Page 64 - 100 Great Business Ideas: From Leading Companies Around the World (100 Great Ideas)

in what you're saying that you haven't noti( i before. Try 101
to determine how you feel about it. Pretend that you don't CREATIVE
know what the problem is but do know some of the vari- PROBLEM
ables involved. If you were a member of another profession, SOLVING
how would you view the problem? How many different TECHNIQUES
ways can you express this problem or opportunity? Now go
back and examine what you have done. Do you see the prob- 49
lem any differently?

The following exercise can get you started in applying this
technique. Think of a problem or opportunity and restate it
five different ways:

1.

2.

3..

4.

5.

21/8. REWRITE OBJECTIVES IN DIFFERENT
WAYS

In order to make certain that you are really addressing the
underlying problem, you can rewrite your objectives or other
criteria in several different ways. For example, if your prob-
lem is to increase productivity, this might be restated as: in-
crease sales per employee, cut costs, how do I increase pro-
ductivity, be more efficient, be more effective, set better goals,
and so on.

2219. SQUEEZE AND STRETCH

As part of the problem-solving process, you can try "squeez-
ing" and "stretching" the problem. 17 Thinking in terms of
squeezing and stretching allows you to analyze a problem
better. You squeeze a problem to find its basic components.
You stretch the problem in order to discover more of its scope.
Stretching a problem allows you to see how much there re-
ally is to it and what other facts relate to it.