Hi Ratna,
Thanks..am glad you liked it..
Dear all,
Here is the story of Google: how creative and innovative thinking can bring a revolution:
A Phenomenal Success
Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google in 1998. A few years ago Forbes estimated Larry's net worth at $550 Million. However, since taking Google public in 2004, the combined net worth of the founders is estimated to be nearly $14 Billion.
Google's annual sales exceeded $4.5 Billion in 2004 and it has reached a net market capitalization of $85 Billion in the current year. Google uses more than 10,000 networked computers to comb through almost 3 billion web pages and powers over 75% of the Web searches in the US.
Relevance
AltaVista and Inktomi, the two popular search engines of the mid-nineties were based on the technique of storing the text of every Web page in a fast searchable index. However, this did not deliver the results in the order of relevance. Also, this led to commercial spammers who flooded their web pages with hidden keywords multiple times over. In keywords based searches they would then appear first in a search listing.
Larry and Sergey devised a method to rank a page based on how frequently it was referenced by other pages. This algorithm, along with larger storage capacity and processing power, enabled them to deliver fast and reliable search results.
Gaining Ground
The founders started out with a little over 1 million in seed capital from friends and family, and in 1999 received another 25 Million from Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins. They trademarked their search algorithm under the name PageRank. In 2001, they hired Eric Scmidt as the CEO. The same year they were named as the number one US search engine by MediaMetrix.
Google kept ahead of competition by introducing new features regularly. Over time they added image search, groups, directory services and news features to their portfolio of offerings.
Going Dutch with Public
In late 2004, the IPO markets were again opening up. The investors who had been shying away from the market in the wake of the dotcom bust of 2000, were returning to it. The founders decided to take Google public. They bypassed the traditional IPO process and chose a modified Dutch auction model. The Dutch auction would set the price of the shares at the lowest successful bid. This enticed investors to bid the maximum price they were willing to pay hoping that they will only have to pay the clearing price.
The Way Ahead
Google has established a strong user base and network of affiliates. However, they need to reconsider whether they wish to remain a provider of directory services and search solutions, or they want to evolve into a portal. There is increased competition from MSN and Yahoo. These fierce competitors would retaliate with new products that can give Google a run for its money. The founders have to put on their thinking caps again to develop new defensible avenues of growth
Success Indicators
Market Capitalization: $85 Billion
Annual Sales (2004) : $4.5 Billion
Net Income (2004) : $1 Billion
Number of Employees : 4000
Trends Encountered
Need for relevance
Explosive growth of Internet use
Opportunities Harnessed
PageRank Algorithm
Fast and reliable search results
Monetization of traffic
Key Decision Makers
Larry Page and Sergey Brin while studying in Stanford, built a unique algorithm to search information within documents. They founded Google in 1998, which soon overtook other search engines in popularity and within eighteen months was named as number one.
Useful Products
Google Search
AdWords
Contextualized Ads
Image Search
Gmail
Current Challenges
Increased competition from Microsoft and Yahoo
Explore new avenues for growth
Evolve into a portal or preserve the search engine model
Cheers,
Rajat Joshi
From India, Pune
101Thanks..am glad you liked it..
Dear all,
Here is the story of Google: how creative and innovative thinking can bring a revolution:
A Phenomenal Success
Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google in 1998. A few years ago Forbes estimated Larry's net worth at $550 Million. However, since taking Google public in 2004, the combined net worth of the founders is estimated to be nearly $14 Billion.
Google's annual sales exceeded $4.5 Billion in 2004 and it has reached a net market capitalization of $85 Billion in the current year. Google uses more than 10,000 networked computers to comb through almost 3 billion web pages and powers over 75% of the Web searches in the US.
Relevance
AltaVista and Inktomi, the two popular search engines of the mid-nineties were based on the technique of storing the text of every Web page in a fast searchable index. However, this did not deliver the results in the order of relevance. Also, this led to commercial spammers who flooded their web pages with hidden keywords multiple times over. In keywords based searches they would then appear first in a search listing.
Larry and Sergey devised a method to rank a page based on how frequently it was referenced by other pages. This algorithm, along with larger storage capacity and processing power, enabled them to deliver fast and reliable search results.
Gaining Ground
The founders started out with a little over 1 million in seed capital from friends and family, and in 1999 received another 25 Million from Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins. They trademarked their search algorithm under the name PageRank. In 2001, they hired Eric Scmidt as the CEO. The same year they were named as the number one US search engine by MediaMetrix.
