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Each of the columns represents one phase of the creative process as outlined in The Idea Agent, as well as some introduction tools for starting your meeting, energy tools for maintaining enthusiasm throughout, and group brainstorming activities for when you don't have a full day or week to spend on a larger issue. Within each column, Thinkertoy and Idea Agent activities have been categorized according to where they may be most valuable, but can of course be used outside of the provided context.

Each tool has a summary of how to use it, as well as an example of its application. To see the full example, click on the image and it will expand to fill your screen. To read more on a particular tool or topic, refer to the page numbers listed for each resource.

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This is the fun part! Go wild with generating as many ideas as possible! The more ideas you can come up with, the more options you will have to choose from when it comes time to narrow it down. Quantity over quality!

The tools in this column are best utilized in a group environment, as they capitalize on the cross-pollination of ideas!

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Simply put, the Idea Agent is the individual responsible for guiding the creative process for a team in pursuit of innovative ideas. As Jonas Michanek and Andreas Breiler put it, they are "not a creator of results, but the individual that creates the optimal conditions to achieve those results."

The Idea Agent wears several hats throughout the creative process, moving fluidly between the following roles:

Generalist and Specialist - They must have basic knowledge of the topic being discussed, but specialized knowledge in creative techniques.

Coordinator - They must be able to liaise with both the project owner and the team posing solutions, as well as possess strong organizational skills.

Impartial Observer - They must remain unbias in their facilitation of ideas, acting as a guide and avoiding the temptation to dictate any one path to the finish.

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This Padlet is full of tools and techniques that you can use for solving a variety of issues. You can use these techniques personally, professionally, individually, or as a team, but know that they have been curated for optimal use in a team environment.

The tools are organized to fit within the 4 phases of the process:

Identifying the Need

Generating Ideas

Screening and Development

Enriching and Conceptualizing

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The Idea Agent by Jonas Michanek and Andreas Breiler

This book serves as the primary organizational influence of this Padlet. It contains a variety of tools for organizing and running a creative "sprint" within your company or small business.

It can be purchased here: https://a.co/d/due2poG

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Thinkertoys by Michael Michalko

This book is an excellent source of brainstorming, problem-finding, and problem-solving techniques. Many of the techniques shown here have been extracted from this text and re-organized to fit within the creative process laid out in The Idea Agent.

It can be purchased here: https://a.co/d/2YSrcZd

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The first phase is all about getting at the heart of the issue. It is difficult to solve a problem when you can hardly decide what that problem is to begin with and group members may disagree on the real problem at hand.

The tools in this column all focus on defining the problem. What is it you are really trying to solve? Use these tools to find out!

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This tool can be utilized for idea generation as well, but I find it most valuable as a tool for helping me to fully understand a challenge. By mapping the elements of the challenge, I'm able to better see through the forest to the individual trees, or even better...the weeds! As such, I've adapted the tool as it is presented in Thinkertoys, and instead use it here as a tool for Identifying the Need.

Steps:

1. Using only a keyword or phrase, write the foundation of your challenge in the middle of your "canvas" (paper, whiteboard, etc).

2. Branching from that point, write out potential causes or influences on that challenge.

3. Continue branching from each potential influence, digging deeper and deeper into the challenge.

4. Note how clusters begin to form around sets of related issues.

5. Use the resulting map to gain a clearer picture of the problem.

Read more: Thinkertoys, page 66

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Tug-of-War allows you to visualize the forces that are influencing (or may influence) your challenge, giving you a better picture of how you might minimize or maximize the various positive and negative influences.

Steps:

1. Write down your challenge.

2. Define the best-case scenario and the worst-case scenario.

3. For each scenario, list the conditions that would result in that scenario occurring.

4. Finally, for each condition listed, identify the positive and/or negative forces that are pushing you toward that condition.

Read more: Thinkertoys, page 111

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This is the fun part! Go wild with generating as many ideas as possible! The more ideas you can come up with, the more options you will have to choose from when it comes time to narrow it down. Quantity over quality!

The tools in this column can be used in a group environment -OR- individually if you are working on a personal challenge.

