atkinson advisor

Next time you hold a brainstorming session, try emphasizing quantity over quality. Many creativity experts recommend setting a goal and a time limit for the session to stimulate the flow of ideas, e.g. 100 ideas in 20 minutes. Having a quantity goal also prevents you from judging ideas immediately, which is creativity killer.

CIA agents likely confront complex problems on a frequent basis. Finding an effective solution can have significant ramifications on our national security.

The CIA recognized that properly understanding problems was critical to finding the right solution. The organization developed its Phoenix Checklist to help agents apply a thorough, consistent process when confronting a complex problem.

The checklist doesn’t define the problem. It helps users examine the problem’s different parts; determine where to start given available information and resources; and avoid wasting resources on parts of the problem that cannot be solved.

The following are the first 16 questions in the Phoenix Checklist:

•  Why is it necessary to solve the problem? 
• What benefits will you receive by solving the problem? 
• What is the unknown? 
• What is it you don’t yet understand? 
• What is the information you have? 
• What isn’t the problem? 
• Is the information sufficient? Or is it insufficient? Or redundant? Or contradictory? 
• Should you draw a diagram of the problem? A figure? 
• Where are the boundaries of the problem? 
• Can you separate the various parts of the problem? Can you write them down? What are the relationships of the parts of the problem? 
•  What are the constants (things that can’t be changed) of the problem? 
•  Have you seen the problem before? 
•  Have you seen this problem in a slightly different form? 
•  Do you know a related problem? 
•  Can you think of a familiar problem having the same or a similar unknown? 
•  Suppose you find a problem related to yours that has already been solved. Can you use it? Can you use its method?
   

Creativity expert Michael Michalko recommends using the Phoenix Checklist as a starting point of a personal checklist for solving problems specific to your business or role in your company.

The next Atkinson Advisor will discuss using the Phoenix Checklist to create a plan of action.

Smart Choices by John Hammond, Ralph Keeney, and Howard Raiffa

Smart Choices centers on the belief that every business is the sum of its decisions. The better the decisions, the better the business.

The authors present a detailed yet approachable system that makes the decision-making process creative, thorough, and precise.

The authors’ process for making smart choices includes:

• Work on the right “decision problem”
• Define your objectives
• Create imaginative alternatives
• Understand the consequences
• Grapple with tradeoffs
• Clarify your uncertainties
• Think hard about your risk tolerances

The authors say most important step is creating imaginative alternatives because the final choice will only be as good as the alternatives considered.

In addition to the process, the authors share valuable insights about the psychological challenges and traps of making and committing to a decision.

Mindtools.com provides resources about more than 100 different business skills in nine areas, including time management, stress management, management complexity, and decision-making. Each of the tools is presented in everyday language with examples and key takeaways to remember. We especially liked the “reframing matrix” in the practical creativity section and the “cause and effect diagram” in the managing complexity section.

You’ve most likely heard the story about the executive ranting and raving at a meeting about why his company’s scientifically engineered dog food is not selling as projected. Other executives speculate about far-flung reasons until one young salesperson in the back asks, “Um, sir, do dogs like it?”

That is the power of great questions. They make brainstorming more productive. They set the stage of constructive debate. They inspire.

• Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.
• To be or not to be? That is the _____.

Our New Year’s resolution for 2004 is to ask better questions.

According to creativity expert and author Michael Michalko, the key to better questions is transforming them into a challenge using the phrase “in what ways can we…”

How can we increase sales? might become In what ways can we reward our best customers and increase their business? Instead of How do we improve employee morale?, you might use In what ways can we motivate employees during stressful peak periods?

The CEO of Winter Garden Salads most likely used a similar train of thought when he decided to give employees a $50 bonus before the holiday rush. The change in philosophy led to a 50 percent increase in productivity.

In what ways can you use the power of questions to improve your business in 2004?

The Five Faces Of Genius by Annette Moser-Wellman

Creativity is one of the true forces behind successful businesses. Market leaders see opportunities before everybody else, solve problems that nobody else has solved, and inspire us to think differently.

Thinking differently about creativity is the foundation of The Five Faces Of Genius. Moser-Wellman has identified five types of genius that organizations can use to inspire creativity:

• The Seer who can visualize a problem quickly 
• The Observer who finds inspiration in meticulous details 
• The Alchemist who finds connections between seemingly unrelated ideas 
• The Fool who turns weakness into opportunity 
• The Sage who reduces problems to their simplest form

According to Moser-Wellman, every individual has a dominant type of genius. Understanding associates’ types allows organizations to capitalize on individual strengths and develop better brainstorming groups and teams.

Moser-Wellman provides a thought-provoking, 40-question survey that people can use to identify their primary type of genius. She also outlines tools that people can use to increase their abilities in their non-dominant types.