Here is a basic introduction to four superb problem-solving questions:
-
What would Croesus
do? (WWCD)
-
Why don't you feel
my pain?
-
Where else would it
work?
-
Would flipping it
work?
The Right Tool for the Right Job: The renowned economist Joseph
Schumpeter long ago recognized that it was possible to automate the
process of innovation. Edison famously said that genius is 99 percent
perspiration and 1 percent inspiration. For a certain type of discovery,
he is clearly right. But there is another mode of discovery in which
inspiration and attitude are a much more dominant force.
People usually think of problem solving as a search for . But
in everything we do, we look for symmetries. Thus, we also see
that problem solving can be a search for problems once you've found a
good solution. Both approaches have their advantages.
Do we really need to use all four of these questions? (Symmetry) The
answer is yes. You need to learn different tools because some
can best be found with particular tools.
The path to some ideas only follows by applying particular rules. The
symmetry tool applied to auctions easily produces the Priceline idea (so
easily that we wonder whether it was sufficiently nonobvious to deserve
a patent). But it would be harder to use the WWCD tool or translation to
see the possibility of a market driven by customer offers.
Of course, you can generate great ideas without consciously applying any
of these tools.
Sometimes innovators implicitly or intuitively apply the technique so
that it seems as though the idea just comes to them. We hope you will realise that actively asking simple questions - like Would
flipping it work? or What would Croesus do? - can make it easier to
dream of things that never were.
These are not the only tools - there are countless tools and techniques
available. Learning how to use these four proactively is a great place to start and
will pay dividends by helping you produce plenty of new ideas.
with thanks to "Why
Not" by B Nalebuff and I Ayres
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