Objective Finding (OF)
Identify the goal, wish, or challenge upon which you want to work.
Bottom line: When finished with this step, your team will have a goal/wish/challenge for which it will seek a solution.
Diverge
Converge
Identify “hotspots,” expressed as a list of “In What Ways Might . . .” (IWWMs) statements. Start from your list of goal/wish ideas.
Draw out ideas that seem intriguing or interesting (regardless of viability) by expressing them as IWWM statements.
Use a storyboard to sort into clusters of related ideas, with each cluster being a “hotspot.”
Recognize the “hotspots” that mean something to your team. Do they have any unusual consequences or implications?
After considering these questions, write your team’s overall goal or wish in the space below. (It will expand to create as much space as you need.)
Osborn-Parnes: Step 2
Fact Finding (FF)
Gather data. What’s the situation or background? What are all the facts, questions, data, feelings that are involved?
Bottom line: When finished with this step, your team will have discovered facts related to the goal/wish/challenge and will have a refined version of the goal/wish/challenge.
Diverge
Discover your information “wants” by answering Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How questions:
What is a brief history of your situation?
Why is it an opportunity or a concern for you?
Who are the key people involved and why?
What is or is not happening?
When does this or should this happen?
Where does or doesn’t this occur?
Why does it or doesn’t it happen?
How does it or doesn't it occur?
What is your ideal outcome?
What criteria does your solution need to meet (e.g. attract new users, increase efficiency, increase compliance, reduces costs, etc.)?
What else is important to know about this situation?
And so on . . .
Next:
List all your information “wants” as a series of questions.
For each question, list possible sources of answers.
Follow up with your sources and list what you find out.
Use the table below to organize this step.
Converge
Refine your goal/wish by mind-mapping to sort and classify the information gathered.
After considering these questions and mind-mapping to sort and classify the information gathered, restate your refined goal/wish in the space below. (It will expand to create as much space as you need.)
Osborn-Parnes: Step 3
Problem Finding (PF)
Clarify the problem. What is the problem that really needs to be focused on? What is the concern that really needs to be addressed?
Bottom line: When finished with this step, your team will have discovered the one most promising/intriguing challenge question that will move you closest toward achieving the team’s overall goal or wish.
Diverge
List alternative definitions of the problem:
What is the real problem?
What is the main objective?
What do you really want to accomplish?
Why do we want to do this?
One principle of creative problem solving is that the definition of a problem will determine the nature of the solutions. In this step it helps to begin each statement with a “H2” (How to?) prompt. That is, turn each piece of data into one or more challenge questions.
For example, if the data from Step 2 says, “There is a lack of funds,” then turn it into a challenge question: “How to increase funding?”
Use these “H2” prompts and the suggested “shorthand” to reframe the data into challenge questions:
How to . . . ? (H2 . . . )
How might we . . . ? (HMW . . . )
In what ways might we . . . ? (IWWMW . . . )
What might be all the . . . ? (WMBAT . . . )
Complete the table below using these prompts. (It will expand to create as much space as you need.)
