Mycoted

Creativity, Innovation, Tools, Techniques, Books, Discussions, Puzzles, Brain Teasers, Training ...

Mycoted is a company dedicated to improving Creativity and Innovation for solving problems worldwide, with that in mind, we provide a central repository for Creativity and Innovation on the Internet as a summary of tools, techniques, mind exercises, puzzles, book reviews etc, that is open to all - and can be written by all.

Current featured article

Synectics

Synectics is, in our experience, one of the most useful systems for creative problem solving. It 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.

Keys to a successful outcome are;

Pre-planning ( check that the problem owner has the desire and authority to solve the problem, and also that they are solving the right problem)
Use a facilitator to control the process, and ensure that the correct language is used ( 'I wish' to enable more diverse thinking).
separate out the divergent and convergent phases of problem solving ( don't try and assess ideas during during the 'brainstorming / idea generation phase )

Have a look at the synectics pages for more information.

Book of the Month

Instant Creativity is one of the Instant Series of books by Brian Clegg. As with several of the other books in the series it's coauthored by Paul Birch. This book is a wonderful goldmine of different creativity techniques / excercises. It is not an academic book, but a practical guide that makes you feel you have instantly delved into the years of experience of the authors. Talking Pictures is an example of one of the techniques from the book. The book offers over 70 simple, proven techniques that will help you to find fresh ideas and solutions, whether you are stuck in the early stages of idea generation or faced with too many ideas and need to refine and filter them.

Another great part of the book, is the "Selector" which has the techniques ranked in many different ways;