Team-Building, problem solving & creativity slides

1. +
Week 5
Problem Solving Houston, We have a
October 11, 2012 Problem.

2. +
Lateral thinking is solving problems through an indirect
and creative approach, using reasoning that is not
immediately obvious and involving ideas that may not be
obtainable by using only traditional step-by-step logic.
The term lateral thinking was coined by Cherry Thomas.

3. We cannot solve our problems
with the same thinking we used
+ when we created them.
Albert Einstein

4. Critical thinking is primarily concerned with judging
the true value of statements and seeking errors.
+
Lateral thinking is more concerned with the
movement value of statements and ideas. A person
would use lateral thinking when they want to move
from one known idea to creating new ideas.

5. +
What's an example
of lateral thinking at
work?

6. +
Edward De Bono
Idea Generating Tools
 Idea generating tools that are designed to break current
thinking patterns—routine patterns, the status quo
 Focus tools that are designed to broaden where to search for
new ideas
 Harvest tools that are designed to ensure more value is
received from idea generating output
 Treatment tools that are designed to consider real-world
constraints, resources, and support

7. +
Idea Generating Tools

8. +
Focus Tools
Defined need or purpose.
 We have a specific task or operate to focus on. This can include multiple
focuses or re-phrasing the focus, redefining, re-describing...
Routine Review.
 There is no specific task or problem but the occasion exists for a review
that can be of the general or purpose type.
Idea-sensitive point - i.s.p.
 A point identified of key importance because of its ramifications.
Manufacturers recommend a computer should be shut down, once a week, to
optimize operations.
Whim.
 We can focus on something simply because we have, at that particular
time, the desire to do so.

9. +
Harvesting Tools
Harvesting trains us to look for other possibilities and
alternatives.
We can re-harvest the ideas we originally came up with or the
ideas of other people.
Take note of specific ideas that seem practical and have obvious
value making a deliberate harvesting effort to collect ideas and
concepts that are less well developed.

10. +
Treatment Tools
Treatment of Ideas helps develop ideas and shape them to fit an
organization or situation.
Treatment is particularly useful for working with Beginning Ideas
to make them more specific and practical.
One Treatment method is called Shaping. Here you think of any
constraints that might interfere with the execution of the idea.
Then you shape the idea to fit within these constraints.

11. +
Edward De Bono
Idea Generating Tools
 Idea generating tools that are designed to break current
thinking patterns—routine patterns, the status quo
 Focus tools that are designed to broaden where to search for
new ideas
 Harvest tools that are designed to ensure more value is
received from idea generating output
 Treatment tools that are designed to consider real-world
constraints, resources, and support

12. + Six
Thinking
Hats
Creative Problem Solving

13. +
Goals of this program
 Define parallel thinking
 Identify each of the six hats
 Learn how to ask a good question
 Apply six hats method to problem solving

14. +
What is parallel thinking?
At any moment
everyone is looking in the same direction.

15. +
So the six hats are…?
 Six colors of hats for six types of thinking
 Each hat identifies a type of thinking
 Hats are directions of thinking
 Hats help a group use parallel thinking
 You can “put on” and “take off” a hat

16. +
Uses for Six Hats
 Problem solving
 Strategic planning
 Running meetings
 Much more

17. +
Six colors…
 White: neutral, objective
 Red: emotional, angry
 Black: serious, somber
 Yellow: sunny, positive
 Green: growth, fertility
 Blue: cool, sky above

18. +
…and six hats
 White: objective facts & figures
 Red: emotions & feelings
 Black: cautious & careful
 Yellow: hope, positive & speculative
 Green: creativity, ideas & lateral thinking
 Blue: control & organization of thinking

19. +
General hat issues
 Direction, not description
 Set out to think in a certain direction
 “Let’s have some black hat thinking…”
 Not categories of people
 Not: “He’s a black hat thinker.”
 Everyone can and should use all the hats
 A constructive form of showing off
 Show off by being a better thinker
 Not destructive right vs. wrong argument
 Use in whole or in part

20. +
Benefits of Six Thinking Hats
 Provides a common language
 Experience & intelligence of each person (Diversity of thought)
 Use more of our brains
 Helps people work against type, preference
 Removal of ego (reduce confrontation)
 Save time
 Focus (one thing at a time)
 Create, evaluate & implement action plans

21. +
Using the hats
 Use any hat, as often as needed
 Sequence can be preset or evolving
 Not necessary to use every hat
 Time under each hat: generally, short
 Requires discipline from each person
 While using it, stay in the idiom
 Adds an element of play, play along
 Can be used by individuals and groups

22. +
The blue hat
 Thinking about thinking
 Instructions for thinking
 The organization of thinking
 Control of the other hats
 Discipline and focus

23. +
The blue hat role
 Control of thinking & the process
 Begin & end session with blue hat
 Facilitator, session leader’s role
 Choreography
 open, sequence, close
 Focus: what should we be thinking about
 Asking the right questions
 Defining & clarifying the problem
 Setting the thinking tasks

24. +
Open with the blue hat…
 Why we are here
 what we are thinking about
 definition of the situation or problem
 alternative definitions
 what we want to achieve
 where we want to end up
 the background to the thinking
 a plan for the sequence of hats

25. +
…and close with the blue hat
 What we have achieved
 Outcome
 Conclusion
 Design
 Solution
 Next steps

26. +
White Hat Thinking
 Neutral, objective information
 Facts & figures
 Questions: what do we know, what don’t we know, what do we
need to know
 Excludes opinions, hunches, judgements
 Removes feelings & impressions
 Two tiers of facts
 Believed Facts
 Checked Facts

