Creativity and Ideation

Module 3 – Creativity and Ideation: Overview

Design thinking separates problem-framing from problem-solving. Before generating ideas, the problem must be understood from every angle — through empathy work (stakeholder maps, journey maps, empathy maps, etc.). Deferring ideation is a deliberate principle: jumping to solutions before understanding the problem in its totality is a common mistake. Only after deep, 360-degree exploration does the process move to creative idea generation.

Module 3 covers the creative core of design thinking:

• What creativity is
• How creativity differs from intelligence
• How to measure creativity
• How to become more creative as an individual
• Various idea generation methods (brainstorming, SCAMPER, etc.)

Module 4 then builds on this: prioritising ideas, validating them, building prototypes, and scaling solutions.

The sequence of design thinking (empathise → ideate → prototype)

The earlier modules gave tools to empathise (e.g., the cafeteria project revealed how food is distributed in a short time). With that deep understanding, ideation can be done effectively.

Exam tip: The key differentiator is that ideas are generated after thorough empathy, not before. Many students mistakenly begin solving before defining. The “defer ideation” rule is a high-yield principle.

Key takeaways

• Ideation is deliberately postponed until the problem is fully understood from all perspectives.
• Module 3 explores creativity: definition, difference from intelligence, measurement, and enhancement.
• Idea generation methods are the practical tools for coming up with solutions.
• Module 4 follows with prioritisation, validation, and prototyping.
• The cafeteria project example shows how real empathy work grounds the ideation phase.

Definition

An idea is creative only if it is simultaneously novel (original, never thought of before) and useful (practical, solving a real need). Both conditions are sacrosanct – missing either disqualifies the idea.

• Novel but not useful: e.g., a phone powered by body heat. Novel concept, but low utility (you would not keep the phone next to your body to charge it). → Not creative.
• Useful but not novel: e.g., using a stone as a doorstopper or a mobile as a paperweight. Works, but is obvious. → Not creative.

Definition: Creativity = Novelty + Utility. The bar rises when both must be met.

Creativity vs Intelligence

Creativity and intelligence are related but not identical. Highly creative people are not necessarily highly intelligent, and vice versa.

Pattern Recognition vs. Pattern Breaking

• Intelligence is the ability to recognize and predict a pattern – the most primitive form of intelligent behaviour (even apes do it). Patterns reduce cognitive load; the brain loves them (e.g., muscle memory for daily routines).
• Creativity is the ability to break an existing pattern and form something new. Breaking patterns is difficult – try writing with your non-dominant hand. The brain resists because patterns make life efficient, but they also cause mistakes when the context changes.

Exam tip: The book Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman explains why humans rely on mental patterns (heuristics) and how to overcome them. This is a high-yield reference for the pattern-breaking argument.

Convergent vs. Divergent Thinking (J.P. Guilford)

Guilford distinguished two thinking modes:

• Convergent = intelligence → one correct outcome.
• Divergent = creativity → multiple possibilities, exploration.

Intelligence as Choice, Creativity as "And"

• Intelligence is about making the best choice among given options (like chess: "move here or there?").
• Creativity is about combining or surprising – not just choosing, but creating new options. In chess, at grandmaster level (e.g., Viswanathan Anand), everyone knows your moves from YouTube. The only way to beat a prepared opponent is to be creative (break the expected pattern) – not just intelligent.

Example: IBM's Deep Blue defeated Garry Kasparov in 1997 using brute computation (intelligence). Yet humans still play chess because beyond a certain ELO (e.g., 2300), creativity, not raw intelligence, decides the winner.

IQ and Creativity: The Role of Latent Inhibition

The relationship between IQ (a measure of intelligence) and creativity is mediated by latent inhibition – the brain's tendency to filter out familiar or irrelevant stimuli.

• IQ = $\frac{\text{mental age}}{\text{chronological age}} \times 100$. Typical around 110–120; above 140 considered genius; below 90 indicates mental age lagging.
• High IQ does not guarantee high creativity. Creativity emerges only when latent inhibition is low – i.e., the person is less inhibited by fear of failure, criticism, or social perception. Low latent inhibition means being open to trying new things and accepting failure.

• People with high latent inhibition criticise themselves before every move, stifling creativity.
• Thomas Edison on failing 9,999 ways to invent the light bulb: "I haven't failed. There are 9,999 ways in which I know how it doesn't work." – Low latent inhibition enables creative persistence.

Exam tip: The key conclusion: intelligence is a matter of aptitude; creativity is a matter of attitude. IQ gets you into the office; creativity (and emotional intelligence) wins in the long run.

Key Takeaways

• Creativity = Novelty + Utility. Both are required; neither alone suffices.
• Intelligence is pattern recognition and convergent thinking; creativity is pattern breaking and divergent thinking.
• Convergent thinking (one right answer) vs. divergent thinking (many possibilities) – most education trains convergent thinking.
• Creativity requires low latent inhibition – willingness to fail and ignore social judgment.
• High IQ does not automatically give high creativity; low latent inhibition is the mediating factor.
• In the AI era, intelligence tasks can be delegated; creativity (especially identifying applications) becomes the premium skill.

