Silly Rabbit, TRIZ is for Innovation!

The past several weeks I've put out a Thursday or Friday tweet requesting topic suggestions for Brainzooming.

One request last weekend was for a discussion on TRIZ, a topic unfamiliar to me. In a very nice gesture, the original requester, Greg Cimmarrusti from Atlanta, agreed to write a guest post on the topic. Greg's 20-year background includes project management, systems analysis, implementation, and business development within the high tech, manufacturing, real estate, entertainment, and government sectors. His interests include Mind Mapping, Creative Thinking and Organization Techniques.

Greg's post is based in part on a presentation at the Atlanta Creativity Exchange by Jack Hipple, principal of Innovation-TRIZ.com and an authority on the subject:

What is TRIZ? TRIZ is the Russian acronym for “Theory of Inventive Problem Solving.” Soviet engineer and researcher Genrich Altshuller and his colleagues developed the methodology in 1946 and for the next 40 years improved its design. TRIZ is the science of the study of the patterns of problems and solutions. Millions of patents were analyzed to discover patterns that led to breakthrough solutions to specific problems.

The three primary research processes to create TRIZ were as follows:

1. Problems and solutions are repeated across industries and sciences. The classification of the contradictions in each problem predicts the creative solutions to that problem.
   
2. Patterns of technical evolution are also repeated across industries and sciences.
   
3. Creative innovations use scientific effects outside the field where they were developed.
   TRIZ is based on resolving contradictions and has 40 principles to do so.

Using these known 40 principles (solutions) in new challenges can bring innovative solutions. All innovated creations are purported to be found in the matrix of 40 principles.

One example of TRIZ is the creation of the TWEEL (combination of tire and wheel) and the solution to flat tires. The original tire had an inner tube. Once the inner tube was punctured, the tire was useless until the inner tube was replaced or repaired. This led to the invention of the tubeless tire in use today. Michelin then abstracted this one level up and combined the tire and the wheel. Using a non-inflated tire, the wheel lightly compresses to give a more comfortable ride.

For further information refer to TRIZ40.com, TRIZ-Journal.com, and AITRIZ.org. The matrix of the 40 principles is available for download. There are also general articles on TRIZ and Genrich Altshuller on Wikipedia.com and gizmag.com that provided additional background for this article. -- Greg Cimmarrusti

Thanks Greg for sharing TRIZ with us (and based on the fun headline, I may need to hire you to write headlines for Brainzooming)! And as an added treat, here's a video of Genrich Altshuller teaching TRIZ; you can find more of these on YouTube as well.

Can You Twitter with Impact?

New Twitter-Inspired Brevity Standard: A 2-Story Elevator Speech-Can you say what you need to in 140 characters or less & have an impact?

Follow me on Twitter!

Creativity Tweets from this Past Week

Here are 10 favorited creativity tweets from Twitter during the past week. If you'd like to see more, you can follow me on Twitter in a couple of places: @mikebrown or @brainzooming

@ExecVelocity Coaching DQ: What new elements can improve workplace creativity and what is holding you back from implementing them?

@douglasbrent: Authentic creativity generates ideas, not smoke and mirrors.

@Ekaterina_E "Creativity can solve almost any problem. The creative act, the defeat of habit by originality, overcomes everything." George Lois

@AW0LF The older you get, the more experienced you become. Experience inspires creativity and that's the recipe for greatness.

@williamskim #Creativity - Frustration is as much a part of creativity as inhaling is to breathing.

@PastorChaney How will you inspire someone to realize, unleash and engage their magnificent God given creativity today?

@bsouthern "Creativity without implementation is irresponsibility." Ted Leavitt

@EddyJFree: Creativity is great. Everybody's got it some just don't know it. Use it in every aspect of your life to get a fresh outlook.

@Think_Better Creativity takes the drive to try, the courage to fail, the humility to learn, and the persistence to try again.

@cartermorrison Creativity is such a bitch

7 Tips to Improve Conference Call Presentations

How comfortable are you doing presentations?

How about presentations over the phone? Since you’re not looking the audience in the face, phone presentations are even more challenging because body language is removed from the range of cues available to convey your messages and gauge audience reactions.

Having seen some challenging presentations delivered recently via conference call, here are 7 tips for presenting over the phone:

• Never miss an opportunity to speak in the first person (we vs. you). Take advantage of opportunities to put yourself on the same side as the audience, particularly with controversial topics or unfamiliar audiences.


• Check in frequently to solicit comments or verbal acknowledgement on the depth, pace, and content of the presentation.


