Attribute Analysis– Synectics– Checklist of questions

• Conclusion• Reference

Thank You

Introduction

• Techniques which are used in developing creativity or resolving problems by creative thinking come under the techniques of creative thinking.

Different techniques of creative thinking

• Focus Groups• Brainstorming• Attribute Analysis• Synectics• Checklist of questions

FOCUS GROUPS

• A focus group is a form of qualitative research in which a group of people are asked about their attitude towards a product, service, concept, advertisement, idea, or packaging.

FOCUS GROUPS

• Questions are asked in an

interactive group setting where participants are free to talk with other group members

FOCUS GROUPS

• The first focus group was created at the Bureau of Applied Social Research by associate director, sociologist Robert K. Merton.

• The term itself was coined by psychologist and marketing expert Ernest Dichter

FOCUS GROUPS

• How to plan and prepare for Focus Groups.

• Types of focus groups.

•Useful tips to encourage discussion•Benefits of focus groups

•Problems related to focus groups

• Two-way focus group - one focus group watches another focus group and discusses the observed interactions and conclusion.

• Dual moderator focus group - one moderator ensures the session progresses smoothly, while another ensures that all the topics are covered.

Types of focus groups

• Dueling moderator focus group - Two moderators deliberately take opposite sides on the issue under discussion.

• Respondent moderator focus group - one or more of the respondents are asked to act as the moderator temporarily.



•Client participant focus groups - One or more client representatives participate in the discussion, either covertly or overtly.

•Mini focus groups - Groups are composed of four or five members rather than 6 to 12.

Types of Focus Group

• Teleconference focus groups - telephone network is used.

• Online focus groups - computers connected via the internet are used

How to plan and prepare for Focus Groups

• Invite around 6 to 8 people to participate for a session to last for about an hour.

• Then, prepare an agenda including a list of the top-level issues to be tackled (if appropriate).

How to plan and prepare for focus groups

• Prepare an introduction script explaining the purpose of the day and how the day will be run.

• Be sure to always use a quiet room and arrange people in a circle (possibly around a table).

Useful tips to encourage discussion

• Ask participants to think about an issue for a few minutes and write down their responses.

• Ask each participant to read, and elaborate on, one of their responses.

Useful tips to encourage discussion

• Note the responses on a flipchart/whiteboard• Once everyone has given a response,

participants will be asked for a second or third response, until all of their answers have been noted.

• These responses can then be discussed.

Benefits of focus groups

• Group discussion produces data and insights that would be less accessible without interaction.

• Group members discover a common language to describe similar experiences. This enables the capture of a form of “native language” or “vernacular speech” to understand the situation.

Benefits of focus groups

• Focus groups also provide an opportunity for disclosure among similar others in a setting where participants are validated.

Problems related to focus groups

• The researcher has less control over a group than a one-on-one interview, and thus time can be lost on issues irrelevant to the topic.

• The number of members of a focus group is not large enough to be a representative sample of a population; thus, the data obtained from the groups is not necessarily representative of the whole population, unlike the data of opinion polls.

BRAINSTORMING

• Brainstorming is the way of making of a group of people all think about samething at same time, often in order to solve a problem or to create a good idea (oxford dictionary).

BRAINSTORMING

• Brainstorming is a group creativity technique designed to generate a large number of ideas for the solution of a problem.

• In 1953 the method was popularized by Alex Faickney Osborn in a book called Applied Imagination.

• Rules of Brainstorming• Methods of Brainstorming• Types of Brainstorming

BRAINSTORMING

Rules of Brainstorming

• Focus on quantity: This rule is a means of enhancing divergent production, aiming to facilitate problem solving through the maxim- quantity breeds quality.


• Withhold criticism: In brainstorming, criticism of ideas generated should be put 'on hold'.

• By suspending judgment, participants will feel free to generate unusual ideas.


• Welcome unusual ideas: To get a good and long list of ideas, unusual ideas are welcomed.


