Zig Zag: The Surprising Path to Greater Creativity by Keith Sawyer

Author:Keith Sawyer [Sawyer, Keith]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 2013-02-12T14:00:00+00:00

Reduce

Length

Commute

Work

The second step is to examine each of those components and list its attributes. For example, the attributes of work are:

1. Work is what I do to make money.

2. Work is at the office.

3. Work is Monday through Friday.

4. At work, I have a boss.

5. At work, I have a project with a schedule and a deadline.

Once you get a list of attributes for each component, coming up with ideas becomes a lot easier. Focus on each attribute and try to modify or improve it, generating new ideas using the SCAMPER verbs. Here's part of what I came up with for my commute problem:

1. Work is what I do to make money. (Reverse: I don't need money. Or, I make money some other way. Maybe I could start my own business and work from home?)

2. Work is at the office. (Magnify: Work is everywhere. Maybe I could work from home?)

3. Work is Monday through Friday. (Reverse: Work is on the weekend. If I can go to work on the weekend, the commute will be shorter because fewer people will be doing it.)

These aren't such bad ideas! Now let's try the attributes of commute:

1. Commuting is how I get to work. (Reverse: Commuting brings work to me. Maybe I could telecommute using the Internet?)

2. I commute in a car. (Substitute: Maybe public transportation would get me to work faster? Or maybe I could carpool and get some work done on the way, on those days when I'm not driving?)

3. There's always a lot of traffic. (Eliminate: Drive to work at an unusual time, when there's less traffic.)

This technique can take a lot of time, coming up with all of the attributes for all of the components, but the upside is that it generates a huge list of potential creative solutions.

Reverse Again

After hearing dozens of painful stories of divorce and the hardship it caused for young children, I heard a story about a divorcing couple that I've never forgotten. After many long conversations about who would keep the house, who the children would live with, and where, these parents came up with a solution that reversed the usual logic: they decided to let the kids keep the house. The dad moved across the street, the mom to an apartment close by, and they took turns moving back to the family home to take care of the kids. The kids didn't have to get shuttled around; they stayed put. The solution was more logical, kinder to the blameless children, and far less disruptive to their world.

Whoever said that in a divorce one parent should have to leave and the other should get to stay? Whoever said the kids should be the ones who have to move in and out? Often when you're stumped and having trouble coming up with good ideas, it's because you're making assumptions about your problem that turn out not to be true. Creativity researchers call these “unwarranted assumptions,” and creative insights tend to pop right out once you recognize and remove them.

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