TECHNIQUES OF CREATIVE

THINKING


 Monirba {Allahabad university}

 Supported by – Manish kanojia (MBA III
sem}


 BY- ASHISH KUMAR

MISHRA
FOCUS GROUPS

BRAINSTORMING

ATTRIBUTE ANALYSIS

SYNECTICS
 FOCUS GROUPS
 A focus group is a form of qualitative
research in which a group of people are asked
about their attitude towards a product, service,
concept, advertisement, idea, or packaging.
Questions are asked in an interactive group
setting where participants are free to talk with
other group members


 The first focus groups were created at

the Bureau of Applied Social Research by
associate director, sociologist Robert K.
Merton. The term itself was coined by
psychologist and marketing expert Ernest
Dichter
 Types of focus
groups
Two-way focus group - one focus group
watches another focus group and discusses
the observed interactions and conclusion

Dual moderator focus group - one
moderator ensures the session progresses
smoothly, while another ensures that all the
topics are covered

Dueling moderator focus group - two
moderators deliberately take opposite sides
on the issue under discussion

Respondent moderator focus group - one
or more of the respondents are asked to act
as the moderator temporarily
Client participant focus groups - one or
more client representatives participate in the
discussion, either covertly or overtly
Mini focus groups - groups are composed of
four or five members rather than 6 to 12
Teleconference focus groups - telephone
network is used
Online focus groups - computers connected
via the internet are used

How to plan and prepare for
focus groups
Invite around 6 to 8 people to participate for a
session to last for about an hour. Then,
prepare an agenda including a list of the top-
level issues to be tackled (if appropriate).
Prepare an introduction script explaining the
purpose of the day and how the day will be
run. This can include issues of consent and
fire regulations (if relevant). Be sure to always
use a quiet room with few distractions
and arrange people in a circle (possibly
around a table).

 Useful tips to encourage
discussion
 To facilitate useful, free-flowing discussion during
the focus group, follow some of these tips:-


 Ask participants to think about an issue for a few

minutes and write down their responses
 Ask each participant to read, and elaborate on, one
of their responses
 Note the responses on a flipchart/whiteboard
 Once everyone has given a response, participants
will be asked for a second or third response, until
all of their answers have been noted
 These responses can then be discussed

 Benefits of focus
groups
Group discussion produces data and insights
that would be less accessible without
interaction found in a group setting—listening
to others’ verbalized experiences stimulates
memories, ideas, and experiences in
participants.
Group members discover a common language
to describe similar experiences. This enables
the capture of a form of “native language” or
“vernacular speech” to understand the
situation

Focus groups also provide an opportunity for
disclosure among similar others in a setting
where participants are validated
 Problems related to focus
groups
 The researcher has less control over a group
than a one-on-one interview, and thus time
can be lost on issues irrelevant to the topic

The number of members of a focus group is not
large enough to be a representative sample
of a population; thus, the data obtained from
the groups is not necessarily representative
of the whole population, unlike the data
of opinion polls.

 BRAINSTORMING
 Way of making of a group of people all think
about something at same time, often in order
to solve a problem or to create a good idea
(oxford dictionary)


 Brainstorming is a group creativity

technique designed to generate a large
number of ideas for the solution of a problem.
In 1953 the method was popularized by Alex
Faickney Osborn in a book called Applied
Imagination.

 Ground Rules
 Focus on quantity: This rule is a means of
enhancing divergent production, aiming to
facilitate problem solving through the
maxim, quantity breeds quality.
 Withhold criticism: In brainstorming, criticism of
ideas generated should be put 'on hold'. By
suspending judgment, participants will feel free
to generate unusual ideas.
 Welcome unusual ideas: To get a good and long
list of ideas, unusual ideas are welcomed. These
new ways of thinking may provide better
solutions.
 Combine and improve ideas: Good ideas may be
combined to form a single better good idea, It is
believed to stimulate the building of ideas by a
process of  association.
 Method
Set the problem
Create a background memo
Select participants
Create a list of lead questions
Session conduct



 DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES OF
BRAINSTORMING

Nominal group technique

Group passing technique
Team idea mapping method
E- brainstorming
Directed brainstorming
Individual brainstorming


 ATTRIBUTE ANALYSIS
 Attribute analysis is the process of breaking
down a problem, idea, or thing into attributes
or component parts and then thinking about
the attributes rather than the thing itself.

 SYNECTICS
 Synectics is a problem solving method that
stimulates thought processes of which the
subject may be unaware. This method was
developed by George M. Prince and William J. J.
Gordon, originating in the Arthur D. Little
Invention Design Unit in the 1950s.


 Synectics is based on a simple concept for

problem solving and creative thinking - you
need to generate ideas, and you need to
evaluate ideas. Whilst this may be stating the
obvious the methods used to perform these
two tasks are extremely powerful.
 CONCLUSION
 Creative thinking techniques are very much
useful to generating new ideas in every
organization . The new way of thinking should
always be encouraged and creativity should
always be welcomed.
THANK YOU