Testing Creativity

Can creativity be measured? Emphatically yes. Creativity is not a mystical trait — it can be systematically tested. Pioneered in the 1960s (J.P. Guilford and later Ellis Torrance), these tests remain valid today. The distinction between intelligence and creativity is critical: intelligence helps you go deeper within a domain; creativity helps you go wider across domains, connecting apparently unrelated ideas.

Divergent vs. Convergent Thinking

Guilford introduced divergent thinking (generating multiple options) and convergent thinking (choosing one option). Divergent thinking is the harder part — it is the core of creativity and design thinking. Example: choosing between five courses is easy; creating five course titles from scratch is difficult.

Definition: Divergent thinking — the ability to produce many different ideas or solutions from a single starting point. Convergent thinking — the ability to narrow down to the best solution.

Alternative Uses Test (Guilford, 1961)

A classic test: given a common object (e.g., a comb), think of as many alternative uses as possible. The test measures four independent parameters:

A creative person scores high on all four.

Functional Fixedness

The enemy of creativity: functional fixedness — the tendency to see an object only for its original intended purpose. Children are naturally more creative because they lack this fixedness. Adults impose patterns: "a comb is for combing hair." To be creative, you must break patterns.

Exam tip: The Alternative Uses Test is often used in selection (e.g., military, innovation roles). Expect to be evaluated on fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration — not just raw number of ideas.

Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT)

Ellis Torrance built on Guilford’s work, creating the most widely used creativity test in schools (still valid today). It assesses two dimensions:

• Verbal: e.g., from the word “VERBAL”, create as many meaningful words as possible (VERB, LAB, REAL, etc.).
• Figural: e.g., given 10 circles, draw a different object inside each circle. Or: improve an existing product (e.g., comb — make it foldable, self-cleaning, replaceable bristles).

The TTCT builds on Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences concept.

Remote Associates Test (Sarnoff Mednick)

Creativity as the ability to connect apparently distinct domains. Given three words, find a fourth that associates all three:

This test measures associative breadth: creative people can traverse widely separated semantic fields.

Exam tip: The Remote Associates Test predicts creative problem-solving more than standard IQ tests. Practice by finding links between unrelated concepts.

Key Takeaways

• Creativity can be measured via divergent thinking tests (Guilford, Torrance, Mednick).
• Alternative Uses Test → assess fluency, flexibility, originality, elaboration.
• Functional fixedness blocks creativity; break patterns by forcing new uses.
• Torrance Test covers verbal and figural creativity, widely used in education.
• Remote Associates Test measures ability to connect distinct domains — the hallmark of creative intelligence.
• Creativity is not fixed; you can train it by exposing yourself to multiple disciplines, cultures, and perspectives.

Honing Creativity Part-I

Creativity is not fixed; it can be developed. The mechanisms for honing creativity go beyond intelligence tests and require deliberate practice in four key areas: curiosity, associative thinking, hobbies, and multiple affiliations.

Curiosity — The Driving Force

Unbounded curiosity is the foundation of creative genius. It pushes individuals to explore across domains without regard for formal labels.

• Leonardo da Vinci – illegitimate, no formal education, driven by insatiable curiosity. He dissected animals (including humans), designed military instruments, helicopters, a working parachute, painted, sculpted, wrote. His notebooks (one bought by Bill Gates for millions) show a mind that refused to be categorised: artist, anatomist, painter, sculptor, biologist, astronomer, mathematician.
• Modern obstacle: Super-specialisation. Society compresses identities into narrow boxes (“doctor”, “engineer”, “artist”). Creativity thrives when these boundaries dissolve — when art and science mingle.

Exam tip: Curiosity is not just about asking “why” but about traversing fields. Any question about da Vinci’s creativity should highlight his refusal to be labelled and his constant learning across domains.

Associative Thinking

Associative thinking (or associative skills) is the ability to quickly connect ideas from disparate fields. Clayton Christensen, in The Innovator’s DNA, identifies this as a core trait of innovators.

• How it works: You read something, see a video, hear a podcast, read a newspaper article, have a conversation — then seamlessly blend those inputs into your current work.
• Why it boosts creativity: Creativity = novelty + utility. Novelty arises from new combinations. Everything in the physical world is made from ~120 elements (periodic table), each atom made of the same electrons, neutrons, protons, and ultimately energy (string theory). Creativity recombines existing building blocks into new forms.

Analogy for depth: At the subatomic level, matter and energy are the same vibration — Advaita philosophy (Adi Shankaracharya) spoke of this as Maya. The point: reality is already one interconnected field; associative thinking mimics that truth.

