Using Checklists to Develop Ideas

Checklists help to generate ideas in a systematic way. Once a problem is identified, teams can use checklists to explore all areas and issues that are associated with the problem. They help the team think and are often in the form of questions. Many of the mapping tools, like 6 M, are just like check-lists encouraging you to be systematic in your approach. The simplest tools include checklists like Kipling’s famous ‘5 good serving men’ - the questions which, why, where, when, how and who. Thinkers from Plato onwards have developed hundreds of thinking tools which are as easy to learn as the three Rs (reading, writing, arithmetic).

Sanctuary 3

Sanctuary 3 is a tool to generate alternativeness. When a system is working well, as a matter of routine this can be used to encourage you to think of alternative ways of doing it better. This is an important and interesting tool to prevent stagnation. Imagine a Company caught by high cost during a downturn. Now develop five ways to reduce costs. For example: 1. Ask people to work for three days a week. 2. Encourage people to take an unpaid subbatical. 3. Encourage working from home or telecommunicating. 4. Get customers to sell to other customers for a small fee. 5. Get vendors to deliver materials and parts on the assembly line.

Sanctuary 2

Sanctuary 2 is very similar to attribute matching by putting together dissimilar ideas and expert solutions from different fields. Example: Look at the attributes of say a motor car to get some fresh ideas on education. This allows for a whole group of new creative ideas. The attributes of a motor car and how it could apply to education are: • It moves – The Syllabus could move with changing times (say every 5 years) • It should be regularly filled with petrol – Teachers could receive regular training inputs every year at a retreat. • Different energy sources are now available i.e. petrol and electricity – Arrange for regular inputs from alternative sources, maybe ideas from people in government or agriculture, or nuclear physics. • It can carry people – Parents alumni and public could be involved in an advisory capacity. • Enclosed space -- Put different types of people together in close proximity and enable them to share ideas in a time bubble away from others. • It provides a good view of the country - Teachers and Parents must have a good view of the latest techniques in other countries. Eg. Tie-up with a school from UK. • It has four wheels – Inputs could be regularly collected and activities should be planned for the 4 stake holders : parents, teachers, old students and existing students.

Create a Sanctuary for ideas

Once a new product idea germinates, it needs time and space for participants to grow and develop that idea. The immediate reaction is to remove all elements that make the product new and different. Most groups will rush to protect familiar aspects of the product. If it is wild idea, there will be a concerted rush to domesticate it and retain its age old and familiar attributes. Fiercely protect the wildness of the idea by enclosing it in a sanctuary. Allow it to roam free in the sanctuary for a few days. Don’t touch it. Remember if everyone loves an idea, it is probably an old one. The Sanctuary is a tool that can be used to protect all germinal ideas. It involves inventing or shaping the future together in a protected environment. It is a radical new approach.