CPS STAGE: CRAFT SOLUTIONS
ABOUT THIS STAGE
After Generating Ideas in the
previous stage, you will have one or more ideas that you
wish to pursue. Now, don't take this the wrong way, but ideas are cheap. Ideas are not creativity. Creativity is the production of something novel and useful, not the idea of something that might be novel and useful. In this stage, you will turn your ideas into something truly valuable: an implementable solution. You will do this by strengthening your ideas, making them better - combining, discarding, changing, whatever it takes - to get to a solution.
Here, more than in any other stage, you will find yourself moving back and forth between divergent thinking and convergent thinking. For instance, crafting solutions might look something like this:
- Use a convergent thinking tool such as POINt to evaluate the ideas.
- Use a divergent thinking tool to overcome the problems you have identified with your ideas.
- Use a convergent thinking tools to select the best new ideas.
- Use a divergent thinking tools t strengthen the solutions.
- Use a convergent thinking tool to select the solution that will be implemented.
A good way to complete this step is to create a solution
statement, an extended description of what you plan to
do, that begins with: "What I see myself (us) doing is...." This leads you to the next stage, in which you will Explore Acceptance of your solution. If you can't find a good solution, you may need to go back and generate more ideas, or even further back, to make sure you are answering the right question in the first place.
NOW WHAT
Here are some choices:
- Click any part of the model above to examine that stage in
more detail.
- Continue the tour in a linear way by moving
on to Explore Acceptance.
CONTACT US WHEN YOU ARE READY
When you're ready to
talk to us about teaching you this process or facilitating
a problem-solving session, just holler.
