Finding innovation—creative problem-solving with metaphors

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1950s, 1960s, 1961, analogies, analogy, analyze, arthur, bible, brainstorm, brainstorming, capacity, characteristics, cohort, college, color, colour, concepts, creative, creative outlooks, creative problem-solving, creatively, creativity, develop, development creative, distract, distraction, dryer lint, education, elements, faculty, familiar, force, force-fit, forget, fuzzy, garment, george, georgeprince, gordon, group, groups, harper, imagination, innovation, insight, instruction, interconnectedness, interest, interview, invention design, jesus, learning, little, masters, metaphor, metaphoric, metaphors, new york, parable, parables, prescribe, prescription, prince, problem, problem-solving, professional, publishers, research, result, row, solution, staff, strange, syncticsworld, Synectics, tape, tape recorder, teach, team, think, tool, transformative, transformative learning, unconnected, unknown, unrelated, weight, william, workshop, world

One day, while I was working for a college, the school was closed and a day was put on for all staff and faculty, to do some professional development all at once. During the afternoon sessions I found a workshop about creative problem-solving with metaphors. It caught my interest.

The process we learned was remarkable and, according to the originators, William J.J. Gordon and George M. Prince, guarantees to provide a solution that would not have been found using other methods. It began way back in the 1950s when companies were beginning to realize that innovation was no longer something that could occur through a single person. They realized that innovation needed to occur in groups or teams. Wondering how this could be encouraged, the Arthur D. Little Invention Design Unit took tape recorders into meetings to discover how creativity and innovation happens. After analyzing the tapes, distraction from the problem turned out to be the key.

When a group became distracted from the problem, innovative solutions usually resulted. Eventually, a carefully constructed set of instructions was developed. The person who was teaching us the process, had attended a workshop with one of the developers back in the 1960s and could produce only a single page of instructions for us.

At the time, I was doing a Masters of Education with a focus on transformative learning. I wondered if this might be a transformative process, so I began to research and was finally able to develop a workshop that I could deliver based on the original process. I called it Creative Outlooks—creative problem-solving using metaphors. I delivered it to my study cohort and many times over the following years.

The process is simple. It is called Synectics, meaning, “the joining together of different and apparently irrelevant elements.” The problem with solving a problem is that one may know too much about the problem. Problem-solving, according to the developers, is the opposite of learning, which intends to take the strange or unknown and make it known. Problem-solving involves making the familiar strange. In a way, we need to forget what we know about something in order to think creatively. They came up with using analogies or metaphors to distract one’s thinking away from what they know about the problem.

What has always amazed me, and I discovered I have a knack for metaphoric thinking, is just how much we can learn about something by using a seemingly unrelated and unconnected metaphor of something else. It demonstrates the unique interconnectedness of everything in our world.

In one of the workshops I was delivering, when we came to the step where groups selected a metaphor, someone raised their hand and asked if dryer lint would work. I got it immediately as an excellent example of a metaphor that has interesting characteristics. Characteristics is the foundation of the process.

Once the group has done a brainstorming session on the problem and selected an unrelated analogy, they carefully analyze the analogy for all its characteristics. With dryer lint: it is made up of tiny pieces of other garments; it looks grey from a distance, but actually may have many colours; it is soft; it is light in weight; it is fuzzy; it comes apart easily. The list can go on for quite a length. The process even involves someone becoming the metaphor and the other group members interviewing it.

Once all the steps are done, the group then force-fits the characteristics back on to the problem with amazing new insights, results and solutions. While not all the participants are quick to catch on the process, when they do, it becomes and exciting time of imagination and creativity within the group.

We usually think of creativity and innovation as being something that is not easily prescribed. Yet Synectics is a prescription for achieving creativity and innovation in a group setting with guaranteed results. Learning Synectics gave me a new tool for looking at the world and learning new things. In the Bible, Jesus always used parables (a metaphoric story) and metaphors to teach concepts.

The Synectics research lead to many innovative learning tools. I continue to learn through metaphors and gain new insights by applying a metaphor to something seemingly unrelated.

My workshop, Creative Outlooks, works well in about 2–4 hours. This provides time to learn the process and run through a couple of problems in each group.

