What are the classic cases of innovative thinking?

Innovative thinking can continuously improve human cognitive abilities. Do you know about classic cases of innovative thinking? Below I will compile classic cases of innovative thinking for you, hoping to help you.

Classic case of innovative thinking

How to turn 1 yuan into 100 yuan?

Don’t worry, I’m not asking for LinkedIn Let you go to the white wolf with nothing or break the big stone in your chest. There are many ways to add value to yourself. All you need is to change your thinking and think differently.

Let’s learn with the famous Stanford University case: What is innovative thinking? (Think outside the box)!

How to make money with 1 yuan in 2 hours To 100 yuan?

This sounds a bit unreliable.

But in a class at Stanford University, Professor Tina Seelig did such a small test. Although it was not $1, it was about the same:

She gave 14 groups in the class each $5 as starting fund.

Students have four days to think about how to complete the task.

When they open the envelope, the task starts.

Each team needs to use these five dollars to make as much money as possible within two hours.

Then they compile their results into a document and send it to the professor on Sunday night.

And present it in front of the whole class for three minutes on Monday morning.

Although Stanford students are all top-notch smart students, this is still a big problem for students who are not experienced in the world.

In order to complete this task, students must maximize the use of the resources they have? That is, these 5 dollars.

If it were you, how would you complete this challenge?

When the professor asked this question to the students for the first time in class, something like this came from below The answer? Use these 5 dollars to go to Las Vegas to gamble!?, ?Use these 5 dollars to buy lottery tickets?!

Such an answer undoubtedly caused the whole class to burst into laughter.

It is not unfeasible to do so, but they must bear great risks and it is almost impossible to complete.

Another common answer is to use the initial fund of $5 to buy materials, and then help others wash cars or open a juice stand.

These ideas are indeed good, and it is no problem to make a little money. But a few groups thought of better ways to break the mold, and they took the challenge seriously, considering different possibilities to create as much value as possible.

How did they do it?

Your most valuable resource

It is not the $5

Earn the most money Almost none of the teams used the start-up fund given by the professor? That is, this 5 US dollars.

They realized that limiting their vision to just $5 would reduce a lot of possibilities.

Five dollars basically means nothing, so they went beyond the five dollars and considered various possibilities of starting from scratch.

They work hard to observe around them: what needs people have that have not yet been met.

By discovering these needs and trying to solve them, the top teams earned more than 600 US dollars within two hours, and the average return rate of 5 US dollars reached 4,000!

Many teams did not even have Using their start-up funds, it seems that their return on investment is infinite!

So how do they create these miracles?

One way to create miracles :

One team discovered a common problem in college towns? There are always long lines at certain popular restaurants on Saturday nights.

This team discovered a business opportunity. They reserved seats with restaurants in advance, and then sold each seat at a price of up to $20 to customers who did not want to wait as Saturday approached. (I note: They are actually account dealers.)

That night, they observed some interesting phenomena:

The female students in the team sold more accounts than the male students. More seats may be the reason why women are more approachable. So they adjusted the plan. Male students were responsible for contacting restaurants to reserve seats, and female students were responsible for finding customers to sell their rights to use these seats.

They also found that when a restaurant uses electronic number plates to queue up, it is easier for them to sell seats in this restaurant, because the physical exchange allows customers to get tangible rewards after spending money, making customers feel Well worth the money you spent.

Method two to create a miracle:

The other team used a simpler method.

They set up a stall next to the student union and helped passing classmates measure their bicycle tire pressures. If you don’t have enough pressure, you can inflate it at their booth for a dollar.

Facts have proved that although this idea is very simple but feasible, students can easily inflate it for free at nearby gas stations, but most people are happy to inflate it at their stalls and are very satisfied with what they are doing. Thank you for all the services provided.

However, after setting up the stall for an hour, this group of people adjusted their way of making money. They no longer charged for inflating services, but asked for some donations from classmates after inflating.

Just like that, the revenue suddenly increased! This team, like the previous team that sold reserved seats, observed customer feedback during the implementation process, then optimized their plan and achieved revenue substantial improvement.

These teams performed very well, and other students in the class were also deeply impressed by their presentations.

However, the team that made the most money was the best, and they truly took their innovative thinking to the extreme.

Three ways to create miracles:

This team believes that their most valuable resource is neither five dollars nor two hours of earning time, but the three lessons learned in their Monday class. minute display.

As a world-famous university, Stanford University is not only crowded with students who want to get in, but also with companies hoping to recruit people there. The team sold three minutes of the class to a company and let them advertise for help.

It’s so simple, I made $650 in three minutes.

They discovered that the most valuable resource they had at hand was neither to sell their own time nor to sell their face, but to sell their classmates? These talents are what society needs most.

This way of thinking is the "innovative thinking" that everyone is pursuing now.

Find the most intuitive solution

Then eliminate it

What is the best approach to innovative thinking demonstrated by this group of Stanford students? ?

The following principle will be very practical for you.

When faced with a problem, look for the most obvious solution first and eliminate it.

Okay, now you can start thinking about other solutions. ?

This concept may sound a bit false, let me give you an example.

Imagine that you are an ambitious entrepreneur now. For example, you want to open a restaurant, like this.

What does a restaurant do? Provide food.

But no, let me tell you now? This restaurant cannot serve food, or in other words, the food is mediocre.

In other words: you want to open a restaurant that doesn’t attract people with its food.

