Presentation from David Baskerville and David Avis (Lead BAs at Barclays Bank) on creativity techniques for Business Analysts. Delivered 18th July (Knutsford) and 31st July (Coventry).

1. This single span 720 foot bridge was built in Norway in 2001…
…but when was it designed?
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2. Welcome
David Avis
David Baskerville
Lead Business Solutions Analysts

3. This single span 720 foot bridge was built in Norway in 2001…
…but when was it designed?
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4. In 1502 Leonardo da Vinci
produced a drawing of a single
span 720 foot bridge.
It was not built until 2001
because it was thought such a
construction was impossible.

5. “Genius is seeing what everyone has seen and thinking what no one
else has thought”

6. C r e a t i v
e
Behaviour

7. • Share – Skills, knowledge, tools and techniques
• Highlight the Creativity techniques we use
• Real life Creativity success stories
• Q & A
Objective
Provide you with some ‘take-away’ creativity techniques that you can use to help you
become more creative
Agenda

8. 1. Be prepared – manage time, use a stop clock?
2. Set a clear Focus statement – spend time think about the thinking
Write an initial statement – What is the subject you wish to generate ideas about?
Rephrase, narrow or broaden
Re-write you statement 3-4- times then decide which on is the most appropriate
3. Choose you Creativity technique
4. Run the session
Remember…. all ideas have value and Quality V Quantity!
3. Evaluate the most popular idea(s) and decide which ones to take forward
(Dr Edward De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats is a great tool to use for this)
Running a Creative thinking session:

9. The Creative Process Model
Set Focus
Ideas Generation
Ideas Pool
Evaluation
Implementation

10. 10
Creativity
The heart of creative thinking is ‘Observation’ – you see but you do not observe
You need to jolt your mind from the path of least resistance……
Move 3 dots to make the arrow point in the opposite way…

11. CREATIVITIY
Technique
s
Takeaway

12. TECHNIQUE
CREATIVITIY
one
Situation /
Solution
Reversal

13. What:
• Reverse the situation
When:
• Group meetings
How:
• Restate the challenge so it’s the reverse
• Reverse the ideas/answers and examine to apply them to original challenge
Benefits:
• Effective way of breaking people out of fixed ways of looking at a situation
How can we increase the
amount the department spends?
Situation / Solution Reversal
How can we decrease the
amount the department spends?

14. TECHNIQUE
CREATIVITIY
two
SCAMPER

15. • Substitute something Mars
• Combine it with something else LiveScribe WiFi Smart Pen
• Adapt / Adjust LG Washing machine
• Multiply/Magnify/Minimise Double Decker, Skyscrapers, Nano Tech.
• Put it to some other use Viagra
• Eliminate something Dyson
• Reverse / Rearrange Henry Ford
SCAMPER

16. TECHNIQUE
CREATIVITIY
three
Analogies and
Metaphors

17. Analogy & MetaphorAnalogy & Metaphor
“Understanding one concept with the context of another”
James Geary

18. Analogy & MetaphorAnalogy & Metaphor
Two ways to use this as a BA…
1) To harmonise a concept or problem into something more common
i.e. ‘what is this a bit like?’
2) To force people to look at a subject differently
i.e. ‘how is this like xxxxx?’

19. TECHNIQUE
CREATIVITIY
four
Brainstorming /
Brain Writing

20. Brainstorming – Idea Generation
The Seven Rules of Brainstorming (from IDEO)
1) Defer judgment
2) Encourage wild ideas
3) Build on the ideas of others
4) Stay focused on the topic
5) One conversation at a time
6) Be visual
7) Go for quantity

21. TECHNIQUE
CREATIVITIY
five
Mind Mapping

22. What:
• System of note making created by Tony Buzan for effective creative thinking
• Generate fresh thinking and new insights
• Concept and idea extraction tool
Who:
• Students, Businesses, Professionals to think learn and work more effectively
When:
• Brainstorming sessions
• In groups
• Personal aid
How:
• Centre of blank page – Problem statement/subject
• Thick branches closest to Centre
• Branch thinner lines off the ends of main branches to add sub themes
• Add further branches to get down to the ideas for each concept
• Concept – Idea – Concept - Idea
Mind Mapping

23. Mind Mapping

24. Ideas
Evaluation

25. Blue Hat – Control of the thinking process itself: the blue hat sets the agenda.
White Hat – Information thinking: What information would we like to have?
Yellow Hat – The logical positive: Optimism, looks for benefits?
Green Hat – Creative effort and Creative thinking: New ideas, alternatives, puts
forward all possibilities.
Red Hat – Intuition and Feeling: “My gut feeling is that it will/will not work”.
Black Hat – Caution and the logical negative: prevents us from making mistakes,
points out what cant be done.
De Bono’s 6 Thinking Hats

26. Can we be Creative all of the time?
Safety?
Legal?
Regulatory?

27. Can we be Creative all of the time?
BETA
ALPHA
THETA
DELTA

28. The Creative Process
Take regular breaks
Go for a long walk
Charles Darwin did, everyday!
Bring Creativity into your
everyday life
Remember the child inside
of you!

29. The Creativity Process – Environment

30. The Creativity Process – The right Environment
• Barclays?
• Google?
• Dyson?
• Apple?

31. The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world…
…are the ones that do!
Apple – Here’s to the Crazy Ones
Creativity
… and that is the end of the story
…or rather the end of the chapter and the beginning of a new one
Joseph Fiennes…Barclays History