Reframing & Ideation Methods
Sometimes the problem itself is the problem - you are stuck because you are solving the wrong version of it. The reframing and ideation methods help you see the problem differently and then generate many fresh options. These are lighter, faster techniques you can use almost anywhere.
Question Storming
Instead of brainstorming answers, rapidly generate questions about the problem. New questions expose hidden assumptions and reframe what you are really solving.
Hypothesis Forming & Testing
Frame a belief as a testable hypothesis ("we believe X because Y"), then design a cheap experiment to confirm or kill it. Turns opinion into evidence.
Lateral Thinking
Edward de Bono's approach: deliberately break out of linear ("vertical") logic using provocations, random entry, and challenge to reach ideas logic alone would miss.
Brainstorming - use it well
Brainstorming is the best-known ideation method - and the most misused. Done well (clear question, defer judgment, build on others, go for quantity, then converge) it is powerful. Done badly (vague prompt, loudest voice wins, premature criticism) it produces little. Brainstorming is a tool for divergence; it must be paired with a convergence step, which we explore fully in Module 11.
Recall a recent brainstorm. Was the question well-framed? Did you defer judgment and converge deliberately - or did it fizzle? What would you change with these methods?
Sources
- de Bono, E., Lateral Thinking: Creativity Step by Step, 1970.
- Gregersen, H., Questions Are the Answer, 2018 (Question Storming / Question Bursts).
- Global Innovation Institute (GInI), Foundations of Innovation body of knowledge.