• Risk: Over-identifying as a “science student” or “management student” limits associative thought. “Your professional identity is not your life.”

The Role of Hobbies

Unstructured time and unstructured play are essential for developing imagination, curiosity, and self-control. Modern schedules (especially for children) often leave zero free space, killing these abilities.

• Hobbies are not “unproductive” – they restore creativity.
• Personal example (instructor): chess (left brain, temporal thinking – planning moves ahead) + guitar (right brain, spatial thinking – music lives in space). This dual practice boosts memory and creative idea generation.
• Famous examples:
  • Albert Einstein – violin hobby; he said if not a physicist, he’d have been a musician.
  • Haruki Murakami – long-distance running (10–15 km daily) + swimming; attributes enormous creativity to these hobbies.
  • Nobel laureates – 20% more likely than peers to have an artistic hobby.

Three benefits of hobbies:

Exam tip: The Nobel laureate statistic (20% more likely to have an artistic hobby) is a high‑yield data point. It directly links leisure to creative achievement.

Multiple Affiliations

Who all are you? (Hindi: tum kaun kaun ho?) Having multiple identities — artist, scientist, social worker, meditative person, etc. — prevents a hollow life and fuels creativity.

• The consulting partner story: In a Big Five firm, 50 partners achieved their 20‑year dream — yet none was happy. They had poured all energy into one goal; once attained, life felt pointless. The joy was in the pursuit, not the arrival.
• Warning: When you invest all your identity in a single job/career, that job becomes parasitic. If the employer turns on you, your whole life crumbles.
• Solution: Deliberately cultivate multiple affiliations. Something gives you money, something gives pleasure, something gives purpose, something gives learning, something gives solace. Balance is critical from the start of your career.

Key insight: “No cause is worth your life. Before you manage an organisation, manage yourself.”

Key takeaways

• Curiosity is the foundational driver — follow it across domains without letting labels limit you.
• Associative thinking creates novelty by recombining ideas from different fields; avoid over‑specialisation.
• Hobbies (especially musical or physical) boost self‑confidence, broaden perspectives, and connect you to diverse people.
• Multiple affiliations prevent identity collapse and sustain long‑term creativity and well‑being.
• The happiness is in the pursuit, not the arrival — cultivate multiple dimensions of life before you reach any single pinnacle.

Honing Creativity – Part II

This part continues the practical principles for honing creativity, covering networking (flesh-and-blood, not online), taking half chances, the role of humor, and meditation as a daily practice. Each principle builds on the idea that creativity thrives on deliberate exposure to uncertainty, vulnerability, and non-attachment to outcomes.

Networking: Wide and Shallow vs. Narrow and Deep

Networking here means face-to-face, purposeful interaction – not social-media follower counts. Two distinct networks serve different roles:

Exam tip: The key trap is trying to “get intimate” with professional contacts (a common cultural inclination). Maintain the boundary – you can be warm and purposeful without deepening every relationship.

Networking boosts creativity because it forces you to:

• Expose yourself to uncertainty – you don’t know how the other person will react.
• Listen and learn – show genuine interest; you gain insights from strangers (e.g., a Turkish traveller’s geopolitical views, an Egyptian visitor’s perspective on India).
• Be the first to strike – setting the agenda of the conversation gives you the upper hand, even if the other person is talkative. Use active listening to steer the dialogue.
• Accept non-permanence – not every encounter needs to become a long-term association. A single fruitful transaction is enough. Avoid the emotional toll of trying to convert every meeting into something “big”.

Taking Half Chances

Creativity requires the willingness to act before you feel fully ready. A “half chance” is an opportunity that lies near your zone of influence (but not outside your zone of concern). When it does, say an emphatic “yes” and then prepare yourself on the way.

Example: M.S. Dhoni’s half chance – He entered the Indian cricket team as a wicketkeeper, not as a batsman or bowler. That provisional role turned into captaincy of a rookie T20 team in 2007, then a World Cup win – converting half chances into full chances.

Exam tip: The boundary is critical – if the opportunity lies beyond your zone of concern, say no clearly. If it is within or near your zone of influence, take it.

Humor and Creativity: Shared Neural Circuits

Creativity and humor are almost synonymous in their neural circuitry. Both follow the same structure:

• 80% linear – The idea (or joke) starts in a familiar, logical pattern to hook the audience.
• 20% pattern break – A sudden violation of that logic produces either a laugh (humor) or an “amazing” insight (creativity).

Definition: Humor is a benign violation of logic – a logical break that is safe, not threatening, leading to the “haha” moment.

Why stand-up comedians are highly creative:

• They are always in content-creation mode – observing, writing (e.g., Jerry Seinfeld writes two hours daily).
• They improvise on stage when a joke fails – a pure creative response.
• They practice self-deprecating humor – a hallmark of creative people. Taking yourself lightly (“nobody takes you seriously anyway”) frees you to tolerate randomness and rejection.

