The Value of Creativity in Business Analysis

1
The Value of Creativity in Business Analysis and
Transformation
2

• Quite often in the business world of hard-nosed,
  data-driven and logical analysis, creativity can
  be left behind. Many see it as too unstructured,
  or right brained with a lack of rigor and
  discipline.
• What if there was a way to combine logic,
  process, structure AND creativity? Well there are
  in fact many business analysis and ideation tools
  that facilitate this combination, but one the
  team at Expert Toolkit like in particular is the
  Six Thinking Hats Method, created by Edward de
  Bono.

3
(No Transcript)
4
What is creativity and why is important in
business?

• Simply put, creativity helps generate fresh ideas
  and innovative solutions for business problems.
  In this context, creativity is critical.
• Creativity is in fact a business analysis tool, a
  business problem solving tool, a business
  transformation tool and a business strategy tool!
• But creativity doesnt come simply by blocking
  off some time in the calendar and hopping into a
  meeting room with a whiteboard and some colored
  markers

5

• Being truly creative requires focused attention
  to get the mind to think differently than it
  typically does during a normal business day.
• Just trying to be creative isnt usually very
  successful either. The mind wants to think the
  way that it normally thinks.

6
(No Transcript)
7

• A creative technique that is familiar to us all
  is brainstorming, but there are many others. The
  most powerful creative techniques, used by high
  impact business advisors utilize deliberate
  methods to generate different thinking and
  breakthrough ideas. Proficient practitioners of
  creativity in the workplace also know how to
  utilize creative environments and special-purpose
  events to drive business problem solving,
  creative solutioning and idea generation.
  Ultimately, the goal of a good business analyst,
  management consultant or strategic business
  advisor is to have a variety of creativity tools
  and techniques to draw upon. This provides
  flexibility to pick the approach most suited to
  the situation and problem being solved.

8
Introducing the Six Thinking Hats Method

• The Six Thinking Hats Method is a powerful
  business analysis tool for problem solving and
  idea generation. It is a workshop-oriented method
  that requires individual participants to think
  and perform in a certain way (based on the hat
  they are "wearing") to help explore issues
  creatively, objectively and from many pre-defined
  perspectives. To use the method, colored
  "thinking" hats are allocated to individuals who
  are then asked to think about the issue with that
  specific hat on. The hats are

9
(No Transcript)
10

• White Information and data focused
• Red Based on feelings, intuition, hunches and
  emotions
• Black Cautious, judgmental, critical
• Yellow Optimistic, positive, glass half-full
• Green Generator of creative energy, ideas,
  stimulation
• Blue Process-oriented, keeping the creativity
  moving.

11
What are the benefits of the Six Thinking Hats
Method?

• The technique has many benefits and it is very
  effective at overcoming the typical blockages
  experienced in business problem solving
• It is great at stopping persistent negativity
  that can exist within organizations or programs.
  The "black hat" dominates many environments - Six
  Hat Thinking gives voice to the other 5 hats

12
(No Transcript)
13
What should you watch out for?

• It is very effective at legitimizing creative
  thinking time. It is highly creative, but it
  comes with structure and process which can make
  it feel appropriate in a business environment
• It helps separate ideas from people. This can
  encourage individuals to give credit to the ideas
  of other people and groups to willingly adopt the
  ideas of individuals.

14
Like any business analysis tool or method, Six
Thinking Hats has its limitations that need to be
considered

• It can be fun, but sometimes participants can
  start to think of it too much like a game and it
  loses the seriousness of the problem or the
  objective being addressed
• To use the technique optimally, rotate the hats
  amongst individuals and resist the urge for any
  one person to always secure their preferred hat

15

• It can take time for an organizations culture to
  accept the use of formal creative techniques.
  Watch out for resistance and perhaps start
  exploring the use of the tool with smaller, more
  experimental teams.

16
When to use it?

• The Six Thinking Hats Method can be used
  regularly and as a one off in challenging
  situations. A good example of its use in a
  systematic, regular fashion would be the
  structured, consistent application of the
  technique in the early-stages of the product
  development process. It can also be used within a
  normal meeting to improve the quality of output.
  Try asking either the team or an individual to
  put on one hat at a time and seeing what emerges!

17

• Go ahead, try it out. Watch your business problem
  solving and business analysis endeavors become
  more effective when you leverage some structured
  creativity.

18
(No Transcript)
19
(No Transcript)