Many posts and articles on innovation fuel arguments on which tips, insights, or observations are the best for innovation. There seems to be no end to the battles on whose version of the “double diamond” is best for design thinking. Yet these tools must fit the problems we face. TRIZ is a tool for breakthrough ideas. Six Thinking Hats is a tool for a team to enhance an idea.
These debates on design thinking make me wonder if carpenters debate which hammer or philosophy for hammering is best.
Do people care which hammer is best? No. They want to know that a professional knows how to use these tools and they care about the results of the hammering to solve their challenge or to create a new opportunity.
Everyone in every organization uses tools. Some are digital and some are analog.
We solve problems every day. Various studies show that most ideas are created by individuals working on their own pursuing the challenges of their job. They solve a problem and move on to the next challenge. Carpenters use a tool and put it back in the toolbox. They then pick the right tool for the next stage. Knowledge workers must do the same by developing their toolbox of processes and tools. Navigator Journals can be a great help.
Problem-finding and solving
We must start with problem-finding. We must see a situation or issue as a problem and one that is worth solving before we give it the attention it needs. Research calls this "establishing a problem". Often it takes a crisis before we establish our problems. We may discover a problem or we may be given a problem to solve.
Problem-solving always involves the same steps or phases no matter the model.
- Defining the problem
- Generating solutions
- Turning solutions into actions
There are many books written on these stages. If there is a secret I can share after 25 years of working in this field, it is this – we need a process to manage our ideas and then master this skill of idea management. This is what innovators do – they see an opportunity to improve or innovate and act on it. They study the tools and processes that are most useful.
This is why we focus on this process in the Navigator Journals. Its pages act like your innovation coach when you are in the middle of a tough challenge.
A notebook or idea journal is a powerful analog tool for the fuzzy work of problem exploration. You are forming, reforming, and transforming basic insights into viable solutions. This can be advanced with deep knowledge of problem-solving processes. Page nine of the journal is an ideal blueprint for solutions created by Dr. Min Basadur through his years of research. It provides the discipline we need to move toward elegant solutions.
To start 2024 with a new way to manage your ideas, start with a Navigator Journal. You can use it as your notebook and toolkit to manage your ideas into results throughout the year. Order your copy now