Since you have decided not to use food to attract customers, what should you use to attract customers instead?

You can focus on creating a unique restaurant atmosphere and open a theme restaurant. For example? An aviation-themed restaurant (make the restaurant look like an airplane).

2. Or, you can invite a great band or dance group to perform, such as this:

3. You can also decorate the dining environment like a children's paradise, Attract parent-child gatherings, like this:

4. You can even move the dining environment outdoors, like this:

There are many, many other options?..

After eliminating the highlights of food, what you need to think about is ideas that break the rules. This is innovative thinking.

People who are good at innovative thinking can not only discover solutions that others cannot see, but also identify resources that others are unaware of and package them with the best value.

That’s it. When doing anything, you can try different solutions? Eliminate the obvious one first and think about it based on this:

If you solve the problem at hand The simplest solution to your job is no longer working, what else can you do?

If your boss doesn’t pay you today, what other way do you have to make a living?

If If flowers are not allowed on Valentine’s Day, what would you give to your beloved?

If popular tourist attractions no longer issue visas to tourists, where else can you go?

?

?You live in a box, work in a box, you control this box, and eventually you are buried in the box. Get out of the box of thinking. When you really discover this way of thinking, you will find that there is no box outside.

Step out of your thinking box and your life will have many more possibilities. What you get will never be just $100.

Innovative thinking training case

Asimov’s IQ? Inertial thinking

The so-called inertial thinking means that thinking continues to extend in a linear way along the previous thinking path. And temporarily closed off other directions of thinking.

Asimov is a Russian-American and a world-famous popular science writer. He once told this story about himself.

Asimov has been very smart since he was a child. He took "IQ tests" many times when he was young, and his score was always around 160. He is considered a person with "extremely high talent". Once, he met an old acquaintance of his car mechanic.

The repairman said to Asimov: "Hey, doctor, I'm going to test your intelligence and give you a question to see if you can answer it correctly." ?Asimov nodded in agreement. The repairman began to ask questions: There was a deaf-mute man who wanted to buy some nails, so he came to the hardware store and made this gesture to the salesperson: he stood on the counter with his left index finger, and made a fist with his right hand to make a knocking sound. When the salesman saw this, he first brought him a hammer. The deaf-mute man shook his head. Then the salesman understood that what he wanted to buy was nails. ?

?The deaf-mute man bought nails and just walked out of the store, and then a blind man came in. ?

The blind man wants a pair of scissors. What will the blind man do?

Asimov replied smoothly: "The blind man will definitely do this. He stretched out his index finger and middle finger to make the shape of scissors."

After hearing Asimov’s answer, the car mechanic laughed happily: Haha, that’s the wrong answer! If a blind man wants to buy scissors, all he has to do is say, “I’ll buy scissors.” That’s it. What’s he doing? Want to make a gesture?

Asimov had to admit that his answer was stupid. And the car mechanic decided before the test that he must have answered wrong because Asimov had too much education to be very smart!?

Innovative thinking training methods

1. Discussion method in pairs and threes

This method can be summarized as two or three people forming a group freely, exchanging opinions and sharing on the topic of discussion within a time limit of three minutes. After three minutes, return to the group for a report.

2. Brainstorming

Brainstorming is the most familiar creative thinking strategy. This method was advocated by Osborn as early as 1937. This method It emphasizes the method of collective thinking, focuses on stimulating mutual thinking, and encourages participants to conceive of a large number of ideas within a designated time and generate novel ideas. Although brainstorming is mainly conducted in groups, it can also be used to stimulate thinking when individuals think about problems and explore solutions. The basic principle of this method is: just focus on proposing ideas without evaluating them; do not limit the space for thinking, and encourage the more ideas the better.

The improved brainstorming method hereafter refers to the use of the spirit or principles of brainstorming to stimulate the creativity of participants in the group.

3. Phillips 66 Technique (Phillips 66 Technique)

The Phillips 66 Technique is a group discussion method based on brainstorming. This is done by breaking the large group into groups of six and having only six minutes of small group discussion, one minute per person. Then return to the larger group for sharing and final evaluation.

4. Mind Mapping

It is a thinking method that stimulates thinking and helps integrate ideas and information. It can also be said to be a thinking strategy for visualizing concepts. . This method mainly uses the concept of diagrams to quickly summarize ideas and information in various ways such as lines, graphics, symbols, colors, words, numbers, etc., into a mind map. . Structurally, it has open and systematic characteristics, allowing users to freely stimulate diffuse thinking, exert association, and organize various ideas in a hierarchical manner to stimulate the brain to respond in various aspects, thereby It enables the diversified functions of whole-brain thinking to be brought into play.

5. Mandala method

The Mandala method is a thinking strategy that helps diffuse thinking. It uses a nine-square grid diagram to write the theme in the center, and then Write various thoughts or associations triggered by the theme in the remaining eight circles. This method can also be used in conjunction with the "Six He Method" to think from many aspects.

6. Synectics

Gordon pointed out in his 1961 book "Synectics: the development of creativity" Group problem solving methods. This method mainly integrates elements that were originally different and unrelated to create new ideas/appearances. The differentiation method uses the role of simulation and metaphor to help thinkers analyze problems to generate various perspectives.

7. Reverse thinking

It is a thinking method that can obtain creative ideas. This technique can be divided into seven categories. If it can be fully used, creativity can be doubled. .

8. Attribute Listing Technique