Google kept ahead of competition by introducing new features regularly. Over time they added image search, groups, directory services and news features to their portfolio of offerings.
Going Dutch with Public
In late 2004, the IPO markets were again opening up. The investors who had been shying away from the market in the wake of the dotcom bust of 2000, were returning to it. The founders decided to take Google public. They bypassed the traditional IPO process and chose a modified Dutch auction model. The Dutch auction would set the price of the shares at the lowest successful bid. This enticed investors to bid the maximum price they were willing to pay hoping that they will only have to pay the clearing price.
The Way Ahead
Google has established a strong user base and network of affiliates. However, they need to reconsider whether they wish to remain a provider of directory services and search solutions, or they want to evolve into a portal. There is increased competition from MSN and Yahoo. These fierce competitors would retaliate with new products that can give Google a run for its money. The founders have to put on their thinking caps again to develop new defensible avenues of growth
Success Indicators
Market Capitalization: $85 Billion
Annual Sales (2004) : $4.5 Billion
Net Income (2004) : $1 Billion
Number of Employees : 4000
Trends Encountered
Need for relevance
Explosive growth of Internet use
Opportunities Harnessed
PageRank Algorithm
Fast and reliable search results
Monetization of traffic
Key Decision Makers
Larry Page and Sergey Brin while studying in Stanford, built a unique algorithm to search information within documents. They founded Google in 1998, which soon overtook other search engines in popularity and within eighteen months was named as number one.
Useful Products
Google Search
AdWords
Contextualized Ads
Image Search
Gmail
Current Challenges
Increased competition from Microsoft and Yahoo
Explore new avenues for growth
Evolve into a portal or preserve the search engine model
Cheers,
Rajat Joshi
From India, Pune
Hi Folks,
Sorry for visiting the forum irregularly.. as much i would love to be active but on account of hectic schedule at my end doesn't permit the same...
One of my colleague sent this mail regarding enhancing group creativity, which we can think over.
Hope you all will like it.
Wish you a great week ahead..
Cheers,
Rajat
The scene is repeated in meeting rooms around the world every day. A problem has been identified and a group has gathered to solve the problem. When ideas are needed, the group decides to brainstorm. And all too often this exercise leads to a short list of not-that-creative ideas.
We know that if we generate more ideas we have a better chance of finding better ideas. This leads us to the logical conclusion that if we can find techniques to create more ideas, we will find better ones. No one technique however will guarantee the perfect solution. Instead your goals should be to have a variety of approaches to help stimulate idea creation in your repertoire. By doing this you will improve the overall quality of ideas by virtue of having more to choose from.
Whether you are unhappy with the current creativity of your group or are having good success with brainstorming sessions, but would like them to be even better, any of the eight suggestions below can help.
Look at problems in different ways. Get the group to change their perspective on the problem. Once people “lock into” one way of looking at things the idea flow will slow to a tickle. Have people take a new persona. Ask them to look at the issue from the perspective of another group – accounting, HR, or sales for example. Ask them to think about how their Grandmother or an 8 year old would solve the problem. These are simple ways to force people into a new perspective and the new perspectives will generate more ideas.
Make novel combinations. The ideas that land on the flipchart or whiteboard in a brainstorming session are typically considered individually. Have the group look at the initial list and look for ways to combine the ideas into new ones.
Force relationships. Once a group is finished with their initial list, provide them with words, pictures or objects. The objects can be random items, the words can come from a randomly generated list and we’ll send you such a list), or from pictures in magazines or newspapers. When people have their random word, picture or item, have them create connections between the problem and their item. Use questions like, “How could this item solve our problem?” What attributes of this item could help us solve our problem?”
Make their thoughts visible. Have people draw! Too often the brainstorming session has everyone sitting except the person capturing the ideas. Let people doodle and draw and you never know what ideas may be spurred.
Think in opposites. Rather than asking your direct problem question, ask the opposite. “How could we ensure no one bought this new product?” could be one example. Capturing the ideas on “the opposite,” will illuminate ideas for solving the actual problem.
Think metaphorically. This approach is similar to forcing relationships (and is another way to use your words, pictures or items). Pick a random idea/item and ask the group, “How is this item like our problem?” Metaphors can be a very powerful way to create new ideas where none existed before.
Prepare. Too often people are asked to brainstorm a problem with no previous thinking time. If people have time to think about a topic, and let their brains work on it for awhile, they will create more and better ideas. Allow people to be better prepared mentally by sharing the challenges you will be brainstorming some time before the meeting whenever possible.