• Silence is okay – don’t be nervous about it or try to fill it up unnecessarily. Give audience members time to think and absorb the content.


• If someone wants to cover something out of sequence, go ahead and cover it; don’t say you’ll cover it later and go on. It’s no different than when a customer’s ready to buy - you need to close the sale.


• Try to interpret the real meanings behind questions. Without visual cues, you have to be more perceptive than normal to understand a question’s origin and the answer being sought. Answer what the person’s really asking, even if it’s not what they asked directly.


• Don’t over answer questions. Instead, answer briefly, check in verbally to see if you’re on target, and get “permission” to continue the answer if necessary.


• If you haven’t heard from an audience member on a reasonably sized call, specifically ask for comments and reactions before getting off the phone. Don’t let any participant off the hook without saying something, even if it’s to say, “No comment.”

Try these out and call to let me know how they work!

The Comfort of Expertise

There can be great reassurance in surrounding yourself with expertise during a difficult situation.

On a flight from St. Louis to Kansas City, we were experiencing “moderate turbulence.” We knew this because a Southwest Airlines pilot was sitting in the aisle seat and weighed in on the degree of turbulence, based on his trained expertise. He shared the various levels of “chop” and “turbulence,” letting us know despite our impressions of the flight, it could get MUCH worse. He reassured us he had only seen EXTREME TURBULENCE once in his career.

That information helped make what seemed to be a VERY BUMPY flight much more tolerable.

Next time you’re in bumpy creative skies, look for an expert to help get your bearings, understand why you’re experiencing turbulence, and realize that even with EXTREME TURBULENCE your creative plane won’t break apart.

How Can You Reinforce Your Smelly Brand?

Holiday Inn Express touts its cinnamon rolls as a great breakfast treat. Even though they’re probably pre-manufactured far away from the breakfast area and kept warm under a heat lamp, they are pretty darn good.

And the smell of them in the lobby is unmistakable.

Interestingly enough, the hand lotion at Holiday Inn Express is also cinnamon scented. So if you apply any of it, you’ll smell those cinnamon rolls a good part of the day – a great sensory brand reinforcer.

Here’s the Brainzooming question: Most of your customers likely have all five senses, so how can you figure out a way to connect your brand to a non-traditional sense as a strong reinforcer?

Creative Quickie: A Purrfect Creative Setting

One of my favorite ways to work at the computer is with my cat Coco sitting on my lap, purring. It makes creative time a warm, wonderful experience.*

* Unless of course you're allergic to cats. Don't try this Jan!

Saturday Special - White Lines, Don't Do It

Here's a quick video from a recent trip back to Western Kansas.

It's a reflection about how rules and boundaries get imposed, often without any real consideration of whether they help, hurt, or in fact do nothing but waste energy relative to what's really important.

Go forth and think outside the lines!

Random Inputs Week - Yea, That's the Golden Ticket

To wrap up the week, here's a link tweeted by Scott Frederick - an instructive scene from "The Office" if you'd like to see nearly all of the NOs standing in the way of innovation in just over 2 minutes!



Want to be more innovative? It's simple - do nothing that Michael does. Doesn't get much easier than that for a Friday!

Random Inputs Week - 5 Keys to Innovating Amid Conflict

Last Friday evening, I tweeted a request for potential blog topics. @DrStrik9 requested a post on innovation amid competing objectives or multiple bosses. It's a situation that's very realistic, and while it can be challenging, here are some steps to take:

1. Understand the Political Fray - Make sure you have a strong read on the business culture and the political ins and outs of the business. That foundation is key to navigating successfully through varied perspectives.


2. Stay Rooted in the Fundamental Question - "What are we trying to achieve?" Amid differing points of view, you want to be able to demonstrate that your actions and perspectives tie back to what's right for the business.


3. Actively Manage Relationships - Differing points of view suggest at least two parties involved. That means you'll likely have to take on a mediator role to strengthen relationships among the contending parties.
   
4. Identify Areas of Mutual Agreement among Apparently Conflicting Objectives - Find where even conflicting points of view share some commonality. If you can discern points of mutual agreement, you have a base from which to attempt to bring conflicting areas closer to alignment.


5. Don't Make Decisions in One-Off Conversations - If you're working with contending authority figures, use one-on-one conversations (or emails) to ask questions, better understand points of view, and identify areas of potential compromise. Don't use them as decision making opportunities. Doing so means you'll wind up going back and forth negotiating decisions. Instead, push decision making to joint meetings where all parties are present. This may require strategic delays or bluffing, but you'll be in a better position to manage a discussion toward getting decisions made (and sticking) when all parties are involved at the same time.

