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Techniques outlined earlier in this section focus on specific aspects of creative thinking. DO IT bundles
them together, and introduces formal methods of problem
definition and evaluation. These help you to get the best
out of the creativity techniques.
DO IT is an acronym that stands for:
D - Define problem
O - Open mind and apply creative
techniques
I - Identify best solution
T - Transform
These stages are explained in more detail below.
How to Use the Tool:
1. Define the Problem
This section concentrates on analyzing the problem to ensure that
the correct question is being asked. The following steps will help
you to do this:
Check that you are tackling the problem, not the symptoms of
the problem. To do this, ask yourself why the problem exists repeatedly
until you get to the root of it.
Lay out the bounds of the problem. Work out the objectives that
you must achieve and the constraints that you are operating under.
Where a problem appears to be very large, break it down into
smaller parts. Keep on going until each part is achievable in
its own right, or needs a precisely defined area of research to
be carried out. See Drill-Down for
a detailed description of this process.
Summarize the problem in as concise a form as possible. Robert
W. Olsen suggests that the best way to do this is to write down
a number of 2 word problem statements and choose the best one.
2. Open Mind and Apply Creative Techniques
Once you know the problem that you want to solve, you are ready
to start generating possible solutions. It is very tempting just
to accept the first good idea that you come across. If you do this,
you will miss many even better solutions.
At this stage of DO IT we are not interested in evaluating ideas.
Instead, we are trying to generate as many different ideas as
possible.
Even bad ideas may be the seeds of good ones.
You can use the whole battery of creativity techniques covered
earlier in this section to search for possible solutions. Each
tool
has its particular strengths and benefits, depending on the problems
that you want to solve. While you are generating solutions, remember
that other people will have different perspectives on the problem,
and
it will almost certainly be worth asking for the opinions of
your
colleagues as part of this process.
3.
Identify the Best Solution
Only at this stage do you select the
best of the ideas you have generated. It may be that the
best idea is obvious. Alternatively, it may be worth examining
and developing a number of ideas in detail before you select
one.
When you are selecting a solution, keep
in mind your own or your organization's goals.
Often Decision Making becomes easy once you know these.
4. Transform
Having identified the problem and created a solution to
it, the final stage is to implement this solution. This
involves not only development of a reliable product from
your idea, but all the marketing and business side as well.
This may take a great deal of time and energy.
Many very creative people fail at this
stage. They will have fun creating new products and services
that may be years ahead of what is available on the market.
They will then fail to develop them, and watch someone else
make a fortune out of the idea several years later.
The first stage in transforming an idea
is to develop an Action Plan
for the transformation. This may lead to creation of a Business
or Marketing Plan. Once you have done this, the work of
implementation begins!
DO IT was devised by Robert W Olsen in his book ‘The Art
of Creative Thinking’.
Key points:
DO IT is a structured process for creativity. Using DO IT ensures
that you carry out the essential groundwork that helps you to get
the most out of creativity tools.
These steps are:
Problem Definition: During this stage you apply a number of
techniques to ensure that you are asking the right question.
Open Mind: Here you apply creativity techniques to generate
as many answers as possible to the question you are asking.
At this stage you are not evaluating the answers.
Identify the best solution: Only at this stage do you select
the best solutions from the ones you came up with in step 2.
Where you are having difficulty in selecting ideas, use formal
techniques to help.
Transform: The final stage is to make an Action Plan for the
implementation of the solution, and to carry it out. Without
implementation, your creativity is sterile.
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Time
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