Zombie Penguin Business Analysts: Creativity Techniques and Divergent Thinking

Design Thinking is an innovative, human-centred approach to problem solving. It involves Divergent Thinking (thinking as broadly and expansively as possible about potential problems and options) and Convergent Thinking (evaluating options and deciding ways forward). The Double Diamond approach is applying Divergent and Convergent thinking to the problem space, and then to the solution space.?

Some Business Analysts and Service Designers find the Divergent Thinking phase daunting. It requires lateral and creative thinking. Where on earth do you start? Fortunately, there are three Divergent Thinking techniques to get you started – ‘Magnify’, ‘Different Perspective’ and Make It Worse’.?

At a recent workshop at the BA Manager Forum, Mike Williams and Karen Newnham led two groups of delegates through these techniques to help them unleash their creativity – with a prize at the end for the whackiest idea.??

Creative, divergent thinking sessions encourage participants to be ‘out there’ with their ideas (anything goes) so it is not a good idea to hold them in public spaces around non participating colleagues or (worse) customers.?

The Icebreaker?

Mike and Karen started with an icebreaker to get everyone in a relaxed, fun and creative mood. Icebreakers are anything that will unleash the inner child and make people laugh – so typically it is something slightly silly. Delegates were asked to get into teams and spell out a word. This team below spelled out the word ‘Analyst’, and you can see the smiles breaking out already.?

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Defining the Problem?

The next step was to define the problem and build a problem statement. The teams could choose one of three problems/scenarios to which they could then apply the three techniques. These were: a surprise birthday party; going on a trip and preparing a meal. With the challenges defined, the teams could then apply the techniques.?

Divergent Thinking Technique 1: Magnify?

• Consider the dimensions of the problem or opportunity;?

• exaggerate one dimension at a time;?

• consider what options you might have with this exaggerated dimension;?

• capture the ideas;?

• repeat for other dimensions;?

• don’t judge the ideas.?

Many different elements can be magnified in this exercise. In the workshop, two teams magnified the distance – one trip was to the Falkland Islands, the other trip was to the moon. Another magnified the budget for their event and then reduced it - ￡10,000 versus ￡100. Another team magnified time, comparing the challenges of having to have the surprise party tomorrow or in five years.??

Divergent Thinking Technique 2: A Different Perspective?

• Select a name from a list of names (at random);?

• consider the problem/opportunity from the perspective of that person;?

• capture ideas;?

• don’t judge the ideas.?

This technique uses famous personalities to encourage taking a different perspective. How would a prime minister approach the problem, as compared to a film star? One team had James Bond as their organiser, throwing a lavish surprise birthday party in a casino on a luxury yacht. Another had Clint Eastwood organising the trip to the moon with phasers set to stun. Yet another had Damien Hirst throwing a party fit for a king, with the actual King as guest of honour.??

Divergent Thinking Technique 3: Make it Worse?

• Discuss the problem;?

• instead of thinking about how to solve the problem, think about how you could make it worse;?

• capture the ideas;?

• flip the ideas to see how they could be used to address the problem;?

• don’t judge the ideas.?

The teams had a lot of fun thinking of things that could go wrong in their chosen scenario. James Bond’s nemesis turned up to the party on the yacht; the King going missing at the party fit for a king; the guests ended up in the lion enclosure at the party at the zoo; and (this one was the winner of the whackiest idea) the trip to the Falkland Islands ended up sabotaged by flying zombie penguins?

The teams enjoyed the workshop and found the Divergent Thinking techniques a useful way to come up with different ideas and solutions. You can download the slides and resources from the Creative Thinking Session here: Creative Thinking/Divergent Thinking | Assist Knowledge Development ( assistkd.com ) ?

Further Reading/Resources:?

Creative Whack Pack: 64 Creativity Strategies by Roger von Oech?

Imagination Engineering: the toolkit for business creativity by Paul Black and Brian Clegg?

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