Set a Goal. Research shows and my experience definitely confirms that the simple act of giving people a quantity goal before starting the brainstorming session will lead to a longer list of ideas to consider. Set your goal at least a little higher than you think you can get – and higher than this group typically achieves. Set the goal and watch the group reach it!
While these suggestions have all been written from the perspective of a group generating ideas, they all work very well for individuals too. The next time you need to solve a problem by yourself, use these techniques and you will be astounded by the quantity of ideas you will generate!
From India, Pune
Sorry for visiting the forum irregularly.. as much i would love to be active but on account of hectic schedule at my end doesn't permit the same...
One of my colleague sent this mail regarding enhancing group creativity, which we can think over.
Hope you all will like it.
Wish you a great week ahead..
Cheers,
Rajat
The scene is repeated in meeting rooms around the world every day. A problem has been identified and a group has gathered to solve the problem. When ideas are needed, the group decides to brainstorm. And all too often this exercise leads to a short list of not-that-creative ideas.
We know that if we generate more ideas we have a better chance of finding better ideas. This leads us to the logical conclusion that if we can find techniques to create more ideas, we will find better ones. No one technique however will guarantee the perfect solution. Instead your goals should be to have a variety of approaches to help stimulate idea creation in your repertoire. By doing this you will improve the overall quality of ideas by virtue of having more to choose from.
Whether you are unhappy with the current creativity of your group or are having good success with brainstorming sessions, but would like them to be even better, any of the eight suggestions below can help.
Look at problems in different ways. Get the group to change their perspective on the problem. Once people “lock into” one way of looking at things the idea flow will slow to a tickle. Have people take a new persona. Ask them to look at the issue from the perspective of another group – accounting, HR, or sales for example. Ask them to think about how their Grandmother or an 8 year old would solve the problem. These are simple ways to force people into a new perspective and the new perspectives will generate more ideas.
Make novel combinations. The ideas that land on the flipchart or whiteboard in a brainstorming session are typically considered individually. Have the group look at the initial list and look for ways to combine the ideas into new ones.
Force relationships. Once a group is finished with their initial list, provide them with words, pictures or objects. The objects can be random items, the words can come from a randomly generated list and we’ll send you such a list), or from pictures in magazines or newspapers. When people have their random word, picture or item, have them create connections between the problem and their item. Use questions like, “How could this item solve our problem?” What attributes of this item could help us solve our problem?”
Make their thoughts visible. Have people draw! Too often the brainstorming session has everyone sitting except the person capturing the ideas. Let people doodle and draw and you never know what ideas may be spurred.
Think in opposites. Rather than asking your direct problem question, ask the opposite. “How could we ensure no one bought this new product?” could be one example. Capturing the ideas on “the opposite,” will illuminate ideas for solving the actual problem.
Think metaphorically. This approach is similar to forcing relationships (and is another way to use your words, pictures or items). Pick a random idea/item and ask the group, “How is this item like our problem?” Metaphors can be a very powerful way to create new ideas where none existed before.
Prepare. Too often people are asked to brainstorm a problem with no previous thinking time. If people have time to think about a topic, and let their brains work on it for awhile, they will create more and better ideas. Allow people to be better prepared mentally by sharing the challenges you will be brainstorming some time before the meeting whenever possible.
Set a Goal. Research shows and my experience definitely confirms that the simple act of giving people a quantity goal before starting the brainstorming session will lead to a longer list of ideas to consider. Set your goal at least a little higher than you think you can get – and higher than this group typically achieves. Set the goal and watch the group reach it!
While these suggestions have all been written from the perspective of a group generating ideas, they all work very well for individuals too. The next time you need to solve a problem by yourself, use these techniques and you will be astounded by the quantity of ideas you will generate!
From India, Pune
Dear Rajat I’d like to thank u so much for all your posts under this Lateral thinking head. i am very much delighted. Once again thanks a lot , plz keep do posting. raj
From India, Coimbatore
From India, Coimbatore
Hi Rajat
Creativity is a topic that is very close to my heart and your views and articles have indeed touched my heart :)
Here is what Mr Azim Premji , Wipro Chief has to say about Creativity and Innovation. The article appeared at rediff.com sometime back
Cheers
Saurabh
Premji on innovation, creativity
Manu A B in Mumbai | February 16, 2006
Innovation is a source of great excitement for Indian IT giant Wipro's chairman Azim Premji. In Mumbai at the Nasscom's India Leadership Forum on Thursday, the software czar spelt out where do big ideas come from and why innovation and creativity are imperative for growth.
