Method Category: Select ideas

  • The Insights Game

    The Insights Game

    Purpose

    When we get older our brain develops it’s ability to connect different facts and see new patterns and challenge old views with new knowledge. As grownups we can not memorise and learn new things as fast as when we where children but because we have more experiences we have a bigger spectrum of information to use to see the big picture. This method will help you to practice your ability to generating insights and see new patterns.

    The basic idea is to take a moment to reflect upon new insights you receive and see if it fits in any patterns already in your head or if it changes any of your previous views. New thoughts creates new connections in your brain and more connections makes it possible for your brain to process even more abstract problems which is a good reason for you to practice this.

    Instructions

    This method is for one person, but the process can of course also be implemented on a group as well. To encourage people to start practising seeing the big pictures and challenge their previous views you can introduce them to the reflection questions.

    You get one point for each insight. You need to have at least one new insight a day, if not it is Game Over and you have to start over with 0 points. For insights that changes your previous view on a subject you get extra points.

    The goal and the reward of this game is that you will improve your ability to see the big picture, process more complex problems and challenge your beliefs. When you reach nirvana you have completed the game!

    Do

    • Write down new insights and ideas when you have them to aloud yourself a moment to reflect upon what it means and how you can use it.
    • Aloud yourself to celebrate your victory’s in the insights game!

    Don’t

    • Neglect your moments of enlightenment. It doesn’t matter how small the insights are, all are valuable.

    Example

    For the past couple of weeks you have noticed that a growing number of people are sharing the same pictures as their friends on their Facebook wall. One day you discover a new share button below photos you post on your wall and you realize that this is the reason why so many of your friends are suddenly sharing the same photos.

    The following day you are reading a blog post on WordPress about Tumblr. The authors opinion about Tumblr users is that they are only re-blogging each others posts without coming up with any new ideas of their own and that the only reason why Tumblr has reached so many users is because it is so easy to regularly update your blog with new content.

    Now you realize that Facebook added the share button to photos to imitate the re-blog function of Tumblr. By acknowledging this new insight you not only learn why Facebook implemented the share button but you also become aware that you have to constantly questions why the sites are changing their products the way they do – in this case to make regular Tumblr users stay on Facebook.

    This process doesn’t take up a lot of your time but it will help you to learn more of what is happening around you and about how you work.

    Facilitator role

    You are the facilitator of your own learning. Use a notebook to take notes of your new insights. You can use these the below questions to get started.

    Reflection questions

    • What happened today?
    • What did I learn from this?
    • How does this fit into the big picture?
    • Does this challenge any of my previous knowledge?
    • How can I use this in other situations?
  • The 4 Elements

    The 4 Elements

    Instructions

    There are 4 methods to find the idea that creates the best environment for group work. When you’ve found the ideas, measure again or tweak it in order to make sure it fulfills these needs:

    Time, Money and Scope – all that is necessary in order to make the idea possible and realistic to the client link.

    Passion

    Do you feel passionate about the idea? If you don’t, the group will most likely fail, and the client will notice it.

    Combos

    Boil the ideas down, because many of them may be similar and can make the core idea stronger without killing them off.

    Debate team

    Pick a side with one of the ideas you like and then have a debate around your choice.

    1-10

    Rate the ideas from 1-10, base your rates on logic (see the Logical list):
    Scale up the ideas, that will create a strong picture of how it can work.

    In this process you have to observe 1 thing. What do the team members base their decisions on – is it from the client perspective or a personal one? This can create friction in the settlement of the idea. If this happens, try to compare the arguments against each other, and determine how every decision should be made, personal or professional.

  • Idea voting

    Idea voting

    Instructions


     1. Make the ideas visible!

    First, stick all the ideas to a wall or spread them on a table.

    2. Time to vote!

    Then let each team member mark their favorite ideas.

    3. Take a look!

    Finally, the votes been placed. Do you see a pattern?

    Do

    • Think fast, vote with your heart!

    Don’t

    • Consider other people’s votes when voting.

    Additional

    • Limit the number of votes each person gets, preferably in relation to the number of ideas.
    • Vote again, this time using criterias.