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The screening phase is all about identifying which of the many (potentially hundreds) of ideas are worth pursuing further. This should remain a team effort, though it may be tempting to simply have one person take on the role.

The tools in this column will help the group come together to narrow down possible solutions to only those worth enriching.

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During this phase, the "winning" ideas are put to paper and taken from a few words on a Post-It to a more complete picture of what the team envisioned. Others should be able to understand the ideas after this is complete.

The tools in this column are all options for accomplishing the same general idea - fleshing out the best solutions.

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False Faces is all about challenging your beliefs about a situation. Do blueberry pancakes HAVE to have blueberries? Or can they simply be blue and contain some other kind of berry?

Steps:

1. Write down your challenge

2. List out the assumptions you have about the challenge

3. Write out the reversal of each assumption

4. Solve the reversals of the assumptions

Read more: Thinkertoys, page 43

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Cherry Split breaks the challenge down into all of its constituent parts, helping you to see even the smallest attribute as a potential source of inspiration. If your aim is to revolutionize the housing market, you might start with "revolutionize" and "housing."

Steps:

1. Summarize your challenge using only 2 words.

2. Take each word, one at a time, and split it into two more words.

3. Take each of those new words and split them as well. Repeat until you are satisfied.

4. Look at all of the new attributes and consider any ideas they might inspire.

5. Try recombining some of the attributes in new ways.

Read more: Thinkertoys, page 60

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In Slice and Dice, you break down your challenge into its individual parts and try to improve on each one individually. How can you improve just the level dial on the toaster? What about the heating element? The housing?

Steps:

1. Write down your challenge

2. List as many attributes as you can about it.

3. Come up with ways to improve each of the attributes individually.

Read more: Thinkertoys, page 53

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SCAMPER is a massively helpful tool...pun intended! This tool (really nine tools in one) is all about manipulating and modifying a product, process, or service. Rather than steps, the nine items listed below are each a tool of its own.

S - Substitute something.

C - Combine it with something else.

A - Adapt something to it.

M - Modify or Magnify it.

P - Put it to some other use.

E - Eliminate something.

R - Reverse or Rearrange it.

Read more: Thinkertoys, page 72

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This tool helps you to come up with a wide range and variety of ideas by breaking down the potential makeup of a process, product, or service, and then recombing those attributes into something new.

Steps:

1. Write down your challenge.

2. In columns, write down the parameters of the challenge. What elements are required to make it what it is?

3. Beneath each parameter, list out the various options/alternatives.

4. Select different combinations from each column to come up with entirely new versions of the challenge.

Read more: Thinkertoys, page 117

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As with so many of these tools, this one could be used for either Idea Generation or Need Identification. Here I use it to hone the challenge into something more specific by looking at the challenge's environment from a broader perspective.

Steps:

1. Draw a four-quadrant grid.

2. Label the top and bottom rows "High Involvement" and "Low Involvement" respectively. You could also use "Expensive" and "Inexpensive" instead.

3. Label the left and right columns "Think" and "Feel" respectively. You could also use "Logical" and "Emotional" instead.

4. Graph where your competitors and their products might fall within the grid.

5. Use this graph to identify where your product should fit.

Note: This tool is highly adaptable. You can replace the rows and columns with anything you might find valuable in helping to define your challenge. In my example, I use it to graph the types of games that my husband and I enjoy to help us determine which type of game we would like to create.

Read more: Thinkertoys, page 126

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Read More: Thinkertoys, page 132

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Phoenix is a checklist that can be used to help further define your challenge. The items listed below are examples, but the full list can be found in Thinkertoys, pages 139-141. Respond to as many of them as you can to gain a clearer picture.

The Problem:

Why is it necessary to solve the problem?

What is the unknown?

What isn't the problem?

What are the boundaries of the problem?

What are the constants?

The Plan:

Can you picture a solution?

How have you already tried to solve the problem?

When should it be done?

What is the unique set of qualities that make this problem what it is?

How will you know when you are successful?

