Whenever I give a seminar in Singapore I do something which I do not do in any other country. I number the columns and rows of seats and also the individual seats. So if I say: "I would like to hear frm A3/2" that means column A, row 3 seat 2. This works very well indeed. The person selected goes up to the microphone and usually has a lot to say.
Without such a method it has proved difficult to get any response. I do not think that this is due to shyness, but rather to a reluctance to push yourself forward.
That reluctance is part of the Oriental culture. But if instead of pushing yourself forward, you are selected, then there is no problem at all.
PRACTICE
When I have introduced a particular lateral thinking technique and suggested a practice subject, I ask for the ideas generated as a result of the use of that tool.
This may seem a little unfair. It is like putting someone on the spot and saying: "Give me a creative idea on this subject right now!"
In practice, it is not quite so harsh, because I simply ask for the person to tell me what happened when the tool was used. The person can then describe the train of thought, even if no great idea came at the end of it. But what about direct "creativity on demand"?
"I want a creative idea on this subject in the next three minutes."
This seems an impossible demand. It also seems the opposite of the creative process, which involves waiting for inspiration; mulling things over; messing around; open-ended discussions; incubation, etc., etc. Creativity is not like mathematics: "What happens if you add 2 to 3?"
DANGERS
There are dangers in demanding creativity. The mind may quickly adopt some very facile strategy as a way of coping. For example you might say "paint it pink" and apply this to any subject. You might then come to ignore all other aspects, techniques and processes of creativity.
The need to have an immediate idea may favour weak and superficial ideas. Suppose you were asked to come up with some creative ideas about a coffee cup in three minutes. Your thinking might go something as follows:
ADDED VALUES:
...a cup that would always keep the coffee at the temperature you wanted (how?)
....a cup which would indicate the temperature of the coffee instantly (heat sensitive aint on the outside or around the inside of the rim)
...a cup that would make it unnecessary to use a spoon (very easy to do)
IMPROVEMENTS:
...a handle that is much easier to hold
...a rim that is thick on one side and thin on the other -so you can choose which side to drink from
...three mini-legs, so that the cup would be more stable in bed
CHALLENGE:
...why does the cup have to be round - what about flattened?
...why does the rim have to be the same height all the way around?
...why only one handle?
PROVOCATION:
(The following instant provocations may or may not trigger immediate ideas)
...Po three times the usual size
...Po a cup with no bottom
...Po the handle inside the cup
...Po holes in the bottom of the cup
...Po too hot to hold
One way of meeting the challenge of a demand for instant ideas would be to set up just one provocation and then to seek to work from that:
Po the handle is inside the cup
...a detachable handle hooks on to something within the cup
...the handle is hinged and can come out of the cup
...a cup where you drink from a sort of gutter around the bottom of the cup
...the handle is underneath the cup, giving a sort of lollipop on a stick effect
The last idea has some value and suggests that coffee cups might be shaped rather like wine glasses.
It is clearly possible to use other techniques, such as the random input technique. Suppose the random word was "tie". The following ideas might flow from the stimulus:
...some way of attaching the cup to the body so you could have your hands free.
...an insulating bandage you could wrap around the cup to keep it warm if you so wished.
...a tall, tube-like cup.
As usual, "value sensitivity" is key. As soon as your thinking makes some difference to the idea, then there is a search for any values arising out of that change. If a value becomes visible, then you might seek a better way of delivering that value. Here the usual process of concept extraction can take over.
Creativity on demand might be satisfied by a new practical idea, by the beginning of an idea or by a concept, even when the specific way of carrying out that concept is not given.
DELIBERATE CREATIVITY
The deliberate processes of lateral thinking can be used formally. It is not a matter of waiting for inspiration or some event to trigger your thinking. It is not a matter of messing around in brainstorming and hoping that an idea will emerge. The processes can be used on demand.
It is not possible that the use of a process will produce a wonderful idea, but there will usually be some output. This output may have direct value, or the concept behind it may have value.
As almost everything in business becomes a commodity, there will be more and more need for creativity to create value from these commodities. Most organisations are not yet set up for that. It may also be that there is a lack of in-house talent to do the needed creative thinking.
If you have worked a long time in an organisation, your thinking may tend to be limited by the universe of that organisation.
CONSORTIUM
For all these reasons I am setting up a new creative consortium which will bring together Saatchi, Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, myself and Shine (which is active in the public relations and youth market) to provide deliberate creativity "on demand".
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