Meditation: The Three Daily Practices

Meditation (distinct from religion – spirituality asks questions, religion offers answers) centres the mind where the body is. The goal is mindfulness: full awareness of the present moment. Three daily practices:

1. Non-resistance – Accept reality as it is. Most psychological pain comes from resisting what has already happened (e.g., “I shouldn’t have had that accident”). Acceptance gives you the power to deal with the situation; denial fuels self-pity.
2. Non-attachment – Aspire, but do not become attached to outcomes, people, or ideas. The philosophy of Advaita (non-duality) teaches that your fundamental self (Brahman) does not change with success or failure. Equanimity reduces the pain of desire (as taught by Gautama Buddha).
3. Non-judgment – Avoid prematurely evaluating people, situations, or ideas. (Referenced from earlier discussion in the module.)

Practical tip: The practices do not require closed eyes or mantras. Any technique that centres attention on the present moment is meditation. The lecturer meditates each morning and finds it improves focus, productivity, and creative structuring of courses and books.

Exam tip: In the Indian context, these meditative principles are indigenous – no need to import. They are nuggets from 5,000 years of culture. Even though design thinking is an imported concept, the underlying mindset (non-resistance, non-attachment, non-judgment) has long been practised in India.

Key takeaways

• Build a wide, shallow professional network and a narrow, deep personal network – do not blend them.
• Take half chances when they fall near your zone of influence – they reveal hidden strengths and create serendipity.
• Humor and creativity share an 80/20 pattern: linear setup → benign violation. Practice self-deprecating humor to embrace randomness.
• Daily meditation (non-resistance, non-attachment, non-judgment) sharpens focus and fosters a creative, equanimous mindset.
• Creativity demands tentativeness, tolerance for rejection, and accepting non-permanence in relationships and outcomes.

Rules of Ideation

Ideation sessions often feel chaotic, but a set of counterintuitive rules separates productive brainstorming from aimless discussion. These rules are grounded in the behavior of highly creative people and the principles of design thinking.

Rule 1: Quality Comes from Quantity

Intuition: Most people would rather have a few good ideas than a lot of average ideas. But great ideas almost never appear fully formed; they emerge from a vast pool of mediocre, half-baked, or even bad ones. The "secret of greatness" is ferocious productivity – creating a large volume of work so that, by the law of averages, some of it becomes remarkable.

How it works: A funnel process. Generate as many ideas as possible (quantity), then distill them into the best subset (quality). The final set derived from a large pool is far richer than one taken from a small pool.

Example – Marico Coconut Farmers Workshop (India): A two-day workshop in Tamil with 35 coconut farmers generated 500 ideas on the single topic "How to improve the yield of copra (coconut)." The facilitator did not start from zero to 50; they distilled 500 → 50. The resulting 50 ideas were far more insightful than any "first 50" would have been.

Key insights:

• Nature: At any given time, nature produces a gigantic variety of species. By the law of averages, some subspecies thrive.
• Linus Pauling: "If you want good ideas, have a lot of them."
• Thomas Edison: "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration."

Takeaway: In a brainstorming session, do not settle for 2–3 ideas. Challenge the team to generate 100 or more. The methods and techniques enable reaching that target.

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Rule 2: Build on Others’ Ideas (Yes, And)

Intuition: The default response to a new idea is often "No, but…" – a reflexive dismissal that kills confidence and blocks collaboration. Instead, adopt a "Yes, and…" mindset: acknowledge the idea and add to it.

Technique: Replace no-butt (saying "No, but…") with "Yes, and…" – explicitly state that the idea is good and propose a way to improve it. This principle:

• Strengthens the idea by adding perspectives.
• Preserves team morale and encourages further contribution.
• Avoids unnecessary friction and hierarchy clashes.

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Rule 3: Defer Judgment

Intuition: Judging an idea prematurely (or judging the person who proposed it) shuts down innovation. Many ideas that seem impossible in foresight become obvious in hindsight. Being non-judgmental opens learning possibilities for both the self and the group.

Story – Stephen Covey on the Subway: Covey saw two teenagers creating a disturbance. He approached their father angrily, demanding he control them. The father replied, "We are returning from the hospital; their mother just passed away. I don't know how to tell them." Covey instantly regretted his judgment. The dominant emotion after judging is regret, not enlightenment.

Historic examples of "impossible" ideas now reality:

• Leaving home without a wallet.
• Walking into an airport without showing ID.
• Paying a street vendor (panwala) directly to his bank account without knowing his account number, IFSC code, or even his name. (UPI-based payments)

Victor Hugo: "Nothing can stop an idea whose time has come."

Practical rule: When an idea surfaces, do not evaluate it immediately. Let it breathe. Judgment belongs later in the process.

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Rule 4: Sketch, Don’t Speak

Intuition: The human hand and brain co-evolved. Using hands for sketching, doodling, or modelling engages the brain more deeply than speaking or even writing. Visual thinking (a core tenet of design thinking) forces the idea to be fleshed out with concrete details.

