Lateral Thinking, Logical Thinking, Applied Creativity

Certain processes enhance creative output and others enhance innovative output. Defining creativity as problem identification and idea generation and innovation as idea selection, development and commercialisation, this article will tackle stages two and three using the three-stage process of lateral thinking, logical thinking and applied creativity.

The start of the process involves building a sizeable idea pool of quality ideas. In this article, we can define quality as being a large number of ideas and a large number of diverse and novel ideas.

Simply creating the above three categories enhances the size of the idea pool. Whereas we might initially have come up with 20 ideas, we are now consciously able to come up with 20 ideas and then 20 others that are purposefully diverse and yet still 20 more that are purposefully novel. This framework that we are beginning to construct begins to show the value of frameworks and models. They break up problems into smaller, more manageable parts and allow the mind to focus on each.

We can also use lateral thinking techniques to enhance the size of our idea pool. This involves processes such as generating ideas without conscious direction, for the sake of generating ideas, purposefully ridiculous ideas, ideas generated from links to diverse and novel objects that have no relation to the apparent problem.

Next, we can use logical thinking to generate ideas and increase the quality of the idea pool still further. This involves using established models and associations that are recognised as being linked to the problem to generate ideas. For example, a million business models exist to address particular problems. SWOT, PEST, Five Forces, Competitive Advantages etc can be used if the issue is indeed a business one.

All of the above requires that creative thinking in general be used. That is daring, uninhibited, free-spirited, imaginative, unpredictable and revolutionary.

With a sizeable and good quality idea pool, we now begin to use critical thinking to reduce the ideas to feasible ones - applied creativity. Critical thinking involves being reductive, logical, focused, conservative, practical and feasible.

Once we have a list of feasible ideas, we then further reduce the selection further through risk-reward mechanisms such as the S-curve and idea source probabilities. That is because most organizations do not have the resources to innovate all their good ideas and so only the most likely are given the resources and opportunity to succeed.

This topic is covered in depth in the MBA dissertation on Managing Creativity & Innovation, which can be purchased (along with a Creativity and Innovation DIY Audit, Good Idea Generator Software and Power Point Presentation) from http://www.managing-creativity.com. You can also receive a regular, free newsletter by entering your email address at this site.

Kal Bishop, MBA

**********************************

You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made and the author's name and site URL are retained.

Kal Bishop is a management consultant based in London, UK. He has consulted in the visual media and software industries and for clients such as Toshiba and Transport for London. He has led Improv, creativity and innovation workshops, exhibited artwork in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London and written a number of screenplays. He is a passionate traveller. He can be reached on http://www.managing-creativity.com.

Latest News


Lehman Deal Spins Off Part of Private Equity Unit Into Independent ...
New York Times, United States - 7 hours ago
Under the deal, the private equity firm’s current management, led by Charles Ayres, will purchase the firm’s most recent fund — a $3.3 billion pool of ...
Lehman Said to Weigh Sale of Merchant-Banking Fund to Managers Bloomberg
Lehman deal on private equity close: source Reuters
Lehman to spin out private equity arm: WSJ MarketWatch
Wealth Bulletin - Emailwire
all 74 news articles

Reuters

Banks Pare Fed Loans After Increase for Year-End Cash
Bloomberg - 12 hours ago
BlackRock Inc., Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Pacific Investment Management Co. and Wellington Management Co. are managing the purchases. ...
US banks rely slightly less on Fed cash Reuters
Banks borrow more, investment firms less from Fed The Associated Press
Commercial Paper Market Rises to Most Since September Bloomberg
Reuters - Reuters
all 104 news articles

Boston Globe

Wal-Mart disappoints analysts, Walgreen chops management team
Bizjournals.com, NC - 15 hours ago
(NYSE:WAG) announced plans to offer early retirement and severance programs to some 1000 corporate and field management employees, or 9 percent of those ...
Video: Jan 8: Stocks Boosted by Mortgage Deal AssociatedPress
Retailers report dismal December sales Connecticut Post
Wal-Mart’s Bleak December May Herald More Pain in ‘09 Bloomberg
Reuters - Bloomberg
all 2,099 news articles

Information Builders Partners With Tagetik to Deliver Corporate ...
MSNBC - 6 hours ago
"Customers often require two solutions, an executive dashboard and an operational system to manage their performance management requirements," said Gerald ...

Boston Globe

Walgreen will cut 1000 management jobs in 2009
The Associated Press - 12 hours ago
NEW YORK (AP) — Drugstore operator Walgreen Co. said Thursday it will cut 1000 jobs by mid-year, or about 9 percent of corporate management, through a ...
Walgreen to cut about 1000 corporate and field management jobs RTT News
Walgreens Announces Reduction in Corporate and Field Management ... WELT ONLINE
Walgreens to cut 1000 salaried posts Chicago Tribune
MSN Money
all 282 news articles

Z-Wave Alliance Showcases Brand-New Energy Management, Home ...
MSNBC - 2 hours ago
Alliance member companies will showcase for the first time new, affordable energy management, home security and home control solutions in the Alliance booth ...

Uptown men's shelter will stay open under new management
Chicago Tribune, United States - 2 hours ago
Johnson declined to elaborate on the funding and management changes, but said, "We are very satisfied with the outcome of what has happened. ...

Brookfield Asset Management 2008 Year End Conference Call ...
MSNBC - 18 hours ago
You are invited to participate in Brookfield Asset Management's 2008 Year End Conference Call & Webcast on Friday, February 13, 2009 at 11:00 am (ET) to ...
Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP 2008 Year End Conference ... MSNBC
all 2 news articles

FOXNews

Gary Berntsen Thinks CIA Needs 'Leadership Not Management'
FOXNews - Jan 7, 2009
CIA COVERT OFFICER : Actually, we need leadership, not management at CIA. That person who's going to be in charge of CIA is in charge of our fight, ...
Video: Analyst Weighs in on Obama's CIA Pick AssociatedPress
Obama's intel picks short on direct experience The Associated Press
Obama Is Under Fire Over Panetta Selection Washington Post
GovExec.com - Foreign Policy (subscription)
all 2,663 news articles

New York Times

Microsoft Touts Power Management in Windows 7
Redmond Channel Partner, CA - 9 hours ago
Improved power management got briefly mentioned among the expected benefits of Windows 7 on Wednesday at the Consumer Electronics Show. ...
Hacking Windows 7 beta problems Computerworld
Microsoft releases Windows Server 2008 R2 beta VNUNet.com
Windows 7 Server Beta – Exclusively 64-bit to Support 256 Logical ... Softpedia
all 1,135 news articles

Resources