Jim Friedman, Ph.D. Miami University
THE PREVIEW
First, let’s begin with the why. There are all kinds of creative processes that help people discover answers to problems. I hope throughout this course you will discover ones that work for you. We will present lots of tools, but I wanted to start simple. The C4 is a quick four-step process that uses the foundations and measures scientifically proven to enhance creativity. These four steps are designed for you to practice the most critical skills.
The C4 is a small tool. The C4 was not designed to change the world or change your life. The C4 is designed for little things. Use this for an event, a presentation, a small opportunity. But, again, the C4 is mostly designed for you to practice the tools.
C1-Clarification
The beginning of anything creative is clarification. What is our challenge? We will dig deeper into clarification tools in later classes, but for the C4, we will use a simple shorthand called “The More Proposition.” We live in a world of “more propositions.” Our boss wants the presentation to be more powerful. Our customers want our product to be more efficient. Our significant other wants an event to be more memorable. The more proposition is stated as follows… “How can I make ______ more ______?”
Consider these mores or create mores of your own: MORE: Memorable, funny, caring, sentimental, fun, creative, meaningful, joyous, inclusive, lasting, sappy, emotional, awe- inspiring, moving, horrible, weird, interesting, embarrassing, peaceful, thoughtful, calming, relaxing, useful, helpful, awesome, warm, happy, beautiful, informal, formal, natural, unique, witty, imaginative, reassuring, selfless, loving, colorful, energetic, complete, brief, clean, messy, bright, envious, youthful, dear, childlike, practical, wishful, polite, tear-inducing, earnest, erasable, permanent, readable BETTER: better smelling, better tasting, better feeling, better sounding, better looking. You can even create a “more proposition” beginning with LESS.
The more proposition uses “more” as an adverb… not as an expression of quantity. The more proposition is not about getting “more sales” but about creating “more powerful” commercials to drive more sales.
C2: Capture
This is one of the major keys to creativity. Capturing ideas. Quantity. Divergence. Fluency. Use your "more proposition" as your North Star for ideas. Do not stop until you have a large quantity; even then, push for more.• This is part of the mindset we discussed in class number one – Divergence. Ambiguity, maybe collaboration.
• This is the science we discussed earlier in this class number two in the Guilford Measures - Fluency.
• This recalls the rules of brainstorming we presented earlier in this class module – Quantity.
• This is the important top of the Creative Diamond – Divergence.
• This follows the famous quote by Linus Pauling: “If you want to have good ideas you must have many ideas.”
Also, remember the other brainstorming rules…Defer judgment, seek crazy novel ideas, ask others for ideas, and build on their ideas as well. Get it…Lots of Ideas. Lots of Options.
C3: Choose
This is now the time to choose. First, group and theme your ideas just as you did with your 100 questions in class module one. Grouping and Theming is an art, not a science. There is no right answer for the names of the categories or how many groups or themes there will be. The more you do this, the easier it becomes.
• This is the important bottom of the Creative Diamond – Convergence.
• This is part of the mindset we discussed in class number one – risk.
• This is the science we discussed earlier in this class number two in the Guilford
Measures – finding novelty.
• This finishes the famous quote by Linus Pauling: “If you want to have good ideasyou must have many ideas. Most of them will be wrong, and what you have to learn is which ones to throw away.” Begin by asking a bold question that keep creativity/novelty alive. Questions like – which of these have I never seen before? Which of these scare me? Which of these will have people talking? Which of these is the craziest? Please… create your owconvergence questions to show that you know how to keep creativity/novelty alive.
The goal is to get rid of the easy ones, the easy ideas, the ideas that have been done before, the ones that lack creativity. Let each question narrow down your list as you cross off the ideas that are too easy or have been done before. This works like a funnel, whittling down your options to get you down to one final idea. Resist the urge to choose lots of options. Choose one.C4: Completion The final creative step is completion. This is the innovation part. This is making it real. Find a way to test it and/or to prototype it. Don't spend a large amount of time or money here, just make it happen. Then step back and look at what worked and what didn't.
• This is another important bottom of the Creative Diamond – What’s next?
Elaboration.
• This is part of the mindsets we discussed in class number one – ambiguity, bias toward action, iteration, learning from failure.
• This is part of the entrepreneurial mindset - play
• This is the science we discussed earlier in this class number two in the Guilford Measures – elaboration.
