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Simple & Pragmatic Problem Solving
#90Chapter 6: Group Creative Option Generation• Group Creative OptionsStructured, Refinement and Analytical (Card Sorting & Screening) ThinkingGroup Mode45-75 Minutes(Fast to Medium)

Pin Card Technique

From the book "Advanced Problem-Solving Toolbox: 115 Creative Plays" | Compiled & Edited by: Mojtaba Goudarzi, Open translation: Mehrshid Goudarzi
Executive Synopsis & Core Logic:

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.

Operational Parameters & Specifications

Category
Group Creative Options
Dominant Thinking
Structured, Refinement and Analytical (Card Sorting & Screening)
Participation
Group
Estimated TimeFast to Medium
45-75 Minutes
Workshop
Input Format
Problem statement, Standard colored cards for each specialization, Central pin board
Output Format
Idea Generation and Categorized Clusters
Key Application
Designing marketing strategy for green product lines, prioritizing software requirements, planning major events and re-engineering processes.
Core Differentiator:

Cyclical circulation of cards among all members with the option of primary filtering (rejecting weak cards) and color separation of roles, before pinning on the main board.

Quick Field Example:

8-person team consisting of designer, marketer and engineer write ideas with yellow, green and pink color cards; The cards are rotated around the table and the selected options are pinned to the wall board.

Operational Benefits & Implementation Risks

Advantages & Value Creation:

very high speed in screening and structuring, identification of the origin of specialties from the color of the card, full control of the people who dominate the meetings.

Risks & Potential Trade-offs:

The possibility of hastily abandoning some unconventional but virgin ideas by colleagues during the circulation of cards.

Real-World Organizational & Industry Scenarios

Sustainable marketing campaigns: Ideation and formulation of green product strategy with separate cards of technical and sales teams.
Agile Software Development: Collecting and Prioritizing User Stories on the Scrum Board.
Planning international conferences: organizing workshop headlines, speakers and logistics with PIN cards.

Strategic Rationale & Why to Apply

1Combining writing with agile evaluation: Instead of hundreds of messy cards sitting on the table, they are automatically filtered as they rotate around the table.
2Transparency of color-coded expertise: you immediately understand which ideas are from an engineering perspective and which from a marketing perspective.
3Visual pinning (Pinning): Pinning on a board transforms ideas from text format into a categorized visual structure.
4Equality of Pen Chance: The Rookie Expert has the same number of cards and the same color of magic as the Senior Manager.

Conceptual Framework & Book Method Description

"Pin Card Technique" is one of the most prominent tools developed at the Battelle Research Institute in Frankfurt, Germany. In this way, 5 to 8 people sit around the table. Each participant writes an idea on each card with their own colored marker (to differentiate specialties). Cards are dealt clockwise. Each member reads the card; If he sees it as valuable, he gives it to the next person, otherwise he discards it. At the end, the winning cards are analyzed by the leader based on thematic axes on the big pin board.

Step-by-Step Real-World Implementation Scenario

Designing Marketing Strategy for Eco-Friendly Product Line with PIN Card
1
Step 1: Forming a multidisciplinary team around the table8 experts (marketers with yellow cards, product engineers with blue cards and environmental experts with green cards) gathered.
2
Step 2: Write single ideas on cardsEach person wrote their ideas in 10 minutes: Tiktok Recycling Challenge, Old Product Delivery Discount Code, Zero Carbon Certification and Sustainability Webinars.
3
Step 3: Round table rotation and initial filterThe cards are rotated from hand to hand; The members removed the weak cards and gave the attractive cards to the next person by adding a supplementary note.
4
Step 4: Pinning on the main boardApproved cards are pinned in the 4 columns 'Influencer Marketing', 'Recycling Discount', 'Interactive Events' and 'Educational Content'.
5
Step 5: Approval of the integrated sustainability campaignThe team reached a definite agreement on the implementation of the recycling challenge with the participation of green influencers and the discount for replacing old parts as the main focus of the campaign.

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