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Home  Tools & Tips Creativity…How Ambiguous
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Creativity…How Ambiguous |
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Friday, 20 August 2004 |
This one drives the engineers crazy. Similar to acting foolish, we don't like to be ambiguous. It typically causes communication problems and has no place in certain circumstances. For instance, an infantry commander would not want to say, "Make sure you cross one of the bridges soon or else." This could be a prescription for disaster. Rather, the infantry commander would say, "Be sure to cross Alpha bridge before 1350 hrs because we will be blowing up the south end embankment at 1355." Makes a whole lot more sense and doesn't leave a lot of room for interpretation does it?
However when it comes to creative thinking, ambiguity is a good thing, even a great thing. If we are too specific with guidelines and rules to solving problems, it doesn't give us much leeway to generate new ideas.
One of the great sources for adding ambiguity to a problem is to "listen to your dreams." No, I don't mean your past unrealized dreams of being a rock star, NBA coach, or the CEO of GE. I'm talking about the dream you had last night.
Get in the habit of keeping a pencil and paper beside your bed so you can write down what you dreamed about. Do this as soon as you wake up or you'll quickly forget the details. Go ahead and write it down. Don't be embarrassed that your dream consisted of you flying around the mountains of Colorado with just your arms extended in a pink tuxedo.
Action Item
Write down a specific problem you would like to solve. Then look at the picture and study it in detail. What new ideas does the dream picture help you generate? | (Although you may want to keep your dream notes secure.)
Now take your dream notes and compare them side-by-side to a problem or issue you're trying to solve. Find the similarities between the two. At first you'll be completely convinced there is nothing similar between them, but as you give it more thought you'll notice a lot of things in common. This can be a great source of new ideas and solutions to your problems. Also look at the different pieces and chapters of your dream. Thinking about the specifics of your dream, what new ideas does it make you think of that could be applied to your problem?
Ask yourself, "What's going on here? How else can this be interpreted? What does this mean? What could this lead to?
I am too embarrassed to give you my dream notes in detail, but here is a picture that pulls together all of the attributes of a dream I had the other night.
Using the ambiguity of your dreams can help you generate new creative ideas to some of your tougher problems. It's one of the greatest sources of ambiguity and can generate out of the box thinking. Give it a try – you'll be pleasantly surprised.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 19 November 2004 )
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