Tag Archives: business

Extrapolate the Future

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Original Photo by Keith Chapman.

Original Photo by Keith Chapman.

One of the best exercises to generate creative ideas specific to something you already know or are currently working on is to extrapolate into the future from the current state of that thing or item. Let me explain. New ideas are fundamentally based on other ideas. My theory on creativity is that at the most fundamental, common core level it is driven by establishing connections between things that have not yet been connected. When we see something new and think to ourselves, “wow, that is clever” or “wow, that is creative,” we are admiring the connection and mixture of things that already exist but in new ways which makes it seem like it didn’t exist before. If you look at how art has evolved over the centuries and if you look at how technology has evolved over the centuries, you will see connections from the first one we know about to the next one and the next one and so on. We get amazed when we know about an early one and look at a new one. We don’t see the steps in between, the evolution, and the difference is so large we give more credit to the creativity and muse of the person who created it. Fundamentally though, as a human race, we are building on what was built before us. This creates tremendous opportunity. As one person connects two things. Another may connect two other things or the same two things in completely different ways. So, as it may seem limited if all we can create is through combination of existing things or ideas, it absolutely is the contrary. The combinations of things, abstract or concrete, is how we create.

So, where am I going with this? I am asking you to chose an area in which you want to be highly innovative or creative, likely something you are working on or want to work on. Choose something that exists today that you admire and want to participate in as a creative force. Now, accelerate time in your mind by looking at that thing’s arc to existence. It came from something else so look a few iterations before it, back in time and determine the arc it took to get to its current state. Write these steps down until you get to the current status. Look at the evolution of the current thing that you are identifying. Now, what is the next step? Ask yourself how this item evolves in the next iteration. It doesn’t matter how small it evolves. It might just be a simple step or perhaps you see an obvious leap. Write that down below the current thing. Now assume that thing now exists and repeat the evolution in small steps. Keep doing this and add in “what if’s” to the equation and assumptions. Suppose one of your evolutionary steps relies on another technology or technique that doesn’t yet exist. Go with it. Assume it does. Keep evolving the item so you can hardly recognize it. Then keep going. You should at a minimum have at least 10 iterations in the evolution. You should extrapolate as many future evolutions steps as you possibly can. There are no rules here so you can leverage anything as long as it is an evolution beyond the current step you just worked on.

After you have defined several evolutions and have crested 10 iterations, go back and look at the evolutions. Evaluate them on likelihood of potentially happening and note those as possible innovations to develop or creative leaps that you should work towards actually taking. If the evolutions you determined are not all that spectacular or if they do not inspire a true creative spark then do the same exercise again but now use a mixture with something else involved in the evolution, add something to the mix, a technique, idea, technology or process. Now repeat the steps and review to see if you have stumbled onto an idea worth working on. Keep going or go further out until you land on something noteworthy. Extrapolate how art, science, technology, and anything else evolve into the future. Take a futurist’s view and you’ll find some creative things to perhaps pursuit. Now identify that one new thing that you chose as noteworthy and figure out if there is a path to actually accomplishing that with what you have in front of you. If not, then list out the things required to get there. There may be another step in this secondary outline that sparks a creative thought or innovation. Then work on that.

The process of extrapolating ideas into the unknown will inherently make you choose some things to attach to other existing things and create new things. Even if those new things are not quite feasible today. The steps you would have to take to make it feasible may very well uncover a creative idea you need to work on… right now! The process at the very least will open your thoughts into what could be possible. That alone feeds the creativity you need.

Now go. Create. ~ The Mission Creative

Independent Thinking

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Rebecca Bloom Photography

Image by Rebecca Bloom Photography http://www.bloomphoto.com

Happy fourth of July to my fellow Americans out there from The Mission Creative! Today Americans celebrate the independence of our country, the culmination of ideas opposing the previously accepted norm in the colonies at the time. Taking a note from the colonial playbook, we can apply this to our creative work as well to promote new ideas. When we work at a project for a long time or with projects that have the same parameters often, it sometime becomes very difficult to get out of the ruts we grind into the naturally creative paths we usually take. I have experienced this several times myself in product design where the category of the device you are designing rarely changes but the features and improvements of a particular product need to be innovative and refreshing. After designing the same type of product for years and years, it becomes second nature to iterate off of the designs in your past. Over time, that freshness customers expect in a product starts to erode and you end up with a very safe, not-so-innovative design on a product that probably needs it most. One way to combat this is to create an opposing view point in design as a guiding principle. Realize that the same old, same old may not be working this time.

Revolt! Revolutionize your ideas by taking an opposing viewpoint. Question why something exists the way it does as if you have never seen it before. Pretend you have no idea what the product does and question why each feature is there. In fact, get downright mean about it, adamant that there must be a better way and buck the norm. This independent and counter-intuitive thinking releases all of the design criteria you think you must have and allows you to start over with a fresh view. Your guidelines are the revolution of the norm so if you find yourself wandering back to a familiar path, revolt and head the other way. Go orthogonal to your usual way of thinking. In so doing you will find at least one item that you would not normally have crossed paths with that seems to actually be relatively great for the project. This is what you are looking for in revolting on your own design principles – that one opposing idea that actually makes things better, more creative, or at least more interesting. This can be applied to any creative process that you are intimate with to open new creative paths. It likely won’t create an entire new piece of work but it very likely will bring new input because you imposed new rules and guidelines for your own design thinking that oppose your norm. Become a contrarian to your own design thinking and open up a new creative path. Start your own design revolution.

