Think! (5 page)

The next broad concept was 'increasing traffic flow' and the concepts serving this could be delivered as follows:

• For 'remove peak traffic flow' we might have: staggered working hours; differential tolls; tax incentives.
  
• For 'remove junctions' we might have: overpasses and underpasses; roundabouts; a spiral road layout.
  

The next broad concept was 'increasing travel space' and the concepts could be delivered as follows:

• For 'more roads' we could have: underground roads; elevated roads; using riverbanks.
  
• For 'smaller vehicles' we could have: bicycles; lightweight motorcycles; very small cars, etc.
  

In this cascade effect, each point multiplies down to several points at the next level. It is very important to keep the 'broad concepts' (directions) as broad as possible. Too often people put specific concepts as broad concepts. These do not have the same multiplying effect.

Occasionally, it is useful to have yet another layer where the idea is made even more specific (where do we place the overhead road?)

The Concept Fan can be done by an individual or by a group working together. It is a way of generating alternatives through working downwards from very broad concepts.

There is a mathematical need for provocation in any self-organising system, otherwise the system gets stuck in a local equilibrium.

Traditional thinking makes much use of judgement. With judgement you come to an idea and then you judge it. You accept the idea or you reject it. For most parts of our life judgement is essential and extremely useful. The judgement of recognition allows us to make rapid use of past experience and also the experience of others. The judgement of assessment prevents us from making mistakes. Without judgement, it would be difficult to exist. So it is hardly surprising that the brain is a judgement machine. Nor is it surprising that philosophers have put all the emphasis on truth or judgement.

All that is very well, but lateral thinking requires a different operation. Instead of accepting or rejecting an idea you look at the idea in order to 'see where you can move to'. This puts a very different sort of usefulness on ideas.

One of the techniques of lateral thinking is to set up provocations.

Einstein used to carry out what he called 'thought experiments'. He would say, 'What would I see if I were travelling at the speed of light?' The child who places one block on top of the other 'to see what happens' is also carrying out an experiment.

Provocation has everything to do with experiments in the mind. Provocation allows us to make a statement that does not make sense, may contradict experience and may be totally illogical. We preface this with the signal word 'po', which indicates a provocation. 'Po' could be taken as implying a (P)rovocative (O)peration. It is also related to possible, hypothesis, pose, potential, etc.

Instead of just sitting and waiting for ideas, provocation provides a means by which you can unsettle your mind in order to increase the chance of having a new idea.

Using this, we create a provocation that lies outside our normal experience. This then provides a stepping stone which we can use to get across to the separate track – to point C. This was the idea of the factory being downstream of itself in Chapter 1.

Provocation and
movement

We then use a new mental operation called 'movement' to move forward from the provocation to a new idea (the most extreme form of movement). So this is another way of moving laterally.

The general sense of 'movement' means the willingness to move forwards in a positive exploring way rather than
stopping to judge whether something is right or wrong. We can use movement to move forwards from a weak idea to a stronger one. We can use movement to move forwards from a suggestion to a concrete idea. We can use movement to move forwards from a concept to an idea.

There are many ways of carrying out movement:

• You can extract a concept and then work with this.
  
• You can focus on the difference between the provocation and the usual situation.
  
• You can pick out the positive aspects and work with these.
  
• You can imagine the provocation put into action and see what happens.
  

Po, cars should have square wheels.
This would be totally unacceptable to an engineer. You would need too much energy. The car would shake to pieces. The ride would be very bumpy. With 'movement', we imagine the square wheel rolling. It rises up on a point and then descends to a flat area. This is cyclical and is known in advance. So if the suspension was adapted in advance, you could get a smooth ride. From this, we develop the idea of 'anticipatory suspension'. A small jockey wheel in front of the car senses the bumpiness of the ground. This is signalled back so that the suspension reacts in advance. The wheel follows the contour of the ground, but the vehicle proceeds smoothly. If you run over bumpy ground, you do not bump up and down. The car remains
steady but the wheels follow the profile of the ground. This idea was tried out by a motor manufacturer, who reported that it worked exactly as predicted. They did not use a jockey wheel but used pressure changes in the suspension itself. But the provocation had led to the development of a new suspension system.

Po, planes land upside down.
This sounds totally absurd. If planes landed upside down, the wings would give a downward thrust. From this comes the idea of having two small winglets on normal planes. These would provide a 'negative bias', a downward thrust. If extra lift was needed in an emergency, these winglets would be cancelled – by folding them upwards, for example. This would instantly provide extra lift. Many plane accidents are caused by the inability to switch on extra lift immediately in an emergency situation. I discussed this idea at one point with some Boeing executives. Using provocation led to an interesting idea.

The
logic
of provocation

Mathematicians fully understand the need for provocation. Self-organising systems tend to settle down in a stable equilibrium, which is called a local equilibrium. They remain in that state until provocation moves them towards a more global equilibrium.

Mathematicians call the process 'annealing', which comes from making steel. The steel crystals lock into a position that is stable but not very strong. So you provoke
them with heat again and they lock into a stronger position – and so on.

In a way, the mind also settles into a stable local equilibrium. Provocation is needed to move it into a more global equilibrium.

Ways of setting up provocations

The most important point to keep in mind is that a provocation is not a half idea or on the way to a possible idea. A provocation is related to the existing situation. Once you have the provocation, then you use it for its movement value.

