In the book THINKERTOYS, Michael Michalko, presents sets of techniques for generating ideas. In this post, I’ll cover the Group A linear techniques. The Group A linear techniques reorganize known information in different ways by listing, dividing, combining, or manipulating it to give you new entry points for solving problems.

Key Take Aways
Here are my key take aways:

• I like how False Faces helps you to challenge your assumptions.
• Slice and dice is a great way to walk the attributes and look for improvement opportunities an attribute at a time.
• I like how Cherry Split helps you break problems down in a systematic way. It’s easy to look at the problem in new ways.
• In SCAMPER, I like the simplistic but effective idea generation framework of questions.

Techniques

• False Faces (Reversal) – How to find ideas b y reversing conventional assumptions.
• Slice and Dice (Attribute listing) – How to get new ideas from a challenge’s attributes.
• Cherry Split (Fractionism) – How to get ideas by dividing a challenge into two or more components and then reassembling them in new and different ways.
• Think Bubbles (Mind mapping) – How to map your thoughts so as to spark new ideas.
• SCAMPER (Questions) – How to manipulate what exists into something different.

Additional Resources

• CreativeThinking.Net (Michael Michalko’s site)

My Related Posts

• THINKERTOYS