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By answering these questions and by testing the solution I may, if I
have the technical skills, identify and cure the fault. That would be a
rather simplistic example of rational process in action.

However, I lack any technical skills. I would not recognize the differ-
ence between an alternator and its alternative. So I have a different prob-
lem and one that does not lend itself easily to rational process. I live in a
village that lacks public transport. We don’t even boast a taxi firm. So,
given that it will take hours for a mechanic to come, retrieve and repair my
car, how am I to get to my important meeting and maintain my reputation
for punctuality? Better yet how can I hold the meeting without travelling
anywhere? That is a problem requiring a creative answer and when I need
a creative answer I turn to Synectics. (There are excellent books: Synectics
(Prince and Gordon) and The New Rational Manager (Charles Kepner and
Ben Tregoe) are examples that provide exhaustive details of each
approach. My Key Management Solutions offers a simple game plan for
each.)

I may ask myself:

n What is the problem as I see it?

n Why specifically is it a problem to me?

n Why is it an important problem to me right now?

n What is my ideal solution?

n What apparently irrelevant thoughts slip unbidden into my mind
when I think about this problem?

n Which “feel” as if it would be fun to pursue them?

n What ideas do they raise?

n What ideas appeal to me?

n How would I develop this idea?

n Having developed them which appeals?

n Is my favourite idea feasible, attractive and novel? (If it is then I
know it can be done, I will enjoy doing it and I am creating a new
approach that may serve me well in the future – I am probably on
to a winner!)

Morphological analysis and reverse engineering

I have a very beautiful wallet made of the softest leather and designed to
hold the maximum using the least space. It was given to me by a consult-
ant friend, Swee Lip Quek some years ago and I cannot quite remember
whether it is an example of the most expensive piece of leatherwork of its
type that was made at the time or a Czech low cost, improvement. If you
have visited the Czech Republic you will know that the Czech people make
very high quality leather goods at what seem to an inhabitant of Britain

118 Key management questions