The more details you notice, the more innovative solutions you'll come up with.
Noticing more details about your goal, your resources, their features, and how your resources interact all add up to creating more solutions.
After all, a solution is a sequence of interactions among your resources (and their features) that ultimately accomplish your goal.
The more details you notice, the more "raw" information you have to form solutions out of.
When you visualize all your "raw" information together on a map (or graph), you can instantly see in one glance how they all relate to each other.
Noticing more details about your goal, your resources, their features, and how your resources interact all add up to creating more solutions.
After all, a solution is a sequence of interactions among your resources (and their features) that ultimately accomplish your goal.
The more details you notice, the more "raw" information you have to form solutions out of.
When you visualize all your "raw" information together on a map (or graph), you can instantly see in one glance how they all relate to each other.
Figure 1 is called a BrainSwarming graph because groups of people can work together as a "swarm" to build a graph that keeps track of all their "raw" information and how it relates to each other.
As people refine the goal, the top of the graph grows downward. As people interact the resources (and their features) together, the bottom of the graph grows upward. When the two directions connect, you have your first potential solution path connecting your resources with your goal.
Sample Problem:
Save the People on the Titanic
Putting people in lifeboats was the only serious solution that Titanic's crew came up with to save the people on the sinking ship. Their idea saved just 705 of the 2,228 passengers (only 32% of the passengers).
On a graph, you can see that they noticed very few details. Consequently, they only came up with one solution.
As people refine the goal, the top of the graph grows downward. As people interact the resources (and their features) together, the bottom of the graph grows upward. When the two directions connect, you have your first potential solution path connecting your resources with your goal.
Sample Problem:
Save the People on the Titanic
Putting people in lifeboats was the only serious solution that Titanic's crew came up with to save the people on the sinking ship. Their idea saved just 705 of the 2,228 passengers (only 32% of the passengers).
On a graph, you can see that they noticed very few details. Consequently, they only came up with one solution.
They needed to notice more!
Figure 3 shows many more details about goals, resources, features, and interactions. Consequently, more possible solutions emerge!
Figure 3 shows many more details about goals, resources, features, and interactions. Consequently, more possible solutions emerge!
What was important about lifeboats? They floated and were wooden.
These details about lifeboats triggered many other details about floating things.
My student group noticed that the iceberg is a floating thing that could possibly been used to keep people out of the water. They noticed wooden tables, wooden planks, steamer trunks--even car tires and inner tubes from the estimated 40 cars in storage. Each of these floating things could have been used in isolation or in combination with other floating things to keep people out of the water.
Solving Your Complex Problems
Your problems are most likely as complicated as the Titanic problem. Visualizing the many details of your problem and their relationships may be a matter of life and death for your company--if not literally a life and death matter.
BrainSwarming Graphs record all your details in their proper place so you can see how they relate to each other. In this way, a BrainSwarming Graph manages the complexity of your problem and reduces it to a simple and intuitive visualization.
We have techniques to help you notice more details of each possible component: more ways to rephrase your goal, more resources, more features, and more interactions. The more you notice, the more innovative you will be!
Contact Dr. Tony McCaffrey ([email protected]) to start your team on BrainSwarming Graphs.
Your team will soon be able to visualize your complex problems more simply and create more solutions.
These details about lifeboats triggered many other details about floating things.
My student group noticed that the iceberg is a floating thing that could possibly been used to keep people out of the water. They noticed wooden tables, wooden planks, steamer trunks--even car tires and inner tubes from the estimated 40 cars in storage. Each of these floating things could have been used in isolation or in combination with other floating things to keep people out of the water.
Solving Your Complex Problems
Your problems are most likely as complicated as the Titanic problem. Visualizing the many details of your problem and their relationships may be a matter of life and death for your company--if not literally a life and death matter.
BrainSwarming Graphs record all your details in their proper place so you can see how they relate to each other. In this way, a BrainSwarming Graph manages the complexity of your problem and reduces it to a simple and intuitive visualization.
We have techniques to help you notice more details of each possible component: more ways to rephrase your goal, more resources, more features, and more interactions. The more you notice, the more innovative you will be!
Contact Dr. Tony McCaffrey ([email protected]) to start your team on BrainSwarming Graphs.
Your team will soon be able to visualize your complex problems more simply and create more solutions.