Three methods of expressing an idea:

1. Speak – verbal description (abstract, can be vague).
2. Write – text (still linear).
3. Draw – visual (non-linear, detailed, rich in context).

Drawing is the most powerful because it:

• Adds detail and clarifies the concept for the drawer.
• Makes it easier for others to add to the idea (they can modify a sketch rather than argue with a spoken statement).
• Enables anonymous brainstorming – when ideas are written/drawn and posted without names, hierarchy and reputation disappear. A junior team member can freely improve on a boss's sketch.

Exam tip: In any group with power distance (e.g., boss vs. junior), anonymous sketching prevents the junior from feeling unable to critique or build. This yields better ideas.

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Summary Table of Ideation Rules

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Key takeaways

• Quantity first: The best ideas come from a large pool – push for volume, then refine.
• Yes, and: Build on every suggestion; avoid "no, but" to keep the flow going.
• Defer judgment: An idea that looks impossible now may be obvious tomorrow; judge later.
• Sketch: Visual thinking engages the brain and reduces hierarchy; use anonymous sketching to flatten power dynamics.
• All four rules together create a safe, productive environment for radical innovation.

Exam tip: Remember the Marico example (500 → 50) and the Covey subway story – they illustrate the why behind the rules. Be ready to explain why quantity precedes quality and why judging an idea too early is dangerous.

Why Brainstorming Doesn't Work

Brainstorming – the classic group idea‑generation method – was coined by American marketing executive Alex Osborne in the 1950s. Its tenets include free‑flowing conversation, focusing on one idea at a time, and building on others’ ideas. Yet decades of research show a stark result: brainstorming fails. Both the quantity and quality of ideas produced by a group are lower than the total output of the same number of people working alone.

Why then does it remain so prevalent? Because brainstorming serves other functions (e.g., team bonding, feeling of participation). But for pure idea generation, the evidence is clear – it underperforms.

Four Causes of Brainstorming Failure

Exam tip: The four causes are a high‑yield list. Remember: idea blocking, groupthink, evaluation apprehension, social loafing. Each is distinct – know the mechanism.

Breaking Groupthink – The Alfred Sloan Method

Alfred Sloan (former CEO of General Motors) deliberately disrupted groupthink. After a meeting where everyone agreed, he would say: “Now that we all agree on this, let’s meet again tomorrow so that we don’t agree.” He understood that unanimous agreement signals insufficient thinking; disagreement is necessary for ideas to evolve.

The Alternative: Brainwriting

Brainwriting addresses the flaws of brainstorming by replacing spoken ideas with anonymous, written contributions. How it works:

1. Each person receives a pack of Post‑it notes.
2. Everyone writes their ideas on the notes.
3. Notes are placed in a central urn (or shared space).
4. Anyone picks a note at random, reads it, adds to it, and returns it.
5. Over time, the pool of ideas grows in both quantity and quality.

Why it works:

• Anonymity – no name on the idea; no vested interest; anyone (including the author) can critique it.
• No compulsion to convince – writing avoids the social pressure to defend or sell an idea.
• Anonymity breeds creativity – just as superheroes wear masks to do radical things, removing identity frees people from the fear of losing status or being judged.

Key insight: In online settings (anonymous submissions, aliases), the wisdom of crowds becomes unbiased – “you can’t fool everybody every time.”

Optimal Team Size: Two

• Size 2 – The best. Aligned on objective, but can differ in personality and perspective. Minimises all four failure modes.
• Size > 2 – A crowd. All the brainstorming problems (idea blocking, groupthink, evaluation apprehension, social loafing) reappear.
• Size < 2 – A loner. Lacks the benefit of collaborative generation.

Pair with people who are unlike you – different personality types, complementary skills – to produce creative “aberrations” that are more creative than abrasive.

Key takeaways

• Brainstorming as typically practised reduces idea quantity and quality compared to individuals working alone.
• Four root causes: idea blocking, groupthink, evaluation apprehension, social loafing.
• Groupthink can be mitigated by leaders who actively challenge agreement (e.g., Sloan’s “agree to disagree” method).
• Brainwriting (anonymous written idea exchange) overcomes these flaws by decoupling contribution from identity.
• The ideal team size for idea generation is two – a pair that is aligned on objectives but divergent in perspective.

Challenging Assumptions

Challenging assumptions is a technique that identifies and questions the implicit beliefs underlying a product, service, or behavior. Every product, service, or behavior carries a set of unexamined assumptions; systematically breaking them uncovers radical improvements.

Intuition and Why It Matters

Most innovation happens not by adding features but by removing a hidden constraint. For example, transferring money used to require the recipient’s bank account number and IFSC code – an assumption that was never questioned until UPI arrived. UPI removed the assumption that you need account details; then QR codes removed the need to know the phone number; SMS-based transfers even removed the need for a smartphone. Each “remove” was a birth of innovation.

