Heuristics Help Us Make Decisions
If you need to make a quick decision, there’s a good chance you’ll rely on heuristics. It’s a fancy word for a very simple idea created not so long ago. They
Problem Solving
Posts under Problem Solving focus on an overall category of understanding as much as possible about the problem, including reframing and repositiooning the problem in advance of strategy or brainstorming sessions. Please use the Search bar to scan for other relevant words or tags.
By Andy Eklund
What’s the Difference Between Strategic and Creative Thinking?
I was asked recently by a communications agency in Sydney to answer some questions about the similarities and differences of Strategic and Creative Thinking as they began their annual planning
What To Do If They Say No
The word NO is the simplest form of negativity. We’ve heard the word countless times growing up, working in business, dealing with personal issues. Despite how many times we get that
Being Strategic vs. Being Creative
At a recent meeting, a senior leader used strategic or creative in ways that I instantly knew he did not know the difference between the two words. Later, when I was alone with our
Reframing for Better Creativity
Reframing is a creative technique used to shift an initial or existing mindset to be able to look at a situation, problem or idea from a different perspective. If that definition
Understanding the Problem
So much of creativity – if not business overall – is understanding the problem enough to be able to eliminate it. And if not get rid of it, then either
Defining the Problem
Every class I teach, whether it’s about any topic of business or generally about creativity, comes down to one word: the problem. In short, understand the problem. Next, create an
Problem Solving and the Gordian Knot
Fun problem solving stories are all over history. One of my favourites concerns a poor peasant named Gordias who decided to sell simple wares from his ox cart in the
How To Write SMART Objectives
First outlined by George T. Doran in his 1981 article in Management Review, the system of SMART objectives is one of the most well-known method for writing objectives. Yes, there’s
The Creative Brief
Jump to Instructions Jump to Download The creative brief is one of the most useful and adaptable tools in marketing and communications. Known by different names, the basic idea is this: one
Organising Information: The Force Field Analysis
Jump to Instructions Like its sister the SWOT Analysis, the Force Field Analysis is a familiar tool to organise information to extract its insights. The original model was developed in
Strategic Communications Planning
Jump to Model and Questions All successful communications initiatives start with strategic communications planning. The question is which planning system to use? Happily, there are as many different planning processes