That's a starting point for something that can certainly be stressful and difficult to do. It would be great to hear what any of you have done in similar situations - what's worked and not worked for you?

Want more ideas? Go back and take a look at the "Taking the NO Out of InNOvation" post, especially number 2 on "NO Direction" and number 7 on "NO Motivation to Innovate" for links to a few more approaches.

Random Inputs Week - 3 Ways to Avoid Being Seen as a Naysayer

I'm at the Charlotte, NC Business Marketing Association Lunch today speaking on "Taking the NO Out of Business InNOvation." If you're on Twitter, check out the hashtag #ncBMAlunch to see if we get some live tweets going!


Talking about the same topic at last Thursday's KU class prompted a question on how to challenge ideas without being seen as a naysayer. Here are 3 tips to avoid getting labeled as negative:

1. Don't Telegraph Your Comments - People often begin a challenge by clearly signaling through their body language (confrontational), tone (frustrated or agitated), or words (but, don't, can't, instead, etc.) they're about to challenge something. Here's an alternative - stop doing those things! Think hopefully about the conversation, looking for points of agreement; this will help modify your body language and tone. Then simply start building on the other person's idea, even modifying it, without allowing your words and attitude to suggest you disagree.


2. Conceal Your Sources - People are also often very sincere in saying where an idea comes from, even when it really doesn't matter. This happens frequently with new hires who trot out ideas prefaced by, "Here's what we did at my old company." The typical reaction? "If your old company is so great, why aren't you still there?" In contrast, introduce a potentially challenging idea without any attribution, foregoing even claiming your own ideas. By allowing an idea to be introduced on its own, you can start getting consideration for it without any negative baggage its original source may create.


3. Give Your Ideas Away - What might be viewed as a challenging point of view from you may be seen as completely innocuous when coming from someone else in the group. The key here is to be comfortable with sharing an idea with a receptive party, letting them build and modify the idea, and then confidently in allowing them to introduce the idea if it means a higher likelihood of successful adoption.

Try these three, and you'll be a lot less likely to be seen as giving NO for an answer.

Random Inputs Week - Just Ordering a Beer for St. Patrick's Day

Sometimes you can demonstrate a perspective twist by taking something away. Here’s an interesting example from a bar at the Cleveland Airport. The person I was with ordered a Bud Light draft beer – all by itself.

The fact he didn’t order a boilermaker was so outside the norm, it received special recognition on the cash register receipt.

Next time you’re in an innovation pinch, try the same thing. Remove one element in your situation and see what it does to force a new perspective that you hadn’t considered before.

Random Inputs Week

Speaking and travel are both great sources of inspiration for blog topics. Twitter has become another one as well. This week, we'll feature posts inspired through each of these sources.

Brainzooming - Being Perceived as a Strategic Leader

Last Thursday I spoke at Max Utsler's Innovation in Marketing Communications class at Kansas University, debuting the new version of "Taking the NO Out of InNOvation" summarized here a number of weeks ago. It seemed very appropriate since the first version of the presentation came from speaking to Max's class 5 years ago!

One topic we discussed was the idea of very subtle ways to demonstrate a strategic perspective. This includes taking notes and recapping meetings to allow you to shape the conversation as it happens and afterward. One student voiced the concern that taking and typing notes can get you cast in an "administrative" role. It's a valid concern, yet one that's easily avoided. Here's how:

1. Don't just take notes - take on a facilitation role. That means being ready to interject open-ended, probing questions to help the group explore the topic being discussed. Your active questioning and involvement provides equal footing with other participants even while you're displaying the characteristics of servant leadership.


2. Don't just type up the notes - add value through summarization, structure, conclusions, and recommendations. When someone approaches note taking and follow-up as an administrative task, the report out is typically chronological, with the notes coming back word-for-word, space-for-space as they were recorded at the meeting. When approaching a recap strategically, however, it provides the opportunity to move beyond a chronological playback. Instead, you can group notes based on similar themes, organize them with a logic flow that a live meeting doesn't allow, fill-in information gaps, form conclusions, and even begin to suggest recommendations.

Employ these two approaches and meeting participants will notice the difference. You won't be mistaken as playing an administrative role. Trust me - I've seen it work time after time.

Saturday Special: "The Mother of All Funk Chords"

Here's a video site by Kutiman called ThruYou that mashes up unrelated YouTube clips into songs. It's phenomenal. You have to check out the first song "The Mother of All Funk Chords."




To me this is a definitive answer for people who say innovation has to be something new. It doesn't! Innovation can be all about taking pieces and rearranging them in incredibly inventive ways!