The Wipro Centre of Excellence, with over 500 dedicated professionals, works on lean technology to software development, new ways of delivering business, and is striving towards creating intellectual properties in the wireless and mobile telephony segment, says Premji.
Wipro bagged nine major deals in the last quarter: a result of innovation.
With the debate on blending creativity with engineering skills raging across the world, Premji cities the Chinese example where students are encouraged to go abroad to pursue courses in liberal arts.
One needs to think differently to survive in the globalised world. A good blend of creative people and engineers are essential to push growth, according to Premji.
Wipro has become the first company to develop an outsourcing model for remote infrastructure and remote business process outsourcing services. This robust growth will continue, says Premji.
Profits and innovation go hand in hand. He highlights that while the PBIT is 20 per cent for Indian companies, it is about 14 per cent for global IT biggies like Accenture and IBM. The IT world will be driven by people resources. The profit per person realisation is more for Indian companies, and thus Indian companies have an added advantage, he adds.
"We need to build more IT incubation hubs in India to drive innovation at a national level. The Wipro Centre of Excellence is constantly striving to add more value to existing services," he says.
So where do big ideas come from?
Premji says that big ideas often come from customers. Big ideas can emerge from constant interaction. . . and several unsaid things can be elicited and developed making way for big innovations. Meaningful dialogues with customers will go along way in delivering excellent products. Services and products companies should look at this seriously, advocates Premji.
"We also need to have the courage to hire people who are from different work cultures and see to it that they grow in the organisation and are not pushed out in the long run."
However, he warns that complacency kills creativity. Complacency should be rooted out of all levels of management.
How different is innovation from creativity?
While innovation is 'doing' things differently, creativity is all about 'thinking' differently, says the Wipro boss. "Innovation is essentially the application of high creativity. It need not be restricted to just products, it applies to services, employee attitude and across all levels. Innovation is a fundamental mindset pursued seriously by an organisation. It is imperative to imbibe the culture of innovation."
"There is a need to include more people with a creative bend. India is known for its great art and literature. The same spirit must be incorporated in business and economics," he adds.
"Innovation is a spirit that evolves the mind, body and spirit. In other words, one has to do things which no one else has done before to create a better tomorrow," sums up Premji.
[end]
From India, New Delhi
Creativity is a topic that is very close to my heart and your views and articles have indeed touched my heart :)
Here is what Mr Azim Premji , Wipro Chief has to say about Creativity and Innovation. The article appeared at rediff.com sometime back
Cheers
Saurabh
Premji on innovation, creativity
Manu A B in Mumbai | February 16, 2006
Innovation is a source of great excitement for Indian IT giant Wipro's chairman Azim Premji. In Mumbai at the Nasscom's India Leadership Forum on Thursday, the software czar spelt out where do big ideas come from and why innovation and creativity are imperative for growth.
The Wipro Centre of Excellence, with over 500 dedicated professionals, works on lean technology to software development, new ways of delivering business, and is striving towards creating intellectual properties in the wireless and mobile telephony segment, says Premji.
Wipro bagged nine major deals in the last quarter: a result of innovation.
With the debate on blending creativity with engineering skills raging across the world, Premji cities the Chinese example where students are encouraged to go abroad to pursue courses in liberal arts.
One needs to think differently to survive in the globalised world. A good blend of creative people and engineers are essential to push growth, according to Premji.
Wipro has become the first company to develop an outsourcing model for remote infrastructure and remote business process outsourcing services. This robust growth will continue, says Premji.
Profits and innovation go hand in hand. He highlights that while the PBIT is 20 per cent for Indian companies, it is about 14 per cent for global IT biggies like Accenture and IBM. The IT world will be driven by people resources. The profit per person realisation is more for Indian companies, and thus Indian companies have an added advantage, he adds.
"We need to build more IT incubation hubs in India to drive innovation at a national level. The Wipro Centre of Excellence is constantly striving to add more value to existing services," he says.
So where do big ideas come from?
Premji says that big ideas often come from customers. Big ideas can emerge from constant interaction. . . and several unsaid things can be elicited and developed making way for big innovations. Meaningful dialogues with customers will go along way in delivering excellent products. Services and products companies should look at this seriously, advocates Premji.
"We also need to have the courage to hire people who are from different work cultures and see to it that they grow in the organisation and are not pushed out in the long run."
However, he warns that complacency kills creativity. Complacency should be rooted out of all levels of management.
How different is innovation from creativity?