The Process

1. Write down all assumptions about the product, service, or behavior you want to improve. Be exhaustive – include everything from physical attributes to social norms. Example: For a car – assumptions include “needs four wheels”, “needs five seats”, “needs two wipers”, “needs a spare tyre”, “needs a steering column”, “needs a driver’s license”.

2. Challenge every assumption – nothing is sacrosanct. Ask “Why do I need this?”, “Why must it be this way?” Example: In cricket, the assumption that saliva is needed to shine the ball was challenged during the pandemic; sweat became the alternative.

3. Overcome the assumption – find a way to solve the problem without the assumed element. Example: Steve Jobs removed the fan from the original Mac by designing a heat dissipation system that worked without fans – eliminating noise and dust collection. He also removed screw holes from the bottom of the Mac, preventing dust accumulation.

Classic Examples of Assumptions Challenged

Beginner’s Mind

A beginner’s mind – viewing the problem as if for the first time – is essential. Preconceived notions are “vestiges of the past.” As the story of the emperor’s new clothes shows, only a child (a beginner) can see the obvious truth that everyone else is blind to. Students living in the canteen daily may never challenge its assumptions, but an outsider can question everything.

Exam tip: The “student canteen” example is a classic test – be ready to list assumptions of a canteen (e.g., food is served at a counter, payment is cash, seating is fixed) and propose improvements by challenging each one. This is a high-yield application.

Key takeaways

• Innovation often comes from removing, not adding – challenge the core assumption.
• Process: write assumptions → challenge each → overcome without the assumption.
• Fundamental assumptions (e.g., “phone needs buttons”) yield the most radical innovations.
• Adopt a beginner’s mind; ignore “how it has always been done.”
• Apply the technique to everyday life to build a creative habit.

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Brain Writing (Mind Mapping)

Brain writing is a structured ideation method that uses a mind map to capture and connect ideas spatially. The term mind map was coined by Tony Buzan, who showed that our brain thinks spatially and associatively, not linearly.

Why Mind Maps Work

When you watch a movie, you remember the plot (gist) easily but struggle to recall character names (detail). The brain is an optimization engine: it stores gist and loses detail. Mind maps mimic this structure – the core idea at the centre, with branches for sub-problems and solutions radiating outward. Because the map is spatial, ideas can “talk to each other” – connections emerge that would be missed in a linear list.

Step-by-Step Brain Writing

1. Define your objective at the centre of a page. Example: “Improve performance of an electric bike.”

2. Identify the main problems or sub-topics as branches. Example for electric bike: range, charging time, vibrations, safety & comfort, drainage/short circuit.

3. For each problem, list possible solutions as further branches. Each sub-problem can be delegated to a specific team – narrow focus allows laser-sharp solutions.

4. Look for connections between ideas on different branches – novel combinations are the essence of creative ideas.

Practical Tips for Effective Mind Mapping

• Use an unruled notebook – no lines force you to write spatially, not linearly.
• Use multiple colours – colour coding activates different parts of the brain and aids memory.
• Doodle and draw – your brain thinks in pictures, not words. Drawing bypasses the effort of translating mental images into language.
• Write in your native language – translating into a foreign language loses nuance and slows thinking. Many highly creative cultures (Germany, Japan, Korea) insist on brainstorming in their mother tongue.

Exam tip: The three tips (unruled notebook, multiple colours, doodling/native language) are a common short-answer question. Also remember: “a creation takes place twice – first in the mind, then in reality.” The mind map of a book usually comes before the book is written.

Key takeaways

• Brain writing uses mind maps to capture spatial, associative thinking.
• Process: centre (objective) → branches (problems) → sub-branches (solutions) → connect branches.
• Mind maps reveal novel connections that linear lists miss.
• Practical tips: unruled pages, colour, doodles, native language – they reduce translation loss and enhance creativity.
• The technique applies to note-taking, project planning, and any complex ideation task.

Across the Value Chain (Buyer Utility Map)

This technique, adapted from the buyer utility map in Blue Ocean Strategy (Kim & Mauborgne, 2005), breaks a problem into stages along a customer journey (or any process). At each stage, the innovator asks: What value can we add? The matrix approach systematically generates ideas by crossing stages with strategic objectives.

The matrix structure

1. Stages – Sequence of steps in the customer’s journey (e.g., purchase → use → disposal).
2. Objectives – Desired value dimensions (e.g., convenience, efficiency, sustainability).

Each cell (stage × objective) is a prompt: How can we improve [objective] at this stage?

Worked example: cafeteria customer journey

Five stages:

Three objectives:

• Convenience – How easy is each step?
• Efficiency – Time and cost savings.
• Sustainability – Minimize waste (paper, plastic, food).