Gordon, William J.J. Synectics: The Development of Creative Capacity. (New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, 1961)
http://synecticsworld.com
http://www.georgemprince.com

The cabin is alive

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barn, blue, building, cabin, cloud, collapse, color, colour, compose, contrast, dangerous, dead, field, gray, green grass, grey, history, hope, life, protection, rain, shadow, shelter, shot, sky, structure, trees, warmth, wood

This cabin is so old it seems to barely be standing, perhaps even dead. Might it collapse at any moment?

I love these sorts of old buildings. When I see an old barn in a field, ready to fall over, I wonder about the history of it. What was it like when it was new? How old is it? What is holding up now? Why hasn’t it fallen over? Isn’t it dangerous to go inside? Questions like these always run through my mind. There is always something about the colour of the old wood. Some structures have a greyer colour, yet, there is usually a contrast of colours against the surroundings.

Here, the cabin has a warmth, as if, yes, it can still be a place of shelter and protection. It seems to be inviting someone to come to it. Even though it is old and dead looking, it is surrounded by life with the green grass, trees and the blue sky. It speaks of hope. I like the patterns the clouds make. One cloud even looks like a rain cloud, therefore, the cabin might be needed for shelter after all. So, the clouds are hope, hope that the cabin might once again be useful again.

In composing the shot, I wanted to make sure that the tree was visible and plenty of sky and green grass. I also wanted the shadow to add some weight to the left side. What is the shadow saying here? Perhaps, that there are often shadows over places, but, they seldom cover everything. If the shadow were from a cloud, it would probably be softer. No, the shadow is cast by something nearby. Is it the tree, reminding us that it is there to help protect the cabin?

Overall, I find the scene, pleasing to view, friendly and warm, despite the shadow and the oldness of the wood. Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.

Technology—cornered again and again and again…

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accuracy, adopt, aesthetic, affordable, amplifiers, amps, analog, artistic, audio, audiophile, automobile, axiom, bank, banking, beat, books, camera, car, cassette, change, cheap, color, colour, computer, computer typesetting, convenience, convenient, corporation, destroy, digital, digital photography, disappear, documentary, downgrade, drummer, e-mail, electric, email, emulate, enthusiasm, environmental, erode, ev-1, expectation, feature, features, film, general motors, government, guitar, home charge, hum, human, imaged, impeded, imperfect, imperfection, influence, instrument, life, magazines, message, music, musician, obsolete, oil, online, paper, perfect, phone, photo, piano, pixels, plate, postal, pre-recorded, predicted, printing press operator, purchase, quality, record, sing, skill, solution, sound, speculate, sporty, system, tape, technological, technology, texting, traditional, transaction, tube, tune, ubiquitous, vehicle, vinyl, who killed the electric car, writing

It was only a few short years ago I heard the news that banking could be done online. I knew I would never do it; that is, to do banking transactions using my computer at home. I think it was a combination of extra charges for paper and some other activities and the fact that, with all the technology in my life, life simply speeds up and was having trouble finding time to get to the bank. That will be the focus of another article post tentatively to be called Technology at the speed of light.

Well, the above is a great example of getting cornered. When the path of a technological change and the interest or need for that technology by a particular person meet is the point of a corner that convinces that person they need the technology and to keep using the technology from that point on, until that technology is no longer current. What I am saying is that at some point, we all get cornered by a particular technology and will adopt it into our life.

Another axiom I notice is that as a particular technology becomes ubiquitous, it intersects a point on a path of decline for an older system or technology and creates a corner whereby a person must change to the new technology. We can look at the postal system. As more companies begin to offer services online or through other technologies, the postal system is no longer used. I’m sure you can think of several examples. How often do you use the phone to get help with something?

Here is another one. Any new technology that attempts to replace an older technology or system will offer more features and greater convenience with less cost that will entice users. This does not necessary mean the new technology is a better solution.

