Influencing for Impact

Whole-Brain Thinking

Design Thinking:

Arts-based Dialogue

"Structuring the Fuzz"
The Design of Ideation for
New Product Ideas

By Arthur VanGundy PhD
(Continued from page 3)

How to Phrase Problem Statements

Any new product project begins with a problem statement. The quality of such statements determines how well you achieve your objectives. Thus, it is important to know how to phrase a problem statement productively.

"Good" problem statements are relatively broad and have a beginning stem (e.g., "How might we…?"), a verb (e.g., "improve"), and an object or goal (e.g., "home safety"). Good problem statements should NOT contain: (1) multiple objectives or (2) specific criteria.

You only can focus on one objective at a time. The human mind has enough trouble focussing on one objective when generating ideas. It is even more limited when two or more objectives are involved. When you want to deal with multiple objectives, state each one as a separate problem.

Perhaps the most important "No No" in problem statements is including criteria. For instance, do NOT use a statement such as: "How might we improve home safety with products having a 22% ROI, a payback in 2.5 years, and first year sales of $25 million?"
Again, the mind can process only so much information at the same time. Creative ideas are less likely to flow when you also have to concentrate on constraints. Get all the ideas out first and then evaluate them against the criteria. You can consider the criteria; just don't worry about them while generating ideas.

The Fuzzy Front End

"The essence of genius is knowing what to overlook."
—William James

"You know you've achieved perfection in design, not when you
have nothing more to add, but when you have nothing more to take away."
—Antoine de Saint Exupery

Working within boxes and shifting our perceptions to new ones uses the front end of basic problem solving. This Fuzzy Front End can be "de-fuzzed" using a "fuzz removal" process. Fuzz removal helps increase problem understanding and clears away misconceptions that might restrict us within a current box or from moving to another. Thus, the desired outcome is reached when "…you have nothing more to take away." (This is similar to how many artists draw using the concept of "negative space"—the areas outside the object being drawn.)

The secret to fuzz removal is to structure the process and test as many assumptions as possible by asking questions. I have attempted to structure this front end by dividing it into two overlapping stages: 1) Sensing and Feeling, and 2) Thinking and Knowing.
They correspond to more traditional stages of analyzing and defining problems. However, I am using these stages specifically to provide clarity and understanding about fuzzy situations—perhaps the most important activities at the beginning of the new product development process.

Sensing and Feeling

Although problems can be self-created or "given" to us (e.g., by a boss or coworker), they can be resolved the same way. However, the way we respond emotionally may vary considerably and affect our ability to deal with problems. "Fuzzy" situations, by their very nature, are ambiguous and often unpredictable.

Those two factors alone contribute to considerable fuzziness. And we all respond differently to ambiguity and with different emotional reactions. We also have more to lose with some problems than others. Add up all this and it's clear that problem solving is not always textbook-easy.

Sensing. The first act of Sensing and Feeling is to experience awareness of a problem— i.e., sense its existence. You have a problem when you perceive a gap between some current and desired state. For instance, if brand awareness of a three-year-old product is 13% and you want it to be 70%, then you've got a problem! Once you acknowledge this gap, decide if you "own" the problem, if you are motivated to solve it, and if you have the resources to do so.

Feeling. If the answers are "yes" to these questions, assess your emotional reactions. When sensing a problem, there usually is an emotional reaction along with it that contributes to the fuzziness. Assess your reaction objectively. Otherwise, you won't "own" the problem and it will be tougher to resolve. As 12th century mystic, writer, and Abbess Hildegard of Bingen noted:

We cannot live in a world that is not our own. In a world that is interpreted for us by others. An interpreted world is not a home. Part of the terror is to take back our own listening. To use our own voice. To see our own light."

Our emotional reactions to problems can be categorized as passion, fear, or a combination of both. These reactions typically are not considered together in most problem-solving textbooks. However, they can be critical to "removing fuzz" from problems.

Passion, in this case, refers to motivation and the confidence and trust we to resolve a problem. Fear often is an initially negative reaction that can make gaining clarity difficult. It also can prevent us from experiencing problems at our deepest, most honest emotional levels.

Passion and fear operate at two levels: (1) functional and (2) dysfunctional. Functional passion exists when with optimal levels of motivation and confidence to solve problems. Dysfunctional passion occurs when we are "too" motivated and become over-zealous.
The two levels of fear operate much the same. Functional fear can be empowering at low levels if it alerts us to difficulties such as threats to brand equity. Dysfunctional fear (aka "analysis paralysis") obviously is the more dangerous and the one more likely to create sustained "fuzziness."

A recent story in The Wall Street Journal illustrates how potentially dysfunctional fear can be transformed into functional fear. Polaroid's I-Zone camera became its best selling camera last December—its first real big hit since the 1970s.

However, fear almost prevented it from being launched. Some Polaroid engineers worried that the low-quality pictures would hurt the company's reputation (i.e., dilute the brand). As noted in the article, "…Polaroid executives were so concerned about the company's reputation that they made a concerted effort to distinguish the brand as distinct from Polaroid." If they had allowed this fear to take over, they might have scrubbed the project.
Instead they chose to create a unique selling proposition and market niche: Teenagers who like stickers, seeing themselves, and who aren’t overly concerned about picture quality. Thus, functional fear prevailed and Polaroid was able to move to another thinking box.

It is possible to experience both passion and fear in reaction to a problem. The important thing is your ability to separate the two and tune into what you experience—to know and understand your authentic feelings. It may be "just business," but your life history is tied up in everything you do—even though you may not be consciously aware of it.

If you can't overcome dysfunctional passions and fears, you are more likely to remain in the Sensing and Feeling stage. Thinking and Knowing, the next stage, requires clear-headed reasoning and analysis. Dysfunctional passions and fears restrict your ability to shift perspectives and move to a new box. Thus, passion and fear can be either the greatest enemies or friends of BiB and BtB thinking.

To sense and feel a problem is to function within a particular thinking box. What we sense and feel define our perceptual frames. Thus, the engineers working on Polaroid’s I-Zone camera were in a box involving the perceived quality of Polaroid products. Their initial fear led them to believe the product would dilute the brand. However, they then changed their thinking and moved to a new box. This process of moving out of one box and into another represents the Thinking and Knowing stage of my model.
Continued on p5

Copyright 2006-07 Linda Naiman & Assoc. Inc.
All rights reserved. www.creativityatwork.com