115 Creative Problem Solving Plays
Comprehensive executive playbook of 115 structured problem-solving plays derived from the advanced methodology book. Click on any play to explore its detailed specification, operational matrix, and real-world implementation case study.
Comparison Against Others
Comparison with competitors and best practices to identify strengths and weaknesses.
Hire Futurists
Hiring consultants and futurists to predict trends and changes.
Monitor Weak Signals
Monitoring for weak signals and small changes that can lead to big problems.
Opportunity Searches
Searching for opportunities in the market and environment to identify strengths and weaknesses.
Camelot
Identifying and imagining an ideal environment for solving problems.
Checklists
Use checklists to identify problems and opportunities.
Inverse Brainstorming
Identifying problems by thinking about how to make a problem worse.
Limericks and Parodies
Using creative forms of humor to reveal problems and challenges within an organization or situation.
Listing Complaints
collect complaints and negative comments as a source of problem identification.
Responding to Someone Else
Responding to others' comments to stimulate thinking and ideation.
Role Playing
Using role-playing and recreating the position of stakeholders to understand deeper the point of view of others and discover hidden problems.
Suggestion Programs
Creating a systematic mechanism for collecting and continuously evaluating employee suggestions and ideas throughout the organization.
Workouts and Other Group Approaches
holding focused and multi-day workshops between employees and managers to eliminate bureaucracy and solve operational issues immediately.
Bounce It Off Someone Else
Raising the issue with a neutral or experienced person to get a secondary point of view and challenge the primary assumptions.
Consensus Building
Facilitated process to align various stakeholders and reach a definition and solution accepted by all instead of imposing majority vote.
Draw a Picture of the Problem
Visually drawing problem flows, nodes and connections to activate the right hemisphere of the brain and discover process breaks.
Experience Kit
designing a package of tools, exercises and field missions for managers to objectively and sensibly touch the real challenges of customers and employees.
Fishbone Diagram
Structured mapping of the root causes of a problem in the form of a fish skeleton in standard branches (human, machine, method, material, etc.).
King of the Mountain
A competitive and gamified debating process to challenge surface definitions of the problem until the strongest and most stable definition remains on top.
Redefining a Problem or Opportunity
conscious change of mental glasses and rewriting of the problem from various specialized angles (marketing, financial, operational, psychology, etc.).
Rewrite Objectives in Different Ways
Rewriting the original objective from various perspectives (sales, cost, efficiency, effectiveness) to explore multiple paths to solving the problem.
Squeeze and Stretch
Examining the problem from two opposite poles: compression and shredding into microscopic components versus stretching and examining macro and environmental variables.
What Do You Know?
Carefully cataloging all knowledge, objective evidence, and assumptions about a problem and evaluating their validity.
What Patterns Exist?
Investigating correlations, recurrences and temporal patterns in data to uncover hidden drivers of performance fluctuations.
Why-Why Diagram
Hierarchical and linear tree drawing Rooting by constantly repeating the question "Why?" To get to the basics of the problem.
Assumption Reversal
List the most obvious assumptions governing work, turn them 180 degrees and create disruptive business models.
Analogies and Metaphors
Bridging the problem world and completely unrelated worlds (nature, aviation, medicine and art) to draw inspiration from existing successful models.
Analysis of Past Solutions
Autopsies of historical records of previous successful and unsuccessful efforts by other cities or companies to prevent reinventing the wheel.
Association
Applying the rules of mind association (contiguity, similarity, contrast) to communicate between distant concepts and create creative advertising and product ideas.
Attribute Association Chains
Dissecting the specifications of a product/service and releasing the free chain of association for individual features to leapfrog future innovations.
Attribute Listing
Dissecting the structure of an object into its basic features and then changing, improving or replacing each of them to create a completely distinct product.
Back to the Customer
Realigning the elements of the marketing mix (4P: Product, Price, Distribution, Promotion) with actual customer needs and concerns.
Back to the Sun
tracing the raw material and energy chain of a product back to the sun to discover sustainable and environmental alternatives.
Circle of Opportunity
Arrange the different features of a challenge around a circle like a clock face (12 segments) and pair them randomly with a dice roll or lucky number.
Computer Programs
Use artificial intelligence, simulation algorithms, and analytical software to quickly generate diverse options and calculate scenarios.
Deadlines
Create artificial, tight and exciting deadlines to activate the adrenaline of the mind and escape perfectionist obsession.
Direct Analogies
direct and technical comparison of the functioning of a mechanical or human system with biological and biological phenomena in nature (biomimicry science).
Establish Idea Sources
Designing a permanent and systematic structure for monitoring and monitoring innovation references (scientific journals, patents, exhibitions and elite networks).
Examine It with the Senses
360-degree evaluation of the product or service experience through the lens of each of the five senses to discover invisible annoyances or pure sensory opportunities.