Now go. Create. ~ The Mission Creative

Brainstorm like a Boss, not like your boss

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Image by Rebecca Bloom Photography. http://www.bloomphoto.com

Image by Rebecca Bloom Photography. http://www.bloomphoto.com

How many times have you been told “we’ll have to brainstorm some ideas” or you are invited to a “brainstorm session” and first rolled your eyes, maybe actually suspended disbelief, and attended only to realize the brainstorm was really a meeting to listen to the boss’ ideas? Smile, nod, accept… move on. <sigh>

Or… perhaps you are in a healthier environment that is open to ideas and your organization can actually perform a brainstorm session that results in some new ideas. Is the quality of those ideas enough to engage resources on right away? Do you have a plan that will result in a creative or innovative result? Often not.

Here are some basic tenets and ideas on how to run an effective brainstorm session based on my years of design and research and development experience. This has worked well in my experience.

1. Keep the group small. A group under 6 people is ideal. Avoid closed minded people, distant stakeholders, and pessimistic people. If they want to attend they need to change some attitudes or get involved in more detail. Refuse to design by committee. It doesn’t work. Polarize! It is ok to have lovers and haters. Both will talk about your project.

2. Know what the goal is. Too many brainstorms have no goal, deliverable, or target in mind. The facilitators try to keep it “open ended” which translates to “delays” in the business world. Have a definitive goal defined at the start, like “We need to design a product that cuts the lawn shorter with little to no effort that is easy to clean and control.” Built into this statement is a goal with clear criteria outlined in an open enough way to provide leeway of new ideas. It doesn’t say a lawnmower but a product that cuts the lawn shorter – a subtle but important differentiation. If I say we need a lawnmower, you get an image in your head that is very much like what is out there already. However, if I say we need a product that cuts the lawn shorter, this opens the thinking process and may inherently question the norm because as long as the criteria of the lawn being shorter is obtained, the idea can be considered at this stage.

3. Actually facilitate with rules. Start the meeting with ground rules clearly explained to the group and hold them and yourself accountable to those rules. Suggestions include: Do not talk over one another. Do not criticize, challenge, judge, or nay-say any ideas until the idea creation time is completely exhausted. Know the difference between a complete idea and a component idea – both are welcomed. List and record all ideas. Ensure everyone on the team has multiple chances to talk and present ideas. Set a time limit for the session and stick to it.

4. Review all ideas and compare to all criteria. Identify the top 3 to 10 ideas that meet or come close to meeting the criteria of the goal or target regardless of how extreme it may seem at this stage. Revisit the criteria and consider modification of the criteria to improve results. Finally, compare final ideas to final criteria and determine which ideas are worth pursuing.

5. Create an action plan off of the results. Narrow the ideas down to the top 3 that satisfy or come closest to satisfying the final criteria. Create a plan to go execute each of the 3 ideas if they seem feasible to try. Otherwise, refine by having a secondary brainstorm session on each of the 3 main resulting ideas individually, refine the criteria of the goal with another layer of detail, and move closer to satisfying the criteria by brainstorming another level of detail on each of the main ideas.

6. Decide which idea is the best candidate to obtain the goal. The analysis might include cost estimates in resources, time, and money. It might include an evaluation of feasibility, availability, technology, and other component needs to accomplish the goal. One idea may be better than another in satisfying criteria but perhaps is too costly to develop. Compromises start at this level. The goals must prevail.

7. Make a decision. At the end of the brainstorm phase of a project, be sure to walk away with a clean decision, an action plan for the team with assignments, and buy-in from the creators. How creators feel about their creations often shape the outcome of the creations. In most cases, it is better to make a decision and pursue execution of the idea at this point than to sit in limbo with no clear direction. You can always change direction later or improve the project in a second phase or offering.

Now go. Create. ~ The Mission Creative

Creativity Jump Start in 3 Steps

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Original Digital Art by Keith Chapman.

Original Digital Art by Keith Chapman.

When facing a blank page, a blank canvas or simply… a blank and you need to produce something… anything… at this point, try the following “simple” exercise. It’s like a shot of caffeine to the creative brain.

1. Think of an object that is for sale in a store that you shop at frequently. Write the first object you thought of down on a page of paper.

2. Think of an adjective that begins with the first letter of the object you wrote down. Take the very first one you thought of and write that adjective down on the same page as the object.

3. Below the object and adjective, write 10 connections between the adjective and the object without repeating notions. After a few, it should get crazy hard. That’s what you want. Persevere! By the 4th or 5th connection, you should be in crazy land but get 10 and you expanded beyond normal thought. Now… admire your oddities and hit that blank page, blank canvas, or that… blank… and create something spectacular.

As an example, here is one I just did:

Object: Tennis racquet, Adjective: tight

Connections:

1. The strings on my tennis racquet are tight.

2. My muscles are tight after using my tennis racquet.

3. The shot I made with my tennis racquet was tight up against the base line.

4. My grip on my tennis racquet was tight.

5. The grip tape was wrapped tight around the handle of my tennis racquet.

6. When I looked through my tennis racquet I framed the view of my opponent in a tight oval.

7. I rolled the handle of my tennis racquet in my shirt which made my shirt tight on my chest.

8. When I removed the strings from my tennis racquet, the frame was a tight fit over my head.

9. I strum my tennis racquet like a guitar because the strings seem as tight as guitar strings and the handle is like a guitar neck.

10. I bought a cheaper tennis racquet because money was tight.

Whew. That was not easy but that is the whole point. There will likely be obvious connections between the object and the adjective because your mind defaults to a connection to think of the adjective off of the initial object. However, after exhausting a few connections, you start looking for alternate meanings of words and alternate situations to put those words to use. I hope you find this exercise useful.

Now go. Create.  ~ The Mission Creative