While innovation is 'doing' things differently, creativity is all about 'thinking' differently, says the Wipro boss. "Innovation is essentially the application of high creativity. It need not be restricted to just products, it applies to services, employee attitude and across all levels. Innovation is a fundamental mindset pursued seriously by an organisation. It is imperative to imbibe the culture of innovation."
"There is a need to include more people with a creative bend. India is known for its great art and literature. The same spirit must be incorporated in business and economics," he adds.
"Innovation is a spirit that evolves the mind, body and spirit. In other words, one has to do things which no one else has done before to create a better tomorrow," sums up Premji.
[end]
From India, New Delhi
Hi Saurabh,
Am happy to know that :D :D , also thanks for the article on Creativity & Innovation by Azim Premji..
Just yesterday i conducted an hour long workshop with the Functional Heads of my organization on KBT..it stands for Kaleidoscope Brainstorming Technique ...it's a brilliant technique and all the participants thoroughly enjoyed this..this was refered to me by "Shooonya" a member of this forum..
Happy Reading..
Cheers,
Rajat
Kaleidoscope Brainstorming Technique
Have you attended any brain storming sessions in your life? The sessions are normally run by a facilitator, who introduces the purpose of the session to the participants, explains the ground rules and coordinates the process. A note taker or scribe may be used to document all the ideas generated in the session. Generally, the session is open to any ideas. Important guideline is that no idea is too simple, stupid or wild.
Kaleidoscope advanced brainstorming techniques is applicable to any subject or situation, and any type of forum where people can work as a group, including internet-based conferencing and communications. This is a new approach to the brainstorming process, including different variations as to its use.
'Kaleidoscope Brainstorming' (KBS) or Multiple Mind Conferencing (MMC) is regarded as a "...Romantic interplay between silence and interaction.... a heavenly marriage of thesis and antithesis."
The process makes efficient use of silence and communication, which are interleaved in the brainstorming session. The various degrees and modes of silence and communication effectively use as 'tools' in the Kaleidoscope brainstorming approach. Notably the power of silence is used to supplement the communications-oriented parts of the session.
The technique may seem 'anti-thematic' at the first glance. However, the intention is to make the brainstorming process more 'holistic', by exploiting the different modes and degrees of silence, absence of communication and a variety of communication and interaction.
The kaleidoscope Brainstorming Process
1 - Initial ideas generation brainstorming session
The session should start with a facilitator detailing the process steps used for the particular session. The session is conducted in a normal fashion with the participants speaking out their ideas in a round robin or random fashion for an agreed period. The facilitator can use any normal brainstorming format for this session. It is a good idea to use a format that is comfortable for the facilitator and the participants.
2 - silent brainstorming session
The silent brainstorming session stage requires all team members or participants to stop talking, and to think of ideas, but not speak out. The facilitator can ring a bell or use another method to indicate the start and end of this part of the exercise. Ideas are to written down by each brainstorming participant. In addition, the participants must guess the ideas that others may be thinking and writing down. Ideally participants should guess the ideas of the other participants for each person, one after the other. For example, if the participants are A, B, C, D, E, F and G, then A would not only write his or her ideas, but also afterwards guess what B, C, D, E, F, and G may have as their ideas. Participants should do this using deep thinking, and base their guesses on the manner that other participants answered during the first speaking part of the session.
Participants should be encouraged to think how each of the other participants' minds are working - to empathise, to 'put themselves in the other person's shoes' - as a method of guessing as intuitively and accurately as possible. 'Think how the other person will be thinking' is the sort of guidance that the facilitator can give.
At this stage what's happening is that each participant is coming up with ideas from their own perspective of how each of the other participants is thinking. All participants work on this stage of the session at the same time. You can imagine the multiplicity of ideas and perspectives that this stage produces.
Each participant should logically end up with a list of ideas alongside, or below, the names of each participant, including themselves.
After a reasonable period, when it is clear that participants have completed their lists, the facilitator can ring the bell again, indicating the end of the silent brainstorming stage.
3 - Presentation of brainstorming ideas session
In this session, each of the delegates reads out or shows their own ideas and also their best guesses of the ideas for others. The presentation made by A would look like the following:
1. Ideas generated by A
2. Guess of ideas of B
3. Guess of ideas of C
4. Guess of ideas of D
5. Guess of ideas of E
6. Guess of ideas of F
7. Guess of ideas of G
During A's presentation, others simply listen. In turn each delegate gives a similar presentation. It is best if there is no discussion during the presentations. The facilitator should encourage delegates to make notes which people can raise later.