Thanks to @40deuce for tweeting this.

Convergent Thinking Week - A DBTP Perspective

Over the Christmas holiday, several of us (despite being on "vacation") came into work to pull together a project plan from several disparate sources. It was quickly apparent the three of us, each fairly detail oriented in our own ways, could take all week to get this done.

Wanting to get back home as quickly as possible, I went over to the easel pad in the room and wrote in large letters: BDTP

I explained to the other two guys that the acronym stood for a variation on a statement made by an A.T. Kearny consultant: Better Done Than Perfect.

The phrase is a great reminder at appropriate times that my standards for an end product may be beyond what is called for in the normal course of business. It's a slightly different twist on the 80-20 rule that helps me stay focused on maximizing my contribution in relevant ways across as many areas as possible (vs. cratering myself with outstanding work in a very narrow area).

Think about your own efforts. If you tend toward perfectionism, consider whether a BDTP attitude might free you to have the greatest overall business impact.

For us, it meant finishing in two days vs. spending the whole week and having our deliverable spill into the new year.

And with that, while this week's posts on convergent thinking may not have been perfect, they are certainly done. Have a great weekend!

Convergent Thinking Week - 4 Ways to Narrow and Prioritize Possibilities

Prioritization and narrowing possibilities have been touched on at various points since starting Brainzooming.

Here are links to some helpful approaches on prioritization and decision making. The "She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not" happens to be one of the most viewed posts since the blog started!

• Deciding Between Two Options - She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not?
• Choosing Uncomfortable Ideas
• Striving for Simple Revolutionary Ideas
• Prioritizing Things Others Are Depending Upon

I'd love to hear what approaches you use to prioritize. Please share them in the comments section!

Convergent Thinking Week - Time's Up!

Here's a variation on the 4 p.m. List approach with a slightly dishonest implementation method.

I was leading an all-day group session on a contentious topic. We'd spent much time in divergent thinking mode with interesting discussions exploring many points of view. Still, we hadn't clearly advanced toward a recommendation even though we had to make demonstrable progress by the end of the day.

I broke away during lunch and handed Dawn, the front desk receptionist, my cell phone number, asking her to call it at 1:15 p.m. and not worry about what would be said.

When the phone soon vibrated, I made a point of heading to the back of the room and starting a loud, faux conversation with the project's sponsor expressing my displeasure with him scheduling time with our CEO at 3:30 p.m. to review our recommendation. Given the timing, we'd have to wrap-up by 3:15 p.m. to get him ready. By the end of the call, I had everybody's attention (and had Dawn wondering what was going on).

Playing back the other end of the conversation for the group, our challenge was clear - get to agreement within the next couple of hours so we wouldn't embarrass ourselves by not having our project sponsor ready for the CEO. All of a sudden, it became easier to find points of agreement, determine how we'd solve uncertain areas, and structure what a final report-out included.

As 3:15 approached and the sponsor didn't show up, group members noticed something wrong. I admitted the meeting was a ruse designed solely to get the group moving. While they were frustrated, they quickly realized the satisfaction of finishing the assignment outweighed two hours of pressure.

If you want to borrow this, know that you can only use it once with the same people, so pull it out when you don't have other better options to force closure. While enough time has passed to probably try it again, sharing it here means I won't be able to use it for another year!

Convergent Thinking Week - Creating a 4 p.m. List

Working to identify criteria describing attractive target customers, our small group had spent several weeks considering, selecting, and tracking down what we thought were the most relevant variables. There was a sense we could spend weeks more refining and tweaking things to get to our list of top prospects. Problem was we didn't have time to do that.

At that point, the group's leader made an intriguing suggestion. Our meeting was set to end at 4 o'clock. His direction to the group was to assume we had to report our list of 15 accounts by the end of the meeting. If that were the case he asked us, did we have confidence in our ability to come up with a defensible recommendation. Our answer was a resounding "Yes," and we generated our list based on the work we'd done to that point.

With our proposed short list, we had an artifact for our effort. In additional analysis we did, we quickly matched up new possibilities against what became known as the "4 p.m. List" to see if they provided significant improvement. In all, the list paved the way for us to wrap up our recommendation in a timely fashion.

We learned from this, and with one of my strategic thinking partners, all we have to say is, "Let's do a 4 p.m. list," to know it's time to force a recommendation assuming we know most of what we're ever going to know at that point.

So if you're stuck on a project, turn the clock to 3:50 p.m., and wrap it up!

Convergent Thinking Week - When Is It Better to Go with What You Have?