27. +
Red Hat Thinking
 Emotions & feelings
 Hunches, intuitions, impressions
 Doesn’t have to be logical or consistent
 No justifications, reasons or basis
 All decisions are emotional in the end

28. +
Yellow Hat Thinking
 Positive & speculative
 Positive thinking, optimism, opportunity
 Benefits
 Best-case scenarios
 Exploration

29. +
Green Hat Thinking
 New ideas, concepts, perceptions
 Deliberate creation of new ideas
 Alternatives and more alternatives
 New approaches to problems
 Creative & lateral thinking

30. + Black Hat Thinking
 Cautious and careful
 Logical negative – why it won’t work
 Critical judgement, pessimistic view
 Separates logical negative from emotional
 Focus on errors, evidence, conclusions
 Logical & truthful, but not necessarily fair

31. +
Six hats summary

32. +
Problem Solving

33. Exercise:
Using the 6 hat method create a solution for the
lack of parking around Centennial. Be as wild as
you want.
+
Trade solutions with the group next to you.
Merge with a group (not the one who got your
solution) and create a remix of the two solutions
you have at hand.

34. +
Problem Solving
To Where do you want to get To? (Definition)
Lo Look at the Problem. (Logical Analysis)
Po Possible Solutions (Generate Possibilities)
So So what shall we Do? (Make your Decision)
Go Get Going (The Implementation Phase)

35. +
Make your Decision

36. +
6 steps to making an effective
decision
1. Create a constructive environment.
2. Generate good alternatives.
3. Explore these alternatives.
4. Choose the best alternative.
5. Check your decision.
6. Communicate your decision, and take action.

37. +
Step 1: Create a constructive
environment
 Establish the objective - Define what you want to achieve.
 Agree on the process - Know how the final decision will be
made, including whether it will be an individual or a team-based
decision.
 Involve the right people - Stakeholder Analysis is important in
making an effective decision, and you'll want to ensure that
you've consulted stakeholders appropriately even if you're
making an individual decision. Where a group process is
appropriate, the decision-making group - typically a team of five
to seven people - should have a good representation of
stakeholders.

38. +
Step 1: Create a constructive
environment
 Allow opinions to be heard - Encourage participants to
contribute to the discussions, debates, and analysis without any
fear of rejection from the group. This is one of the best ways to
avoid groupthink.
 Make sure you're asking the right question - Ask yourself
whether this is really the true issue. The 5 Whys technique is a
classic tool that helps you identify the real underlying problem
that you face.
 Use creativity tools from the start - The basis of creativity is
thinking from a different perspective. Do this when you first set
out the problem, and then continue it while generating
alternatives.

39. +
Step 2: Generate Good
Alternatives
Idea generating tools that are designed to break
current thinking patterns—routine patterns, the
status quo
Focus tools that are designed to broaden where
to search for new ideas
Harvest tools that are designed to ensure more
value is received from idea generating output
Treatment tools that are designed to consider
real-world constraints, resources, and support

40. +
Step 3: Explore the Alternatives
Risk
In decision making, there's usually some degree of uncertainty,
which inevitably leads to risk. By evaluating the risk involved with
various options, you can determine whether the risk is
manageable.
Risk Analysis helps you look at risks objectively. It uses a
structured approach for assessing threats, and for evaluating the
probability of events occurring - and what they might cost to
manage.

41. +
Step 3: Explore the Alternatives
Implications
Another way to look at your options is by considering the
potential consequences of each.
Six Thinking Hats helps you evaluate the consequences of a
decision by looking at the alternatives from six different
perspectives.

42. +
Step 3: Explore the Alternatives
Validation
Determine if resources
are adequate, if the
solution matches your
objectives, and if the
decision is likely to work
in the long term.
Starbursting helps you
think about the questions
you should ask to
evaluate an alternative
properly.

43. +
Step 3: Explore the Alternatives
Validation
Determine if resources
are adequate, if the
solution matches your
objectives, and if the
decision is likely to work in
the long term.
To assess pros and cons
of each option, use Force
Field Analysis

44. +
Step 3: Explore the Alternatives
Plus-Minus-
Interesting
approach.

45. +
Step 3:
Explore the
Alternatives
Cost-Benefit
Analysis looks at
the financial
feasibility of an
alternative.

46. +
Step 4:
Grid Analysis, also
known as a decision
matrix, is a key tool
for this type of
evaluation. It's
invaluable because
it helps you bring
disparate factors
into your decision-
making process in a
reliable and
rigorous way.

47. +
Step 4: Choose
the Best
Alternative
Decision Trees are
also useful in choosing
between options. These
help you lay out the
different options open to
you, and bring the
likelihood of project
success or failure into
the decision making
process.

48. +
Step 5: Check Your Decision
With all of the effort and hard work that goes into evaluating
alternatives, and deciding the best way forward, it's easy to forget
to ‘sense check' your decisions.
This is where you look at the decision you're about to make
dispassionately, to make sure that your process has been
thorough, and to ensure that common errors haven't crept
into the decision-making process.

49. +
Step 6: Communicate Your
Decision, and Move to Action!
Once you've made your decision, it's important to explain it to
those affected by it, and involved in implementing it.
Talk about why you chose the alternative you did.
The more information you provide about risks and projected
benefits, the more likely people are to support the decision.

50. +
SUMMARY: 6 steps to making an
effective decision
1. Create a constructive environment.
2. Generate good alternatives.
3. Explore these alternatives.
4. Choose the best alternative.
5. Check your decision.
6. Communicate your decision, and take action.