What are the most powerful innovation and problem solving methods?
Here is a quick run-down of 12 of the most powerful innovation and problem-solving tools:
1. Asking questions
2. Looking at assumptions
3. Cross-disciplinary & cross-industry study & models & solutions (exporting solution from low density to high density)
4. Design thinking (theoretically an impressive way to solve both business and wicked problems). Its unique value is that its a process & a set of tools–not just a single tool. It also uses the tools of Service Design as well. It also understands human experience as fundamentally emotional & visual–or at least that our efforts to solve problems need to take those issues very seriously in order to be effective.
5. Looking for gaps & problems
6. Association & combination (Reese cup innovation)
7. Competitions (like the X Prize)
8. Crowd sourcing (like Open IDEO)
9. Six Hats (De Bono Method) & TRIZ
10. Interviews, Ethnography, Listening, Observation (other methods of providing a feedback loop)
11. Checklists & mindmaps
12. Prototyping & iterative improvement
One key thing to think about. Various methods which improve risk taking. Without risk taking innovation at the idea level never gets expressed and/or the ideas never get tried. That also means that group dynamics need to embrace new & off the wall ideas.
To me #4 is probably the most powerful. It integrates many of the others into its fold.
Great list. I am in the early stages of designing the Entrepreneurship for the Public Good Program summer institute and have included ten of the listed elements.
Awesome! Great! Thanks Peter.
Here are the other posts on Compassion in Politics dealing with Problem Solving:
http://compassioninpolitics.wordpress.com/?s=problem+solving
I don’t think any are quite as to the point or succinct as this one, however.