Creative thinking and focus

Someone asks an Irishman the way to a certain village. The man replies: ‘If I was going there I would not start from here.’ That is a very logical reply, even if it is not advice that is of much immediate practical value to the questioner. If you do not know where you are going, you are not likely to get there. If you do not know where you are going, you will not know the direction in which to start your journey. It is sound advice to know where you want to end up before starting the journey. But this sound advice does not always apply with creative thought.

With creative thinking you may have a defined goal or value point. Connex, a mobile company in Romania, set out to simplify its systems. It used the Six Hats framework. As a result it reduced the time needed to register a new customer from eight hours to 15 minutes.

Creativity can be used for problem solving. Statoil in Norway had a problem with an oil rig that was costing about $100,000 a day. Then Jens Arup, one of my trainers, introduced the Six Hats. The problem was solved in just 12 minutes and saved $10 million. The Karee platinum mine in South Africa used to have around 210 fights every month between the seven tribes working there. After ‘thinking’ was taught to the illiterate miners the number of fights dropped to just four.

There can be an ill-defined opportunity and then the purpose of creative thinking is to give it shape and practicality. So there are times when creativity can have a defined destination. There are, however, other times when the only defined destination is ‘to have new ideas in this area’.

AREA FOCUS

There are two main types of focus in creative and lateral thinking. The first type is ‘purpose’ focus. We know where we want to end up. We know the purpose of our thinking. We know what we want to achieve. Problem-solving and task-fulfilment are both clear examples of this.

The other type of focus is ‘area’ focus. We do not know where we want to end up. We only know where we are starting. We only know the area we are looking at. With area focus the only destination is ‘to have new ideas in this area’. That is a very, very broad destination which does not help us to get along with our thinking.

There are techniques, such as ‘random entry’, which are very useful with area focuses. It is also possible to use the other principles and techniques of lateral thinking.

SOAP

Suppose the focus is ‘we want new ideas in the area of soap’. We look at a bar of soap and using ‘challenge’ we ask why soap has to be such a large bar. It does not.

There is liquid soap. There are soap powder or soapflakes. But what about a form that is larger than powder, but smaller than a bar? What about small balls of soap about as big as ball bearings?

How would you use these soap balls? You could put them into a muslin bag. Indeed, people already do this with the small remains of used soap. What would be the value of this new form?

One value would be that you could choose and mix your own flavours by choosing different balls to put into the muslin bag. You could choose four lavender balls and two rose balls. You could add a jasmine ball, etc. In this way you could personalise the scent of the soap.

If personalising the scent of the soap you use is perceived as a value, how else could we do it? We might have special pads on which the soap normally rests. On to this pad you could put drops of whatever perfumes, or perfume mix, you wanted. Would this work? I do not know. You would need to try out the idea.

What about soap that held its own water? You could pick up and use this soap instantly. How could this be achieved? You would now seek to work out how to do this. What about the surface of the soap? This is always smooth. Could it be rough and mildly abrasive to remove the layers of dead skin?

DIRECTION, CONCEPT, VALUE

Once you have taken the first creative step then the mental operation of ‘movement’ takes over. Movement is a key part of lateral thinking and especially of provocation. Any step defines a new direction. We pursue that direction to see where it leads us. We note changes in direction, in concepts and in potential value.

At all times part of our mind should be ‘extracting the concept’. Once we can define the concept then we can explore ways of delivering that concept. Without concepts we merely stumble from idea to idea.

At every moment, part of our mind is looking for potential value. What is the value here? There may be a strong value that emerges. The value may be so weak that it is only ‘a possible point of interest’.

Movement is a mental skill that needs to be developed. The only time we use it naturally is when reading poetry. We do not judge the practical reality of what the poet is writing, but move on from the images, metaphors and juxtapositions that the poet is using.

With ‘movement’ we take a step forward from where we are at the moment. With ordinary thinking you can only take a step towards a known destination.

NOT PROBLEM-SOLVING

The main value of ‘area focus’ is that it is not problem-solving. Almost all our habits of thinking are directed towards problem-solving. What is the problem? How do we solve it? Problems can be defined as deviations or deficiencies from ‘what should be’. Problems can also be defined as ‘tasks we want to achieve’.

In contrast, area focus allows us to focus on anything at all...I want new ideas about ties...I want new ideas about car headlights...I want new ideas about police uniforms...I want new ideas about voting...I want new ideas about toothbrushes, etc.

An area focus can cover a whole object or situation. An area focus can also cover just one aspect...I want new ideas about the positioning of traffic lights...I want new ideas about the first step you take into a bank...I want new ideas about the positioning of headlines in a newspaper...I want new ideas about the colour of a screen in a cinema, etc.

COMPLACENCY

When things are going well and there are no obvious problems, many people feel there is no need for creativity. There is complacency.

Choosing to think creatively about things which are not problems and which are taken for granted can be very productive. If something is not a problem, the chances are that no one has thought about that matter for a long time. So the rewards from some ‘new thinking’ can be considerable.