Read more: Thinkertoys, page 139

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The Great Transpacific Airline and Storm Door Company

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The Great Transpacific Airline and Storm Door Company

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This tool helps to define your business -- something that many "businesses" could really benefit from! What do you sell? Products? Services? What products? To whom? And in what way?

Steps:

1. Write down "What is our business?" at the top of your canvas.

2. Write out the following, leaving space beneath each to fill in your responses:

Products / Services

Markets

Functions

Technologies

3. Beneath each heading, write out keywords that define your specific business.

4. Combine and recombine from within these lists to come up with new concepts.

Read more: Thinkertoys, page 144

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Brutethink helps to generate novel ideas by forcing seemingly dissimilar concepts together. What do a rainbow and a computer process have in common? Right now, not much. But by the time you are done with Brutethink, you may have a different answer!

Steps:

1. Write down your challenge.

2. Select a random word. You can blindly point to a word on a page, ask a child for a word, or perhaps ask an AI chatbot to give you one.

3. List out attributes of your random word. What can you do with it? What does it look like? Be extensive.

4. Force connections between the listed attributes and your challenge.

5. Write down all ideas generated from the exercise.

Read more: Thinkertoys, page 157

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Put quite simply, this tool asks you to "draw your challenge," taking inspiration from unique combinations of artistry rather than words on a page. It provides a different perspective, thwarting your natural instinct to follow the same linear path to which you've become accustomed.

Steps:

1. Write down your challenge.

2. Divide the challenge into its various attributes and write each one on an index card.

3. On the back of each index card, draw an image that represents that attribute.

4. With the cards laid out on a table, graphic side facing up, rearrange the cards into various combinations.

Use these combinations to inspire new ideas and relationships.

Read more: Thinkertoys, page 184

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This is perhaps the simplest of all of the Thinkertoys, but potentially the most impactful! The assignment is to simply ask the opinion of others that are not involved or who lack specific knowledge regarding the problem at hand. Some potential options are listed below.

Talk to someone outside of your field.

Ask someone within your field but from a different background.

Ask friends or acquaintances that you consider to be creative or who inspire you.

Talk about the issue with strangers on the bus or while getting your hair cut.

Read more: Thinkertoys, page 190

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Read More: Thinkertoys, page 150

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This method uses team intuition to establish rank choice based on a voting methodology. Team members use colored dots to categorize ideas according to set criteria.

Steps:

1. Display the ideas in a simple way, either using Post-It Notes, writing them on the whiteboard, or spreading them out on a table.

2. Give time for team members to review the ideas.

3. Give team members a set of dot stickers and assign criteria to each of the colored dots. For example, blue might mean "Cost effective" and red might mean "Achievable within timeline."

4. Allow the team time to place dots next to the ideas based on their intuition.

5. Review the placement of the dots and identify the favored solutions.

Read more: The Idea Agent, page 156

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The Four-Field Matrix helps to categorize ideas based on two set parameters. In addition to identifying which ideas already fit into the "optimal" category (the best of both parameters), it can also be used as an opportunity to improve on ideas that do not yet fit.

Steps:

1. Establish the two parameters that are most important. For example, Cost and Speed or Innovativeness and Marketability.

2. Draw X- and Y-Axis lines (ie, a crossed vertical and horizontal line) and label the rows and columns according to the identified parameters.

3. Place the ideas into each quadrant according to how they align with the parameters identified on the rows and columns.

4. Unless there are already plenty of ideas in the "optimal" category, try to enrich other ideas to move them into this category.

5. Only move forward with those ideas that landed in the optimal quadrant.

Read more: The Idea Agent, page 157

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The Spiderweb Diagram is similar to the Four-Field Matrix, except that it allows for a much broader range of parameters on which to judge each idea. The resulting diagram tells a more complete story about where each idea ranks according to the team.

Steps:

1. Identify the 4-6 parameters on which each idea will be judged.

2. Graph those parameters around a "spiderweb" with each spoke aligning to one of the identified parameters, and each ring representing a ranking from 0 (center) to 5 (outermost ring).

3. Starting with one idea, place a dot where it ranks in each of the categories. Connect the dots using a single color marker or pen.