The FCB Grid
4-house foot, con and blading matrix to determine the strategic position of the product based on two axes: mental engagement (high/low) and purchase approach (intellectual/emotional).
The Focused-Object Technique
Methodical combination of free association and forced association between a target object and a completely random object to explore metaphors and innovative angles.
Fresh Eye
Inviting people who are not familiar with the project and work area to observe the problem and extract original and unconventional proposals without organizational prejudices.
Idea Bits and Racking
Recording bits of information and ideas on individual cards and dynamically arranging them on the board to discover patterns, hidden connections, and form coherent structures.
Idea Notebook
Systematic and immediate recording of every spark, observation or creative question at the moment of occurrence in a dedicated notebook and reviewing it periodically to generate ideas.
Input-Output
Accurately defining the expected input and output of the system and then discovering a chain of physical, chemical, mechanical, or biological phenomena to bridge the gap between them.
Listening to Music
Purposeful use of soothing music to moderate the activity of the analytical left hemisphere and stimulate the right hemisphere of the brain to overcome mental impasses.
Mind Mapping
Radial and visual organization of thoughts around a central idea, using branches, colors, and images to synchronize note-taking structure with the brain's neural network.
Name Possible Uses
Intensive brainstorming to discover and list all unconventional, secondary, and creative uses for an existing object or product.
The Napoleon Technique
Problem solving from the point of view and hypothetical identity of a prominent figure (strategist, artist or saint) to get rid of stereotypical thought patterns.
Organized Random Search
Purposefully selecting completely random words or images from dictionaries or magazines and compulsively connecting their metaphors to the problem to generate novel ideas.
Personal Analogies
physical and psychological identification with the object or process under investigation and experiencing the problem from within (key pillar of William Gordon's Synetics Method).
Picture Stimulation
Use of diverse and unrelated visual images as a mental catalyst to spark ideas and discover novel metaphors beyond speech and text.
Product Improvement Checklist
Systematic product audit through a catalog of action-oriented verbs (eg, minimization, integration, elimination, automation, personalization) to quickly discover improvement opportunities.
Relatedness
Radial mapping of jobs, products and services adjacent and complementary to business (Donald Hambrick's approach) to create new revenue streams and strategic diversification.
Relational Words
systematic adaptation of an object with prepositions and relational verbs to redefine its physical structure, its connection and ergonomic interactions.
Reversal-Dereversal
State the problem with an inverted negative verb (“How do we make things completely catastrophic?”) and then turn disaster solutions into bright, positive ideas.
Rolling in the Grass of Ideas
Intensive immersion and speed-reading of large volumes of relevant references, experiences and data in one sitting to saturate the mind and intuitively discover connecting patterns.
The 7 x 7 Technique
Carl Gregory's matrix method for refining, summarizing and prioritizing up to 49 key ideas in a 7-row by 7-column grid through 7 systematic screening steps.
Sleeping/Dreaming on It
Consciously entrusting the problem to the brain's unconscious processing process during sleep phases (Rapid Eye Movements - REM) and hunting emerging ideas immediately after awakening.
The Two-Words Technique
Splitting the problem statement into two focal words, extracting a range of synonyms and stimulating words for each, and then cross-multiplying them to generate new solutions.
Using the Computer to Stimulate Creativity
Complementary use of digital software packages (3D simulation, vector design and video editing) to accelerate trial and error and create interactive concepts.
Verbal Checklist for Creativity
Using Alex Osborne's matrix of golden verbs (the father of brainstorming) to purposefully guide the mind to discover the hidden angles of transformation in any product or service.
Visualization
Live and dynamic mental visualization of the current state and the ideal state of processes or spaces to discover invisible frictions and create ergonomic solutions.
What If
Posing radical hypothetical questions and scenario building around unconventional positive and negative future possibilities to overcome surprise and formulate agile strategies.
Brainstorming
The most classic method of group idea generation (invented by Alex Osborne in 1953) based on 4 golden rules: suspend judgment, encourage bold ideas, focus on quantity, and combine each other's ideas.
Brainwriting
Group generation of ideas in writing and in complete silence through the circular circulation of the sheet of ideas among members to expand and complement each other's opinions successively.
Brainwriting Pool
evolved intellectual writing at the Battel Institute in Germany: placing idea sheets in a central pool, so that each person, after recording 4 ideas, leaves the sheet in the pool and picks up another sheet for elaboration.
Brainwriting 6-3-5
Bern Rohrbach's (Battle Institute) most accurate collective idea generation technique: 6 participants, 3 ideas each in 5 minutes, in 6 rotations = generate 108 rich ideas in exactly 30 minutes.
Creative Imaging
Guided three-step process to mentally travel 10 years into the future, visualize the details of an ideal, flawless state, and then reverse engineer the operational steps to make it happen.
