TH!NKCUBE
"You aren't going to have good ideas, unless you have lots of ideas…”
Linus Pauling (Nobel Prize Winning Scientist)
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4
FUNDAMENTALS
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1
INTERSECTION OF DOMAINS
“All decisive advances in the history of scientific thought can be described in terms of mental cross-fertilization between different disciplines.” Arthur Koestler (Researcher)
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Small Worlds
STRONGTIES WEAK TIES
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BREADTH DEPTH
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Sweet Spot
DOMAINS PEOPLE
Best Ideas TRENDS
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2
COMBINATORY PLAY
“Combinatory play seems to be the essential feature in productive thought.” Albert Einstein
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Games
• • • • Collaborative Fun Immersive A safe environment to practice skills
"A [good] game is a series of interesting choices“ Sid Meier (Game Designer)
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ANXIETY
IN FLOW
CHALLENGE
BOREDOM
SKILLS
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3
INCUBATION
“I back away from conscious thought and turn the problem over to my unconscious mind. It will scan a broader array of patterns and find some new close fits from other information stored in my brain.” Art Fry (inventor of Post-It)
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Eureka!
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1 WEEK LATER
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4
BRAINSTORMING SKILL
“… you can deliver more value, create more energy, and foster more innovation through better brainstorming.” Tom Kelley, The Art of Innovation.
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Brainstorming Not Working?
1. Lack of process or structure.
2. Lack of skilled facilitator. 3. Lack of skilled participants. 4. No agreement of the problem. 5. Lack of stimuli. 6. Pressure to be creative on cue.
7. Pressure to converge quickly!!! 8. Lack of follow up.
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The Art of Innovation
How IDEO does innovation… • Brainstorming is a pervasive cultural influence at IDEO. It’s part of every project and every day.
Brainstorming is a skill and an art to be practiced and perfected. It’s learning to play piano rather than learning to tie your shoelaces. Brainstorming requires a structured but flexible environment.
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•
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The Brainstorming Habit
• Brainstorming only when the stakes are high is akin to running a marathon with no prior training. •Effective brainstorming is not a just-in-time practice.
•An Arthur Anderson survey revealed most people (76%) brainstorm less than once a month!
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Brain Training
• The latest research in Neuroscience shows that the brain is plastic and can be trained to be ‘smarter’! •Through training games like BrainAge and some new games that develop ‘fluid intelligence’ you can develop you mental abilities.
•If you want to develop your creative skills you need play mental games like ThinkCube!
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TH!NKCUBE
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ThinkCube
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Innovation Workstation
Idea Library with 200 Ideas, Words and Mutation Cards ThinkCube Packaging designed to be an Innovation WorkStation
Idea Notepads to collect your own ideas to add to the Idea Library
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Idea Handbook and Quickstart guide that explains the ThinkCubation Process
TECHNOLOGIES IDEA LIBRARY MUTATIONS TRENDS WORDS IDEAS
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Individual ThinkCubation
STIMULATE
Immerse yourself.
THINK
Draw 6 cards. Combine 2 or more. Ideas should loosely relate to goal.
DEFINE
Write down your goal for the session.
EVALUATE
Assess new ideas.
INCUBATE
Day dream, doodle, go on with your life.
ELABORATE
Prototype. Prototype. Prototype.
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Thinking Inside the Cube
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Idea Drawer
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Word Drawer
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Mutation Drawer
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ThinkCube Drawer
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Instructions
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Evaluate
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Incubate
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Elaborate
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Individual ThinkCubation Example
Develop a new product to leverage the Baby Boomer generation coming to retirement. Genetic Algorithm, Nanotechnology, Light Bulb, Detective, Currency, Expand Baby Boomer + Currency = An investment fund dedicated to solving a particular disease.
It’s feasible.
Refinement Potential.
Research. Business Plan. Share. Get feedback.
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Group ThinkCubation
group group
STIMULATE
Everyone draws 6 cards from the idea library.
group THINK
Each player puts 1 card in center. Brainstorm to combine 2 or more cards. Record new ideas. Discard center pile and replenish as desired.
DEFINE
Prominently display the session’s goal.
group INCUBATE
Distribute master idea list to team and incubate separately. Talk about ideas casually with fellow ThinkCubators. Meet back in 1 week to discuss thoughts that arose during incubation. If 1 idea emerges as a clear winner, ELABORATE it. Otherwise schedule another ThinkCubation session.
group
Assess new ideas. Don’t try to identify “the best” idea, rather list any identifiable problems with ideas you decide to keep. team original Assign someone on the Tweakto goal if design it! prototype it: build it, draw it, necessary.
EVALUATE
group ELABORATE
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