4. Repeat step 3 for each of the ideas selected.

Read more: The Idea Agent, page 160

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The Kesselring, named for its originator and not it's perceived shape, is a method for graphing and ranking ideas by awarding points for various criteria. It is a widely used method, though not many know its name! You've very likely used it before without realizing.

Steps:

1. Identify the criteria you will using and write those down in the left column.

2. If you are weighting the point values for each criterion, write those weights in the very next column over.

3. Across the top, write the ideas that you will be assessing and beneath each one, create two columns: one for the assigned point ranking and one for the weighted value of that ranking.

4. Rank each of the ideas according to each criterion, and calculate the weighted total.

5. At the bottom of each idea column, total the weighted values.

Read more: The Idea Agent, page 162

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Read More: The Idea Agent, page 167

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Read More: The Idea Agent, page 173

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Read More: The Idea Agent, page 174

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Read More: The Idea Agent, page 176

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Read More: The Idea Agent, page 178

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Read More: The Idea Agent, page 182

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Read More: Thinkertoys, page 170

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Read More: Thinkertoys, page 179

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Read More: Thinkertoys, page 305

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Read More: Thinkertoys, page 307

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Read More: Thinkertoys, page 308

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Read More: Thinkertoys, page 310

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Read More: Thinkertoys, page 332

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This form of "silent brainstorming" allows quieter voices in the group an opportunity to be heard and removes the fear of speaking up about one's ideas in front of a group.

Steps:

1. Have participants sit in a circle. Discuss the problem with the group and post it somewhere visible.

2. Distribute index cards to each participant.

3. Have participants write their ideas, one per card, and pass their cards to the right as they complete them.

4. As participants receive cards, they should read them and use them to inspire their next idea.

5. Continue for 20-30 minutes, or until the idea quota is met.

6. Place the cards on the wall in categories, with a header card for each category.

7. (Optional) Have participants place sticky dots to vote for ideas they like.

Variations:

Idea Pool - Instead of passing the cards to the right, have all cards added to a "pool" in the center and let participants pull inspiration cards out at will and add back to the pool.

Airplanes - Have participants write their idea on a piece of paper, fold it into an airplane, and then send it flying to another participant. The recipient then opens it, modifies or adds to the idea, and then sends it on to someone else.

Wall of Ideas - Have participants write their ideas on sticky notes. As ideas are completed, collect them and place them on the wall in no particular order. Have group members organize them at the end.

Read More: Thinkertoys, page 323

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Read More: Thinkertoys, page 320

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Read More: Thinkertoys, page 330

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Read More: Thinkertoys, page 339

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The Dreamer, the Realist, and the Critic

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The Dreamer, the Realist, and the Critic

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Read More: Thinkertoys, page 350

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Read More: Thinkertoys, page 352

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Read More: Thinkertoys, page 353

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Read More: Thinkertoys, page 357

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This brainstorming activity generates lots of ideas that are then narrowed down via trades and categorization until only the most beloved ideas are selected for presentation to the group.

Steps:

1. Post the problem somewhere visible.

2. Have participants write ideas on index cards and add them to the pool.

3. Collect all of the cards, shuffle them, and then redistribute three of them to each participant.

4. Return the remaining cards to the pool face-up and invite participants to swap any of the cards they don't like.

5. Once swapping is complete, invite them to swap with one another. They must exchange at least one card.

6. Have the participants form into groups with as many individuals per group as they like; however, all groups must select only three cards to keep.

7. Finally, have the group members creatively present their three selected ideas.

Read More: Thinkertoys, page 327

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This brainstorming activity slowly builds on one idea at a time until all ideas (or as many as possible) have been incorporated into the solution.

Steps:

1. Have participants write their ideas down silently.

2. Ask two of the participants to each read one of their ideas out loud.

3. The group then tries to make both ideas work together as part of a single solution.

4. Once the ideas have been integrated, add a third group member's idea to the solution.

5. Repeat until all ideas (or as many as possible) have been integrated into the solution.

Read More: Thinkertoys, page 328