THE ENDVIEW
That’s it. Four steps. Take a look back and consider what was happening in your mind while you worked through those four steps. Did you hear your VOJ? When? What was it saying? When was it loudest? Did you do what it said, or did you fight it? Did you VOJ any ideas? Did you VOJ in your selections in convergence? Did you make easy choices during completion, or did you find new ideas to elaborate? How did you risk? Were there any mistakes/failures? What did you learn? Reflect deeply. This is where the learning happens.
Jim Friedman, Ph.D. Miami University
I hate to say hate, but … how else do you describe that nails-on-chalkboard spine shivering shrill chill reaction? I’ve stopped ignoring it. I vow to stand alone, if necessary, to right this creative wrong: I hate brainstorming.
It’s a daily occurrence. We have a problem to solve. The challenge has been identified. The project begins.
“Where do we start?” Someone always suggests brainstorming.
“Great, who has an idea?”
“How about this….” A couple of ideas are suggested… or, as is often the case, one idea is suggested.
“Good… let’s do that.”
Brainstorm completed. Meeting adjourned. Team moves forward ready to make an un-creative idea happen.
Well, we have a creativity crisis here. We’ve got trouble. Right here in River City. With a capital T and that rhymes with B and that stands for Brainstorm.
We don’t brainstorm. We braindump. You know, Braindump: {breyn-duhmp} noun | verb-phrase: To drop your first idea without considering additional innovative ideas that might be eagerly awaiting discovery.
We most often grab the first idea and move forward. The first idea is rarely the best idea. The first idea is rarely the creative idea. The first idea is what everyone else thinks of. It’s the easy way, the quickest way. The first idea is not how we’re going to stand out. It’s not how we are going to wow our bosses or our customers or our shareholders.
Our stakeholders demand innovation. They want us to pull away from the pack. They want products, services and ideas that will establish us as memorable. How are we going to do that? Well, maybe brainstorming. But let’s brainstorm correctly.
Confession time. I really don’t hate brainstorming. I hate what it’s become. I am ready to draw a creative line in the sand and ask you to stand with me so that we can reclaim the tool.
The term “brainstorm” as a creative tool was coined by Alex Osborn in 1953. It’s a specific tool with specific rules but it seems to have become a generic term like so many products and services from aspirin to zipper. Osborn created brainstorming with four very specific rules:
THE FIRST RULE: Defer judgment. That’s tough for most of us. We tend to live in judgment. Listen carefully next time someone shares an idea. What’s the reaction? It’s the attack of the idea killers…. “We don’t have enough time, money, people to do that.” “We tried that before and it didn’t work.” “They’ll never go for it.” “Are we allowed to do that?” To brainstorm properly, save judging ideas for later.
THE SECOND RULE: Build on the ideas of others. We call this, the “yes, and…” rule. Too many times we hear an idea and say, “Yes, but…” That’s an idea killer. Keep your “buts” out of the brainstorm. Build on ideas. Add to them. Embellish, elaborate and encourage them. Try starting comments with “Yes, and…”
THE THIRD RULE: Go for quantity. This is critical. We need to move past the first, second and third answers. When people believe they are not creative, using first right answers may be why. Find more options. Find options others never discover. Stop looking for the first right answer. Find the tenth or the fiftieth or the hundredth.
I teach creativity in the Farmer School of Business at Miami University and conduct innovation sessions for companies around the country. It is not unusual for us to find more than 100 possible answers in less than 20 minutes. Brainstorming is exciting when practiced properly.
THE FOURTH RULE: Seek novelty. Seek the crazy idea. Suggest the undoable. It is often in the undoable idea that we actually discover the doable. Don’t judge that crazy idea. Have others build on it. With that, true innovation is not just possible, it is probable.
One final note… how do we start our brainstorm? Same place as always – with a question. The reason we are not creative is not because of our answers, it’s because of our questions. Weak questions garner weak ideas. Think about your last brainstorm. What was the starting question? Was it…”Does anyone have any ideas?” Or, “What do you wanna do?” Try starting your brainstorming process by brainstorming stronger questions. Try “What could we do if time and money was not a factor…”
The quality of your question will determine the quality of your ideas. And the quality of your brainstorm will determine the impact of your innovation. This week, April 15 – 21 is World Creativity and Innovation Week. Celebrate with a great brainstorm and use these rules to keep your brainstorming strong all year.