4 - discussion of brainstorming ideas session
The presentations are followed by a detailed discussion session. In this session, the participants may discuss why and how they guessed about others. Each participant can also comment on the guesses of the other participants, and validate or clarify. The highlights and conclusions resulting from discussion should be noted by the facilitator or an appointed 'scribe'. The individual participants can be encouraged also make their own notes, which might for example contain their mental models and appropriate revisions of the creative thinking process of others. In this sense the activity helps open hidden areas of awareness (self and others), which in turn promotes better understanding, relationships, communications, team-building and co-operation.
5 - further silent and speaking sessions - the kaleidoscope effect
Further sessions can repeat and extend the silent session so that participants increase the depth and complexity of their thinking still more. Specifically participants should now think about and guess how other delegates are thinking about the ideas of others. This again is done silently, together. Each delegate will be thinking in deeper levels about each of the other participant's thinking. These complexities of thinking result, for example:
• A is thinking and noting down of any of his/her own new ideas
• A is also (as in stage 4) thinking afresh about and noting down any thoughts as to what B, C, D, E, F and G are thinking
• and, A is now additionally thinking of what B is thinking of A, C, D, E, F and G, plus what C is thinking of A, B, D, E, F and G, and so on.
Obviously the exercise at this stage has expanded massively. From a simple individual brainstorming activity involving say seven people and seven sets of personal ideas (seven perspectives), the session has expanded to entail seven people each considering six other people's thoughts about the ideas of six other people's ideas (that's 242 perspectives!). Clearly it is not reasonable to expect delegates to formulate 242 lists, so it is useful to place certain limits on people's activities, which can include for example:
• allowing delegates to leave blanks against certain delegates names
• limiting the number of ideas required to be guessed for each delegate
• stating a maximum number of perspectives
• allocating responsibility to each delegate to think about certain named delegates
• and in any event giving a time limit for each stage of the activity
As with any team building or team working activity, the facilitator needs to be able to assess progress and to adapt, adjust and give clarifying or steadying guidelines during the activity to maintain the group's focus and effectiveness.
At the fifth stage, all participants will in their own way be thinking in a highly complex fashion. The participant’s minds are acting as mirrors creating multiple reflections of each other, rather like the few small objects inside a kaleidoscope creating wonderful arrays and patterns. Hence the 'Kaleidoscope Brainstorming' description.
It is easy to imagine how using this process the number of ideas generated are many times more than when using normal brainstorming techniques.
Typically after a number of Kaleidoscope Brainstorming sessions a group experiences an 'asymptotic approximation of their thinking process'. (Asymptotic refers to the 'asymptotic' effect whereby two or more things increasingly converge as if to become joined and together, but never actually join or become one). He says this is enabled by successive convergence and cross-fertilization among a group or team of each members thinking process, thoughts and ideas. He adds interestingly that groups ultimately do not need to be talking to each other for their minds to be conferencing with each other. In fact, they can be as far geographically apart as they need to be for their routine life, but still efficiently conferencing and in tune with each other.
The most important aspect is the discipline developed by the silent brainstorming paradigm. Regular teams or 'virtual' teams can be brought together to practice this technique. It is a good idea for the team members to branch out and form new groups with new members to extend the practice. It is also a good idea to have new members or visitors to the Kaleidoscope Brainstorming team inducted routinely.
Diversity of backgrounds is the key to freshness of ideas. True diversity in gender, age, ethnic background, educational levels, race, and personality types will ensure Brainstorming teams and activities are kept as fertile as possible. It is like any ecological system. Stability of a Kaleidoscope Brainstorming team ecology is good, but as well, aberrations and perturbations can guarantee long-term growth.
From India, Pune
Am happy to know that :D :D , also thanks for the article on Creativity & Innovation by Azim Premji..
Just yesterday i conducted an hour long workshop with the Functional Heads of my organization on KBT..it stands for Kaleidoscope Brainstorming Technique ...it's a brilliant technique and all the participants thoroughly enjoyed this..this was refered to me by "Shooonya" a member of this forum..
Happy Reading..
Cheers,
Rajat
Kaleidoscope Brainstorming Technique
Have you attended any brain storming sessions in your life? The sessions are normally run by a facilitator, who introduces the purpose of the session to the participants, explains the ground rules and coordinates the process. A note taker or scribe may be used to document all the ideas generated in the session. Generally, the session is open to any ideas. Important guideline is that no idea is too simple, stupid or wild.