Creative Leaps
A radical leap to a state of absolute perfection regardless of technical and financial limitations, and then a strategic backtracking to bridge the gap between today's reality and tomorrow's utopia.
Creativity Circles
innovative adaptation of "Japanese Quality Circles"; Forming small voluntary and multi-specialist groups of employees to continuously solve challenges and create new products.
Crawford Slip Method
Classic C.C. Crawford (1925): Anonymous and compact writing of ideas on small sheets (one clear idea per sheet) for rapid processing of hundreds of ideas in large groups.
Delphi Technique
is a structured method for future forecasting, trend analysis and elite decision-making using anonymous multi-stage questionnaires and frequent statistical feedback.
Excursion Technique
a technique emerging from the synetics approach to get out of the intellectual impasse; Fantasizing away from the problem to a completely unrelated place and returning with metaphors and innovative solutions.
Gallery Method
Creativity technique invented at the Battle Institute in Germany; Instead of moving papers, people walk around the room, visiting and inspiring each other's illustrated "gallery of ideas" like museum visitors.
Gordon/Little Technique
Guided Technique William Gordon at Arthur D. Little; Starting problem solving from the highest abstract and conceptual level and descending step by step towards concrete details to escape from clichéd solutions.
Group Decision Support Systems
Using software platforms and electronic decision rooms to anonymously capture ideas, synchronous voting, charting priorities, and eliminating verbal biases in team meetings.
Idea Board
Visual and Continuous Problem Solving Technique; Installing a public notice board in the crossings of the organization for free registration of idea cards by all employees and weekly review of the results.
Idea Triggers
creative sensory stimulation technique; Putting objects, physical samples, raw materials and related images in the hands of participants to break down abstract thinking and spark innovative ideas.
Innovation Committee
innovation governance structure in the organization; Forming an interdepartmental working group with the "proposal coordination tender" model so that the most qualified and enthusiastic people take the helm of the transformation projects.
Intercompany Innovation Groups
formation of consortia and think-tanks among senior managers of heterogeneous industries for the exchange of best practices (Benchmarking), joint study trips and solving fundamental problems of the business ecosystem.
Lion's Den
Interactive problem solving session by playing the two symbolic roles of "lambs" (providers of challenges and initial proposals) and "lions" (panel critics and experts from other units) to dissect and enrich the solution.
Lotus Blossom Technique
Matsumura's structured technique for exponential multiplication of ideas; Placing the central core of the challenge among the initial 8 petals, and then turning each petal into the center of a new blossom to generate 64 detailed solutions.
Mitsubishi Brainstorming Method
Sadami Aoki's structured approach at Mitsubishi Resin Company; Integrating individualized warm-up thinking, reading aloud, visual mapping, and applied sensitivity analysis for perfect equality of voices.
Morphological Analysis
famous Fritz Zwicki technique to discover all possible combinations; Decomposing the problem into fundamental parameters and arranging them in a multidimensional matrix (morphological box) to create deconstructive configurations.
NHK Method
creativity technique invented by Hiroshi Takahashi on Japanese national television; Writing 5 initial ideas on cards by each member and then cyclically and continuously combining ideas like a blender to generate comprehensive concepts.
Nominal Group Technique (NGT)
structured group process for ideation and fair decision making; Generating ideas in silence, periodic registration without criticism, collective clarification and finally secret voting and mathematical scoring.
Phillips 66 (Discussion 66)
Donald Phillips' innovative technique for activating large gatherings; Divide the crowd into 6-person groups for a 6-minute intensive discussion (1 minute per person) to quickly gather ideas in a limited time.
Photo Excursion
Field problem solving technique; Physical exit of the team from the four walls of the meeting with a camera to hunt metaphors and visual patterns of the surrounding environment and turn them into innovative solutions.
Pin Card Technique
an intellectual writing technique developed at the Battle Institute in Germany; Write single ideas on cards with distinctive colored markers, go hand-in-hand around the table with a quick filter, and pin the best to a topic board.
Scenario Writing
strategic foresight technique; Identifying critical drivers and uncertainties and compiling detailed and probable stories of the future to prepare the organization against market shocks and discover new opportunities.
SIL Method
German technique of successive integration of solution components; Generating ideas in silence, reading two ideas simultaneously and combining them into a single whole by the group, and then step-by-step integrating other ideas into the evolving solution.
Storyboarding
Walt Disney's narrative illustration technique; Visual and step-by-step layout of the stages of a project, product or user experience on wall panels to visualize the flow of the story and identify nodes before implementation.
Synectics
William Gordon and George Prince's famous technique of linking seemingly unrelated elements; Harnessing irrational aspects, humor and 4 fundamental analogies (direct, personal, symbolic and fantasy) to transform the familiar into the strange and the strange into the familiar.