The matrix has 15 cells (5 × 3). Example ideas:

Exam tip: The power of this technique lies in breaking the problem into small, concrete pieces. A broad question (“improve the dining experience”) yields fewer ideas than asking specific questions for each cell. You are expected to fill all 15 boxes; an empty box is a missed opportunity.

Why it works

• Focuses attention on one sub-problem at a time, avoiding the overwhelm of a vague challenge.
• Guarantees coverage – every stage–objective combination is considered.
• Reveals hidden opportunities at stages that might be overlooked (e.g., disposal).

Key takeaways — Across the Value Chain

• Map the customer journey (or process) into discrete stages.
• Define 2–4 high-level objectives (e.g., convenience, efficiency, sustainability, cost, safety).
• Generate one idea per cell in the resulting matrix.
• The approach is generic: applicable to any product, service, or process.
• Borrowed from Blue Ocean Strategy (Kim & Mauborgne); also known as the buyer utility map.

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Tiers of Customers

A companion technique from Blue Ocean Strategy that segments current and potential customers into four groups. The goal: identify how to expand the market by understanding why each group behaves as it does.

The four tiers

Using the tiers for ideation

For each tier, ask three questions:

1. Who are they? – Identify the specific segment.
2. Why are they in this tier? – Root causes (e.g., boredom, misinformation, lack of awareness).
3. How can we move them? – Actions to retain, convert, or onboard.

Exam tip: The largest segment in most markets is unexplored; the smallest is loyal. The most profitable opportunities often lie at the bottom of the pyramid (refusing and unexplored) because they represent entirely new demand.

Key takeaways — Tiers of Customers

• Four tiers: loyal, dissatisfied, refusing, unexplored.
• Loyal – smallest group; protect them. Unexplored – biggest group; educate them.
• For each tier, diagnose why they behave that way, then design ideas to shift them upward.
• Works hand‑in‑hand with the value‑chain matrix: use the tiers to define which customer journey to analyse.

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Connecting the two techniques

The value‑chain matrix focuses on what can be improved at each stage of a journey. The tiers of customers focuses on who the targets are. Together, they provide a complete framework:

• Use tiers to identify an underserved segment (e.g., refusing customers avoid the queue).
• Use across the value chain to generate specific ideas for that segment’s journey (e.g., redesign the queue system, add a fast‑track lane).

This structured, two‑pronged approach prevents vague brainstorming and ensures every cell and every segment is consciously examined.

Lateral Thinking

Lateral thinking (coined by Edward de Bono) means thinking "sideways" — deliberately suspending logic to generate novel ideas. The opposite is vertical thinking, which proceeds step-by-step, logically. Lateral thinking encourages introducing random words, making errors, and taking deviations, with the aim of returning to the original problem with a fresh insight.

Four Trigger Tools for Lateral Thinking

Why generate many ideas: Seemingly stupid ideas can combine to create profound innovations. Examples: sand + glued paper = sandpaper; cellophane + glue = cello tape; tape + adhesive on both sides = double-sided tape. Innovation often arises from combination, not entirely new elements.

Exam tip: Lateral thinking triggers are applied by zooming in on a specific step (e.g., getting a coupon) and asking Can I subtract, unify, multiply, or divide this?

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SCAMPER

SCAMPER is an acronym providing seven more triggers for ideation (an extension of lateral thinking triggers).

Exam tip: Distinguish Adapt (temporary, like a chameleon) from Modify (permanent, designed preemptively). This distinction is often tested.

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Analogous Design

Analogous design (from analogy = similarity) draws inspiration from unrelated domains where the same fundamental problem has already been solved. The process:

Example: Improving canteen service (IIMB) using airline food service

Key principle: Go far from your domain

The farther the domain, the more novel the ideas. Example exercises:

• Improve parking efficiency? Learn from stadiums managing crowds during World Cup or Olympics.
• Increase student attention span? Learn from pilots staying alert on long, boring autopilot flights.

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Key takeaways – Lateral Thinking & SCAMPER

• Lateral thinking suspends logic to generate ideas; opposite of vertical thinking.
• Four triggers: Subtraction, Task Unification, Multiplication, Division.
• SCAMPER adds seven more: Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to purpose, Eliminate, Reverse.
• Apply triggers by zooming into one step of a process and asking "Can I ___ this?"
• Many ideas → combine simple ones → breakthrough innovations (sandpaper, cello tape).
• Distinguish Adapt (temporary) vs Modify (permanent).

Key takeaways – Analogous Design

• Find problems already solved elsewhere: generalize → shift domain → learn → contextualize.
• The more distant the domain (e.g., airlines for canteens, stadiums for parking), the more original the solution.
• Analogous design works by transferring principles, not copy-pasting solutions.

Design for the Extreme

Design for the Extreme pushes a product or service into an extreme context (user, environment, constraint) to uncover hidden challenges; solutions developed for that extreme are then brought back to the mainstream — often unlocking unexpected benefits for everyone.