Kaleidoscope advanced brainstorming techniques is applicable to any subject or situation, and any type of forum where people can work as a group, including internet-based conferencing and communications. This is a new approach to the brainstorming process, including different variations as to its use.
'Kaleidoscope Brainstorming' (KBS) or Multiple Mind Conferencing (MMC) is regarded as a "...Romantic interplay between silence and interaction.... a heavenly marriage of thesis and antithesis."
The process makes efficient use of silence and communication, which are interleaved in the brainstorming session. The various degrees and modes of silence and communication effectively use as 'tools' in the Kaleidoscope brainstorming approach. Notably the power of silence is used to supplement the communications-oriented parts of the session.
The technique may seem 'anti-thematic' at the first glance. However, the intention is to make the brainstorming process more 'holistic', by exploiting the different modes and degrees of silence, absence of communication and a variety of communication and interaction.
The kaleidoscope Brainstorming Process
1 - Initial ideas generation brainstorming session
The session should start with a facilitator detailing the process steps used for the particular session. The session is conducted in a normal fashion with the participants speaking out their ideas in a round robin or random fashion for an agreed period. The facilitator can use any normal brainstorming format for this session. It is a good idea to use a format that is comfortable for the facilitator and the participants.
2 - silent brainstorming session
The silent brainstorming session stage requires all team members or participants to stop talking, and to think of ideas, but not speak out. The facilitator can ring a bell or use another method to indicate the start and end of this part of the exercise. Ideas are to written down by each brainstorming participant. In addition, the participants must guess the ideas that others may be thinking and writing down. Ideally participants should guess the ideas of the other participants for each person, one after the other. For example, if the participants are A, B, C, D, E, F and G, then A would not only write his or her ideas, but also afterwards guess what B, C, D, E, F, and G may have as their ideas. Participants should do this using deep thinking, and base their guesses on the manner that other participants answered during the first speaking part of the session.
Participants should be encouraged to think how each of the other participants' minds are working - to empathise, to 'put themselves in the other person's shoes' - as a method of guessing as intuitively and accurately as possible. 'Think how the other person will be thinking' is the sort of guidance that the facilitator can give.
At this stage what's happening is that each participant is coming up with ideas from their own perspective of how each of the other participants is thinking. All participants work on this stage of the session at the same time. You can imagine the multiplicity of ideas and perspectives that this stage produces.
Each participant should logically end up with a list of ideas alongside, or below, the names of each participant, including themselves.
After a reasonable period, when it is clear that participants have completed their lists, the facilitator can ring the bell again, indicating the end of the silent brainstorming stage.
3 - Presentation of brainstorming ideas session
In this session, each of the delegates reads out or shows their own ideas and also their best guesses of the ideas for others. The presentation made by A would look like the following:
1. Ideas generated by A
2. Guess of ideas of B
3. Guess of ideas of C
4. Guess of ideas of D
5. Guess of ideas of E
6. Guess of ideas of F
7. Guess of ideas of G
During A's presentation, others simply listen. In turn each delegate gives a similar presentation. It is best if there is no discussion during the presentations. The facilitator should encourage delegates to make notes which people can raise later.
4 - discussion of brainstorming ideas session
The presentations are followed by a detailed discussion session. In this session, the participants may discuss why and how they guessed about others. Each participant can also comment on the guesses of the other participants, and validate or clarify. The highlights and conclusions resulting from discussion should be noted by the facilitator or an appointed 'scribe'. The individual participants can be encouraged also make their own notes, which might for example contain their mental models and appropriate revisions of the creative thinking process of others. In this sense the activity helps open hidden areas of awareness (self and others), which in turn promotes better understanding, relationships, communications, team-building and co-operation.
5 - further silent and speaking sessions - the kaleidoscope effect
Further sessions can repeat and extend the silent session so that participants increase the depth and complexity of their thinking still more. Specifically participants should now think about and guess how other delegates are thinking about the ideas of others. This again is done silently, together. Each delegate will be thinking in deeper levels about each of the other participant's thinking. These complexities of thinking result, for example:
• A is thinking and noting down of any of his/her own new ideas
• A is also (as in stage 4) thinking afresh about and noting down any thoughts as to what B, C, D, E, F and G are thinking
• and, A is now additionally thinking of what B is thinking of A, C, D, E, F and G, plus what C is thinking of A, B, D, E, F and G, and so on.