Anything can be treated as a provocation. You can dismiss an idea in judgement terms and then choose to use that idea as a provocation. There are also formal ways of setting up provocations: escape, reversal, distortion, exaggeration and wishful thinking.

Arising

A remark that arises in the course of a discussion or a brainstorming session can be deliberately used as a provocation. This is not instead of judgement of that remark but in addition to judgement. You state that you are going to set up this provocation: 'Po...'

Escape

This is the easiest to use. We just pick something that we usually take for granted in a situation and we drop that
thing or 'escape' from it. So, if we take for granted that watchdogs bark, we set up: 'Po, watchdogs do not bark.' From this develops the idea of training a dog to press with its paw a button that activates all alarm systems, alerts the police and sets off a tape recorder with a barking dog sound.

'Po, restaurants have no chairs.' Using 'moment to moment' movement we see people standing around and eating. They spend less time in the restaurant. From this comes the idea of charging by time as well as by the food eaten.

Reversal

Here we take a normal relationship and reverse it. Filters are there to remove some of the tar in cigarettes. 'Po, we add something instead of removing it.' What could we add? We could add air with a tiny pinhole so that, when you draw in smoke, you dilute it with air. This reduces the rate at which the harmful particles are deposited in the lungs (this is concentration related since it is an aerosol).

Distortion

Here there is a change in a sequence or a change in relationships. Normally, you pick up the phone, dial the number and speak. 'Po, you speak before you dial.' This can lead to two ideas. The first is voice-activated dialling – which exists. The second idea is to build a simple tape recorder into the phone. If you are using the phone to
make a complaint or to order something, you can rehearse what you are going to say and say it into the recorder. Then you dial the number and, at the right moment, play the recording. This way you get your message right.

Exaggeration

This is an exaggeration, upwards or downwards of any dimension. It must be an actual dimension. 'Po, telephone calls can only last two minutes.' This suggests a compression technique so that you can talk at a normal speed, but the transmitted message is compressed so as to occupy less of the line time. The exaggeration must be unreasonable otherwise it has little provocative effect.

'Po, all voters have a hundred votes each.' This suggests that the votes are not just used at election time but can be used later to indicate approval or otherwise of the government. If the votes for the opposition reached a certain threshold, new elections would be called.

Wishful thinking

The provocation is in the form of 'wouldn't it be nice if . . .'. An example of this is the problem of the factory polluting the river.

So, we could also have a provocation 'Po, all telephone calls are friendly'. This suggests a green light on the phone. You would give an extra digit on your phone number but only to your friends. If one of them called, the green light would shine – but it wouldn't shine for other calls.

The provocation must be more than just a desire. It would not be very provocative to say 'Po, the trains were always on time'. But it would be provocative to say 'Po, you got paid for waiting for a train'.

Other provocations

The above ways of setting up provocations are not exhaustive. There are many other ways. What is important is that the provocation is meant to be a provocation. It is never meant to be an idea in itself. It is never meant to be just a desire for improvement.

The more unlikely a provocation seems, the more powerful it will be if you succeed in using that provocation. There is little value in weak or feeble provocations. They might seem easier to use but do not get you anywhere.

The head of a life assurance company in Canada set up the following provocation: 'Po, you die before you die.' As usual, this sounds totally impossible and illogical. From it, comes a powerful idea.

If the person insured gets a severe and probably terminal illness, the insurance company pays out 75 per cent of the death benefits. This provides money for hospital care and other expenses. The other 25 per cent of the benefits are paid on death. This has been widely taken up in North America, and is called 'Living Needs Benefits'. It has changed a concept that had been around for 123 years.

The person in question was Rob Barbaro, who subsequently became chief executive of Prudential Insurance (USA). This example shows that, even within traditional industry, it is possible to create a powerful new idea that opens up new opportunities. There was no need for Ron Barbaro to design a new idea. There was not a real problem to solve. But he is driven by creativity to develop new concepts and so open up opportunities.

Provocation is a basic way of getting movement. This does not exclude other techniques, all of which are discussed in more detail, for example, in my book
Serious Creativity:

Extract the Concept:
What concept do we see operating here? Can we extract this concept and seek to use it where we need the new idea? So you can ignore the rest of the provocation, and proceed with the rest of the idea you have 'extracted'.

Focus on the Difference:
What are the points of difference between the provocation and the usual idea? Can we spell out, pursue and build on those points of difference? Even if the provocation appears to be very similar to the present way of doing things, can we make a conscious effort to explore that difference?

Positive Aspects:
Are there any directly positive aspects of the provocation? What values are immediately present? Can we use these where we want the new idea? In other words, when a value is turned up by the provocation, we consider ways of achieving the value but in a more practical fashion.

Moment to Moment:
We imagine the provocation put into action, even if this involves fantasy. We watch moment to moment. It is like watching a DVD frame by frame to watch what is going on. What do we see happening? From that we develop new ideas. This is how we work through the interesting concepts that come from 'Po, planes land upside down'.

Special Circumstances:
Are there any special circumstances where the provocation would have direct value? The square wheels might have value if the ground was corrugated. Or 'Po, drinking glasses should have rounded bottoms' could have value if there were special holders for the glasses. Because everyone would need to use the special holders, polished furniture would not get white rings.

Movement remains a basic operation that can be used anywhere in creativity.

Random entry and movement

Let's say, with our original example, that when you leave home you always take the usual route into town. One day,
on the outskirts of the town, your car breaks down and you have to walk home. You ask around for the best walking route and find yourself arriving home by a road you would never have taken on leaving home.