Take Five
Structured problem solving game in small groups of 5 people; Set aside 2 minutes for individual thinking, gathering in teams of 5 to integrate and rank ideas, and cross-team exchange to reach 10 golden solutions in 40 minutes.
TKJ Method
Famous technique of Japanese anthropologist Jiro Kawakita; Verbal-visual two-phase process for deep definition of the problem and then generating solutions using standard cards, conceptual naming of clusters and drawing correlation diagrams.
The Screening Matrix for Ideas
technique of renowned innovation consultant Simon Majaro; Evaluating the portfolio of ideas on the biaxial matrix of "creativity and originality of the idea" against "compatibility with the capabilities and resources of the organization" for realistic screening without extinguishing the flame of innovation.
Dot Voting
Popular and fast democratic prioritization technique; Distribute a certain number of colored dots or stickers among the participants to stick on popular options and instantly discover the weight of collective preferences.
How-How Diagram
Reverse engineering technique of solution implementation; Writing the general solution on the left and repeatedly asking the question "how?" in several successive layers to break down an abstract idea into fully concrete tasks and actions, wisdom and implementation.
Be a Warrior When Selling Your Ideas
of Roger Von Ock's transformative concept; Playing the fourth role of creativity, i.e. "fighter" (next to discoverer, artist and judge) to passionately defend the idea, break bureaucratic resistance and bring the idea to operational victory in the organization.
Force-Field Analysis
Kurt Lewin's masterpiece in social psychology and change management; Delineating the field of balance between driving forces and restraining forces and strategically focusing on weakening obstacles instead of pushing blindly.
Design Thinking
Renowned methodology Stanford & Co. IDEO to creatively solve complex problems; 5 fundamental steps of empathy, problem definition, ideation, rapid prototyping and testing with a focus on deep understanding of humans.
Systems Thinking
Peter Senge and Jay Forrester's macro approach to understanding complex problems; Focus on mutual interactions, reinforcing and balancing feedback loops, and lags to solve crises at their root rather than patchwork.
Agile and Scrum
New project management framework and experimental problem solving; Replace traditional rigid schedules with short sprints, daily meetings, frequent reviews, and defined roles (Product Owner, Scrum Master, Development Team) to deliver value quickly.
Machine Learning
a new artificial intelligence technique for problem solving; Training algorithms on historical data to automatically extract patterns and make predictive decisions without explicitly programming fixed rules.
Big Data Analysis
The process of extracting value and strategic insights from Huge, rapid and diverse volumes of data (5Vs); Using distributed computing infrastructures to discover hidden correlations and fundamentally optimize macro decisions.
Blockchain-Based Creativity Technique
deploying distributed ledgers and smart contracts for open innovation; Immutable registration of the priority of ideas, transparent token reward to contributors, and facilitation of global crowdfunding without intermediaries.
Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR/AR) for Problem Solving
Innovative problem-solving techniques in immersive spaces; Using VR and AR technologies to walk through the problem, simulate high-risk scenarios, manipulate 3D models and test ergonomics before spending money on physical construction.
Deep Learning Technique for Idea Generation
Applying deep neural networks and Large Language Models (LLMs) for unlimited brainstorming; Crossing human cognitive barriers by generating hundreds of innovative ideas and interdisciplinary combinations in a few seconds and refining it by the human team.
Human-AI Collaboration Technique
advanced approach of the Centaur model in problem solving; Dividing intelligent work between human emotional genius, morality and semantic creativity on the one hand, and computational speed and discovering statistical patterns of artificial intelligence on the other hand to create the best possible performance.
Global Idea Networking Technique
mass open innovation technique and cross-border collective wisdom; Using global digital platforms to call for problem solving, and bringing together the genius of thousands of scientists, designers and citizens with diverse cultural backgrounds to solve massive human and business challenges.
Biomimicry Problem-Solving Technique
taking advantage of 3.8 billion years of nature's free research and development; Translating engineering challenges into the language of biology and reverse engineering the structures, processes and ecosystems of organisms to achieve sustainable and optimal solutions.
AI-Assisted Systems Thinking Technique
Combining the holistic insight of systems thinking with the computing power of artificial intelligence and graph algorithms; Dynamic modeling of thousands of concurrent causal relationships, simulating 'what if' scenarios. and prediction of hidden latencies in macro systems.
Multi-Sensory Virtual Reality Creativity Technique
Advanced technology of simultaneous immersion of the five senses in the virtual environment; Simultaneous activation of 360-degree vision, spatial sound, haptic gloves and controlled scents to evoke deep inspiration and push the boundaries of human imagination.
Gamification for Creative Problem Solving
Technique The finality of the book and the magical link of play with innovation; Inject game elements and mechanics (scores, leaderboards, missions, badges, freedom to fail) into dry problem-solving processes to release dopamine and maximize personnel engagement.