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Systems thinking and invention
Map how parts of a system affect each other. Find conflicting needs and explore different solutions.
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Systems and strategic leverage: feedback, flow, modularity, robust options, and information value
Develop systems-level judgment by tracing feedback and delays, measuring flow and queues, localizing change through modularity, designing robust strategies under deep uncertainty, and choosing higher-leverage interventions and information.
Choose a thinking tool from the shape of the problem
Use a small set of sense-making tools to distinguish ordered, complex and fast-changing situations, expose system structure and give difficult decisions the right amount of thought.
Resolve the contradiction instead of polishing the compromise
Turn difficult design and process problems into explicit contradictions, separations, resource maps, function models and reframings drawn from the practical TRIZ toolkit.
Generate more distinct options before choosing one
Add evidence-aware group ideation and morphological option-generation tools that widen the search space while keeping evaluation, consensus and causal claims separate.
Use examples without letting them become the answer
Reduce creative fixation from examples and improve analogical search by separating first-pass generation from reference exposure, explicitly marking features not to copy, and searching for shared structure rather than superficial topic similarity.
Challenge the leading explanation before confidence hardens
Add structured analytic techniques for assumptions, competing hypotheses, disconfirming evidence, indicators, adversarial challenge and low-probability/high-impact scenarios.
91 ideas
Classify the situation before choosing the method
A checklist, expert analysis and experiment can all be excellent—and still be the wrong first move.
Read the idea ProtocolUse small safe-to-learn probes in complex situations
When prediction is weak, buy information before buying the whole solution.
Read the idea PrincipleStabilize chaos before asking for a complete explanation
In a fire, the first question is not which theory of combustion the meeting prefers.
Read the idea ProtocolCycle through OODA when the environment keeps moving
The useful plan may be the one that expects to be revised.
Read the idea ProtocolMove from the event down the systems iceberg
The visible incident may be the smallest part of the problem.
Read the idea ProtocolDraw a connection circle when causes chase each other
Some problems are not chains. They are loops wearing a chain's costume.
Read the idea HeuristicAsk 'and then what?' before taking the first-order win
The first consequence gets the headline. The second one often sends the invoice.
Read the idea ProtocolGraph the behavior before explaining the cause
Before explaining the curve, draw the curve.
Read the idea ProtocolGenerate once before opening the visual examples
The first example you see can quietly become the shape of the answer.
Read the idea ProtocolMark the example features you must not inherit
If an example contains the wrong move, name the wrong move before it becomes a default.
Read the idea ProtocolSearch analogies by relation, not by topic
A useful analogy can look unrelated on the surface and still solve the same relational problem.
Read the idea ProtocolGenerate in writing before the group starts talking
Give ideas a chance to exist before they need social permission.
Read the idea ProtocolAlternate private generation with shared idea review
Use the group as input, then give people room to recombine it.
Read the idea HeuristicInvite one deliberately different discipline into ideation
A different vocabulary can expose a different solution family.
Read the idea PrincipleSeparate generation, clarification and ranking
Do not make an idea win the moment it is born.
Read the idea ProtocolUse a nominal round before the vote
Let participation become visible before preference becomes public.
Read the idea ProtocolBuild a morphological box from the design dimensions
Make the option space visible before searching it.
Read the idea ProtocolForce combinations across dimensions to surface new options
Combination is where the box starts doing work.
Read the idea HeuristicPrune impossible combinations before judging attractive ones
Remove contradictions first; preference can wait.
Read the idea ChecklistList the load-bearing assumptions before adding confidence
Confidence often sits on assumptions that have never been inspected.
Read the idea ProtocolWrite competing explanations before scoring the favorite
A hypothesis deserves competition before it deserves confidence.
Read the idea ProtocolBuild an evidence-by-hypothesis matrix
Put the same evidence against every hypothesis.
Read the idea HeuristicSearch for evidence that can separate the explanations
More evidence is not the same as more discrimination.
Read the idea ProtocolGive the favored judgment a real devil's advocate
Challenge works only when the alternative is allowed to be serious.
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Decision making
Compare your options, weigh the evidence and check what could change your decision.
71 ideasCritical thinking and evidence
Test claims, separate evidence from interpretation and ask questions that can change what you believe.
70 ideasProject delivery
Estimate the work, agree on what counts as finished and check risky changes before you make them.
96 ideas