Page 151 - 100 Great Business Ideas: From Leading Companies Around the World (100 Great Ideas)

(11.iiidv,inta4e. however. I I n process is hint.
ing ainl requires a high degrc of motivation over long

period. It lacks the piggybacking effect and spontaneity of
brainstorming and other interactive group processes, afford-
ing no chance for verbal clarification of meanings. Success
depends on the analyst's ability to make creative use of the
results of his or her study, to facilitate the creativity of expert
participants, and to write questionnaires.

SUMMARY OF STEPS

1. Forecasters prepare a questionnaire based on their perception of
the situation.

2. This is mailed to a group of experts, who respond to the ques-
tionnaire.

3. Individual responses are collected and summarized.
4. Summaries are returned to respondents for their reaction.
5. The process continues until a general consensus is reached.

74/10. EXCURSION TECHNIQUE

The excursion technique was originally introduced as part
of synectics, a process described later in this chapter. How-
ever, it can and should be used by itself. The excursion tech-
nique is especially useful when the group has not arrived at
a solution to a problem even after using other creative pro-
cesses such as brainstorming or storyboarding. It can be used
for either narrowly defined or complex problems, but it prob-
ably works best on a more narrowly defined problem for
which a conceptual breakthrough is needed. It has been
slightly modified here from its original description so as to
make it more functional.

The Process

There are four major steps in the excursion process: the ex-
cursion itself, the drawing of analogies between the prob-
lem and the events in the excursion, the analysis of these
analogies to see what creative understanding or solutions
can occur, and the sharing of experiences with the group.

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