While much of Brainzooming is focused on divergent thinking (i.e. expanding the range of possibilities considered), it's important to also have strong convergent thinking skills for times when you have to narrow possibilities, make decisions, and implement a recommendation.

Beyond the benefits of honing your skills at both types of thinking, it's important to know when each approach is most appropriate. There are definitely more instances now where I'm willing to shift toward convergent thinking, even though I might have previously ardently fought for exploring more possibilities.

Here are five situations where it may make sense to go against an inclination to push for more possibilities and instead settle for an existing alternative:

• It's an issue that "doesn't matter" based on a lack of either significance or permanence.


• Multiple unsuccessful cases have been made for alternatives, and you're at risk of deteriorating strategic relationships through continued persistence.


• Resource constraints (time, people, investment, etc.) clearly preclude exploration of better alternatives.


• Someone is resolute in a choice and clearly beyond "being helped" by considering what you view as a more appropriate approach.


• The best current alternative is good enough relative to expectations.

All week, we'll cover topics related to convergent thinking, and how it can be used appropriately within a strategic thinking orientation.

Brainzooming - Get Out of the Office

Don’t believe great ideas and fun are intertwined?

Here’s a quote from Parade Magazine by John Kirhoffer, the challenge producer for each of Survivor’s 17 seasons:

“My team and I go surfing in the morning before work – we call it ‘board meetings.’ The best ideas don’t happen in a cubicle. They happen while we’re having fun.”

So get out of your office this afternoon, find a fun place, and create new solutions to your business challenges!

Fill in the Blank and Please Write Legibly

When you’re challenged, who will _______________________?

• Inspire you?
• Have a philosophical conversation with you?
• Give you a pep talk?
• Guide you through it?
• Help you be a better person?
• Tell you things will work out?
• Challenge you some more?

Do you have answers to all these questions? Are you the answer to some (all) of these questions for the important people in your life? If either answer is "no," you have some reaching out to do with others!

Stuck for Creative Ideas? Five Ways Structure Can Help

Creativity isn’t always wild, crazy, and free form.

When you hit a creative block or venture off into a new creative area, structure can actually enhance your creative skills, whether it’s an artsy pursuit or part of an everyday role. How can structure help get your creativity going? Structure:

• Provides models and patterns to serve as inspiration sources. An example is Jan Harness’ frequent use of Haiku – a strict poetry structure with 17 syllables spread across 3 lines. If you can count, you can write Haiku, and its structure makes almost any words sound impressive.


• Reduces the number of creative variables you have to consider. Fewer options allow you to concentrate greater creative energy on those that remain.


• Makes it easier to find instruction and input about using the structure itself. Think about the number of Dummies books available for a variety of creative pursuits.


• Adds depth, since structure itself can help communicate messages. Icons represent this, since certain images and figures suggest far more depth than their visual meaning alone.


• Can make your work more shareable, since others will already understand the form and be able to build on and adapt it. A 12-bar blues structure is an example since it easily allows other musicians to improvise within it.

Remember this Equation: No Ideas + Structure = Creativity

I Do Give a Damn 'bout a Bad Presentation

From a recent conference, here are more tips for bad presenters. If any apply to you (please ask somebody about that), heed this advice!

• If you are a flat presenter, listen to “Renegade Master” by Fatboy Slim before speaking. It will definitely pump your energy level.
  
• Arrive early and do whatever you can to ensure your laptop is placed so you can see it from where you’re speaking. Then use it to look at what’s on the screen; stop turning around to look back at the screen as if you’re sharing the view with the audience.


• Also have somebody stand where you’ll stand and see how the lighting looks. If the presentation area isn’t well lit, get someone to help adjust the lights so you’re not standing in the dark. If that doesn’t work, consider changing where you’ll stand.


• Stop reading slides.


• When sharing a list of what you plan to cover, don’t talk about each item in detail on the first pass through the list. Save it for when you’re actually going to be covering it.


• Don’t tell me you’re not a professional speaker. I can tell.


• When time’s running out and you announce you’re going to move quickly through the rest of the presentation, don’t read the remaining slides word for word. Instead, share the broad themes that you haven’t touched on yet.


• Finally, go see Edward Tufte present live. It’s an experience that will help you immensely!

Brainzooming - Mentee to Mentor

Even your mentors may need advice and instigation at some point. If you find you have a mentor who is ready to mistakenly pack it in, demonstrate to them why it’s important for them to act, take a stand, or confront what’s confounding them.

I did it recently, and it resulted in a last minute change of course on a major decision.

Do it yourself and some good will assuredly come from you standing up for the right course of action.