|
| |
Frugal and Nutritious Summer Snacks
Lately, there has been a lot in the news concerning obesity in America. And not just in adults--our children are over-weight, also.It's not surprising, considering the advertising dollars that are spent each year aimed at persuading children that potato ...
Handbags and Women-Choice or Biological Destiny?
Handbags have been one of the necessities of life for women ever since recorded history began. It was important to have the items that one used often close at hand and articles found in a purse have ranged from ornate sewing scissors (17th century)to ...
If You'd Like To Know Why Reading Matters
Here Are Some of the Reasons Why Reading Is So Important for Children Why Do We Tell Children to Read ?We're always telling children that books and reading are good for them, but have we ever really thought about why that's true ? Exactly what do older ...
|
|
|
|
| |
What if there is no toilet paper and I am halfway through doing the "do"?
What if one of my team members decides to leave the project halfway and he happens to be the most knowledgeable guy there?
What if I turn colour blind, how should I adapt to the environment?
What-if, what-if and more what-ifs
The technique of asking What-ifs provokes an individual to think and to produce something new. At times, in order to find original solutions to old problems, one must take the leap of faith and ask crazy and imaginative questions to get us out of the rut of stale, conformist routine.
So, when you are walking, relaxing and or plain daydreaming, practice the techniques of What-ifs and have a ball of a time stimulating your brain juices!
You never know when your What-ifs Questions and Answers (Q&A) practice sessions could come in handy in sprouting innovative solutions to everyday problems.
I was just wondering about the invention of the mobile phone (or cellphone). Could it be the result of several fun and crazy What-ifs sessions among some guys in a restaurant, just talking off-the-cuff? What kind of questions could lead them into the invention of our beloved mobile phone? Hmm..
The questions asked could be the following:
- What if I go out and I cannot receive an urgent phone call from my wife? (Especially when I am out so late and so often)
- What if I have to make an emergency call and there is no public phone around? (Wheres the fire truck when you need one?)
- What if I cut the wires of my home telephone and bring the phone along with me? (That could be COOL! No more getting entangled!)
One must remember that the What-ifs techniques are often used more to excite your imagination, not to develop a real solution to your
problem. Though it happens!
The next step in the What-if process is to weigh up the responses and see if there lies a connection that may be used to solve the problem at hand.
Here are the steps of the What-ifs technique:
1.Write out specifically the nature of your challenge/problem. (How can I stop losing my car keys?
2.Ask as many WHAT-IF scenarios as you can. Any crazy what-ifs will do. Dont be too pre-occupied with facts of the problems you want to solve. Imagine. Be a non-realist!
(What if I put my car keys within my body?)
3.Try to answer the what-if questions.
(I could develop a system whereby my thumb-print/ voice could be used to open the cars door- yes; its been done already! The bio-metric technology)
Putting Your Elements to Work:
Get cracking and develop your own original responses to the following questions. Have FUN!
- What if my pet dogs starts talking to me?
- What if the Internet service is shut down for a week and I am in the online business selling my products?
- What if the book I am reading now is laughing at me for not being able to understand the meanings of certain word?
- What if my friend turns out to be alien from Mars?
- What if I have a Television that tells me to stop watching too much T.V?
Crack your Head and have FUN!
Dr. Alvin Chan is a Senior Research Consultant at First Quatermain Centre of Collaborative Innovation (www.firstquatermain.com).
Please contact heartware2002@yahoo.com as a courtesy when reprinting the article online and/or offline.
bizguru88@hotmail.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