How it works

1. Identify an extreme scenario: a user with a disability, a rare constraint, a crisis.
2. Design or adapt the product/service to solve that extreme case.
3. Return to the normal context and evaluate how the same solution improves the mainstream experience.

Examples

Why it works

The extreme case forces designers to solve fundamental friction that is often ignored in routine design. Those frictions are latent for mainstream users too — addressing them makes the product more robust, inclusive, and often more convenient.

Applying it to a cafeteria

List extreme users (e.g., wheelchair user, no mobile phone, foreigner with different palate) and extreme situations (e.g., food poisoning, gas outage, flooding, blocked route) → preemptively engineer solutions.

Exam tip: The key trade‑off is over‑engineering in the extreme case vs. simplicity in the normal case. The pandemic proved that companies prepared for extremes (e.g., quick commerce) emerged stronger.

Key takeaways

• Design for the Extreme = solve for the edge case → harvest benefits for the mainstream.
• Examples: subtitles, vibration, read‑aloud, quick commerce, OTT releases.
• Method: identify extreme user or context → design solution → adapt to normal.
• Proactive anticipation beats reactive crisis management.

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Six Paths Framework

The Six Paths Framework (from Blue Ocean Strategy) provides six lenses to break out of a crowded market and create an uncontested space. Each path shifts the focus from competing within existing boundaries to reconstructing them.

The six paths

Worked application

For electric cars in a crowded market:

• Path 1: Use EVs for intra‑city cargo or rental (BluSmart).
• Path 2: Target luxury (status symbol of environmental consciousness).
• Path 4: Offer complimentary charging network as differentiation.
• Path 5: Rebrand EV as “a quiet, caring choice” — emotional branding.

Exam tip: The Six Paths Framework is especially powerful for startups entering a saturated market. Apply all six systematically to find a unique differentiator.

Key takeaways

• Six Paths = alternative industries, strategic groups, buyer chain, complementary products, emotional/functional pivot, time/trends.
• Each path redirects focus from competition to value innovation.
• Use a table to map your product across all six paths.

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Nine Windows (TRIZ)

The Nine Windows technique, drawn from TRIZ (Theory of Inventive Problem Solving, by Altshuller), breaks a problem into a 3×3 grid of time (past, present, future) and system level (subsystem, system, supersystem). It reveals intervention points that are invisible when looking only at the current system.

The 3×3 matrix

Application to public transport

Problem: People unwilling to use public transport.

How to use it

1. Place the current system in the centre cell.
2. Populate the eight surrounding cells by asking: What existed before? What’s the broader context? What are the components?
3. Look for innovations by borrowing past features (retro) or leveraging future possibilities (super‑system integration, subsystem upgrades).

Expanding innovation dimensions

The technique works beyond transport. For a coffee house:

• Subsystem innovation: Coffee preparation method, interior design, pricing model, product mix.
• Supersystem innovation: Reposition the coffee house as a coworking space, dating venue, counselling centre, study hall, art studio, or bookshop.

Exam tip: Nine Windows is most powerful when the product itself cannot change — innovate at the subsystem or supersystem level instead.

Key takeaways

• Nine Windows = 3 (time) × 3 (system level) grid.
• Reveals opportunities in past practices, subsystem components, and supersystem purposes.
• Examples: Mumbai’s retro electric double‑decker bus; Vande Bharat (aircraft‑like interiors); Singapore’s single‑ticket multimodal transport.
• Can be applied to any product or service, especially when incremental product innovation is hard.

Learn, Observe and Ideate

After identifying problems, the next step is to generate creative solutions. Ideation is a deliberate, structured process that pushes beyond obvious answers by applying specific techniques. The raw material for this process comes from observing and learning about the problem context—typically through stakeholder interviews, immersion, and data collection.

The Ideation Process Flow

The output of ideation is not a final solution but a set of candidate ideas ready for prototyping and testing.

Key Ideation Techniques

These techniques can be applied across the entire value stream—from sourcing and preparation to dining and waste disposal.

Working Mode

• Individual or team – collaboration with course peers and people outside the cohort enriches ideas.
• Value-stream thinking – don't limit ideation to a single pain point; consider all stages of the user journey.

Exam tip: The strongest ideation sessions layer techniques. Start by challenging assumptions to break fixed thinking, then run SCAMPER for systematic variation, and finish with lateral thinking to leap into genuinely novel territory.

Link to Prototyping (Module 4)

Ideation feeds directly into prototyping – building low-fidelity models (physical, digital, or role-playing) to test the most promising ideas. The goal is to demonstrate solutions quickly and gather feedback before investing in full development.

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Key takeaways

• Ideation is a structured step after problem identification, not unstructured brainstorming.
• Core techniques: SCAMPER, lateral thinking, and challenging assumptions.
• Work collaboratively and across the entire value stream.
• Ideas from ideation are candidates for prototyping, not final solutions.
• The process is iterative: learn → ideate → prototype → test → refine.