And still another way we get cornered. As a technology usage appears and begins to improve, one will downgrade their expectations for quality to adopt it, if the new technology is cheaper, more convenient and provides more features. The point when one adopts the technology is another corner. I can remember when computers became capable of doing typesetting. We, who were working in the trade, could not imagine cheap computers improving at this ability to the point that expensive dedicated typesetting equipment would become obsolete. The same thing happened with digital photography. We could not envision a photo made up of pixels could ever be of a quality that could replace traditional photography.

There is something else about digital technology. It will often be too perfect. In the case of audio music, it no longer sounds real or human. Audiophiles, are going back to vinyl records, and tube amplifiers. Vinyl records have imperfections and tube amps hum. If you tune a piano or guitar perfectly, it won’t sound right. In the hands of a musician, who tunes by ear, the instrument sings. A computer can easily emulate a drummer, however, a human drummer never plays every beat perfectly. It varies ever so slightly. When printing press operators were given plates imaged digitally with computers, they had trouble controlling colour.

The point here is that we are used to what is often called colour—imperfections that we tune out. I did state that often a new technology isn’t as good as the technology it replaces, however, digital information is perfect, while analog information is imperfect. Humans are analog and imperfect, so we naturally prefer analog information. Sometimes, imperfections are built into a digital technology. So, we can say that there is a point where we become cornered into accepting the perfection of a digital technology, even though it may be uncomfortable.

And then there is this one. Any new technology that offers new features and conveniences will erode the aesthetic artistic skills involved in the person using it. For example, E-mail and texting has eroded the skills and abilities of people using this medium, to compose good and proper writing. This decreases the impact, clarity, value and accuracy of the message. Yet, everyone accepts it, why, you guessed it.

In a few rare instances, at technology may be impeded by corporations. An excellent example of this is the electric car, or for that matter, any replacement for an oil reliant vehicle. Many years ago, General Motors produced an electric car called the EV-1. It was sporty, performed close to a regular automobile and was affordable. In the end, all these cars were picked up and destroyed. The story is told in a documentary called ‘Who killed the electric car?” Here the cornering is interrupted and the reverse of the usual situation happens until other influences change the direction. In the case of the electric car, one might speculate that corporations and perhaps government, with a stake in the oil industry might slow the introduction of the electric car until pressure from environmental groups and other groups cause a change.

In some cases, the new will become the only way and the old is out. Try to find a pre-recorded cassette tape to purchase. When was the last time you used or even saw a camera that uses film. However, we still have books and magazines that were predicted to disappear.

It is at the point where one adopts a particular technology, either willingly with enthusiasm or out of necessity, a corner occurs whereby a person has little choice but to continue to use the technology. Technologies are always chasing us and attempting to corner us into changing the ways we live do things.

Colored Cars

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automobiles, black, car, color, colour, customer, driven, economical, family, industry, metallic, orange, parking lot, platinum, possession, prejudice, producing, silver, society, spectrum, stocking, upper middle class, vehicles

O.K., I admit it, we, my family, cover both spectrums. Recently, I was looking out over a parking lot of automobiles, one of upper middle class, even well off, owners. I was struck by the number of vehicles lacking color. For years, I have been aware of the fact that silver is the most popular color for a car. My vow was to never buy a silver car. I did, well the official color name is Platinum Silver, however, silver none the less.

The next car I purchased, our second car, turned out to be bright metallic orange. This one is easily spotted in a parking lot, usually a sea of mostly silver, white and black—what I noticed when looking at the said parking lot. I think black might now be the most popular color.

Has our society become car color prejudice? Why are there so few cars of color?

I wonder if customers have driven this colour preference or has the automobile industry decided that producing and stocking a variety of colors is not economical? Or, is there another reason?

Cars used to be a possession that stated something about you. Perhaps it still does. Perhaps our lives are lacking color. Maybe it is just our need to have it now, the one on the lot, not interested in waiting for an order to be filled, that makes us settle for a no color car.

New Feature Photos by Bob website launched

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change, color, comment, feature, feature photos by bob, match, photography, photos, post, subscribe, theme, webpage, website

Take a look at my new photography website called Feature Photos by Bob. I have many photos ready to post and will be adding them soon. The theme used changes the color of the webpage to match each photo—cool! Go ahead and comment on each photo. Subscribe to the website so you will know when new photos are added.

Feature Photos by Bob