• Combine and improve ideas: Good ideas may be combined to form a single better good idea, It is believed to stimulate the building of ideas by a process of association.

Methods of Brainstorming

• Set the problem• Create a background memo• Select participants• Create a list of lead questions• Session conduct

Types of Brainstorming

• Webbing• Venn Diagram


Webbing-• Webbing is a way to see what you know about

a topic.


Webbing-• Start with a bubble in the center of the page,

then write your thesis statement in the bubble.

Mr. T is the best teacher ever

Webbing (2)

Add supporting evidence or information around the edges in connected bubbles.

Mr. T is the best teacher

ever

Funny

Gives easy work

Awesome musician

Cool room


Webbing-

Webbing (3)

Go back around and explain why your evidence makes your thesis true.

Mr. T is the best teacher

ever

Funny

Gives easy work

Awesome musician

Cool room

Makes class interesting

Weird voices help me remember

Want to pay attention

Makes up songs about school; easy to

remember

Lots of information

High avg.

Can focus on material

Want to go to class


Webbing-

Venn Diagram

A Venn diagram is used to help visualize the similarities and differences between two subjects.

Venn diagrams are very useful when brainstorming a compare/contrast essay

Venn Diagram

Start with the two topics you’re comparing in overlapping circles.

JFK Bill Clinton

Venn Diagram

Write similarities in the overlapping space.

President

Popular

Good hair

Popular wife (?)

JFK Bill Clinton

Write differences in the non-overlapping space.

President

Popular

Good hair

Popular wife

Started space

program

Almost impeached

Assassinated Still alive

JFK Bill Clinton

Venn Diagram

ATTRIBUTE ANALYSIS

• Attribute analysis is the process of breaking down a problem, idea, or thing into attributes or component parts and then thinking about the attributes rather than the thing itself.

Steps in attribute analysis

Identification of major attributes

Generation of alternatives

Evaluation of alternatives

Principles of Attribute Listing

• Creativity deals with inspiration

• Product A + Product B = New Creation

• Search concrete and closely related substitutes of an existing or current attribute

Principles contd..

• Now it can be upgraded to more and more far-out alternatives

• Creation is a continuing stream of modification

Procedures of Attribute Listing

• Listing of all obvious attributes of an object or activity. e.g.- color, shape, size etc.

• Identifying those attributes that can be altered without destroying the main function of the object

Steps in attribute listing

• Listing of basic but modifiable attributes

• Generating alternatives to the current attribute

• Listing abstract or generic attributes of the object or activity

SYNECTICS

Synectics is a problem solving method that stimulates thought processes of which the subject may be unaware. This method was developed by George M. Prince and William J. J. Gordon, originating in the Arthur D. Little Invention Design Unit in the 1950s.

Synectics is a technique of problem solving by using a variety of analogies.

Major Analogies

1. Direct analogy

2. Personal analogy

3. Fantasy analogy

4. Symbolic analogy

Checklist of Questions

• Questions are the creative acts of intelligence, for that they could be so designed as to force a dramatic shift of perspective.

CONCLUSION

Creative thinking techniques are very much useful to generating new ideas in every organization . The new way of thinking should always be encouraged and creativity should always be welcomed.

Reference• Creativity and Entrepreneurship By- Dafna Karif• Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management By- M.B.Shukla • www.creativecommons.org • www. expertise.ac .in• www.nbcindia.com• www.egyankosh.com (Oxford Dictionary)• WWW.gogle.com• WWW.wikipeadia.org• www.slideshare.com• IGNOU study Materials.

http://www.creativecommons.org/

http://www.nbcindia.com/

http://www.egyankosh.com/

http://www.gogle.com/

http://www.wikipeadia.org/

http://www.slideshare.com/

Link

• To become a successful entrepreneur, one must be creative , because creative thinking yields idea, plan, technology and most importantly solution of many problems. And for being creative , one should learn the techniques of creative thinking. So friends………….

• John fitzgerald Kannedy 35th US president