Obviously the exercise at this stage has expanded massively. From a simple individual brainstorming activity involving say seven people and seven sets of personal ideas (seven perspectives), the session has expanded to entail seven people each considering six other people's thoughts about the ideas of six other people's ideas (that's 242 perspectives!). Clearly it is not reasonable to expect delegates to formulate 242 lists, so it is useful to place certain limits on people's activities, which can include for example:
• allowing delegates to leave blanks against certain delegates names
• limiting the number of ideas required to be guessed for each delegate
• stating a maximum number of perspectives
• allocating responsibility to each delegate to think about certain named delegates
• and in any event giving a time limit for each stage of the activity
As with any team building or team working activity, the facilitator needs to be able to assess progress and to adapt, adjust and give clarifying or steadying guidelines during the activity to maintain the group's focus and effectiveness.
At the fifth stage, all participants will in their own way be thinking in a highly complex fashion. The participant’s minds are acting as mirrors creating multiple reflections of each other, rather like the few small objects inside a kaleidoscope creating wonderful arrays and patterns. Hence the 'Kaleidoscope Brainstorming' description.
It is easy to imagine how using this process the number of ideas generated are many times more than when using normal brainstorming techniques.
Typically after a number of Kaleidoscope Brainstorming sessions a group experiences an 'asymptotic approximation of their thinking process'. (Asymptotic refers to the 'asymptotic' effect whereby two or more things increasingly converge as if to become joined and together, but never actually join or become one). He says this is enabled by successive convergence and cross-fertilization among a group or team of each members thinking process, thoughts and ideas. He adds interestingly that groups ultimately do not need to be talking to each other for their minds to be conferencing with each other. In fact, they can be as far geographically apart as they need to be for their routine life, but still efficiently conferencing and in tune with each other.
The most important aspect is the discipline developed by the silent brainstorming paradigm. Regular teams or 'virtual' teams can be brought together to practice this technique. It is a good idea for the team members to branch out and form new groups with new members to extend the practice. It is also a good idea to have new members or visitors to the Kaleidoscope Brainstorming team inducted routinely.
Diversity of backgrounds is the key to freshness of ideas. True diversity in gender, age, ethnic background, educational levels, race, and personality types will ensure Brainstorming teams and activities are kept as fertile as possible. It is like any ecological system. Stability of a Kaleidoscope Brainstorming team ecology is good, but as well, aberrations and perturbations can guarantee long-term growth.
From India, Pune
Dear all, Look forward to your comments please... Cheers, Rajat An old woman? or a young woman?
From India, Pune
From India, Pune
Dear all,
Thank you so much for your private messages & emails..indeed they are really encouraging.
You exercise your body to stay physically in shape, so why shouldn't you exercise your brain to stay mentally fit?
With these daily exercises you will learn how to flex your mind, improve your creativity and boost your memory. As with any exercise, repetition is necessary for you to see improvement.
* TRY NEW RECIEPE EVERYDAY
Without new and interesting experiences our brains get bored and lazy. One way to introduce some novelty into your lives is to try new foods. The sense of taste is an underused sense that has a large capacity to trigger old memories. One bite of your grandmother's apple pie might bring back dozens of childhood experiences.
Instead of having your normal everyday breakfast, try something completely new. If you always have cereal, have eggs instead. If you cook at home, try to incorporate one new recipe each week. When you are at the grocery store grab one item off the shelf that you have never had before and take it home for a taste-test. If you eat out or order in, branch out and try a new restaurant or order something from the menu that you have never had before. If you never try new things, you'll never know if you are missing out on something that you really like. The new tastes and smells will help form new memories and may even remind you of something long forgotten.
* VISUALIZATION
Visualize 5 things that make you irritated.
Try to get a clear image of each item in your mind. You may have to close your eyes to get a vivid image.
Now visualize 5 things that make you laugh.
The more you practice, the better you will get at visualizing images and recognizing your emotional state.
Have a great day..
Cheers,
Rajat
From India, Pune
Thank you so much for your private messages & emails..indeed they are really encouraging.
You exercise your body to stay physically in shape, so why shouldn't you exercise your brain to stay mentally fit?
With these daily exercises you will learn how to flex your mind, improve your creativity and boost your memory. As with any exercise, repetition is necessary for you to see improvement.
* TRY NEW RECIEPE EVERYDAY
Without new and interesting experiences our brains get bored and lazy. One way to introduce some novelty into your lives is to try new foods. The sense of taste is an underused sense that has a large capacity to trigger old memories. One bite of your grandmother's apple pie might bring back dozens of childhood experiences.
Instead of having your normal everyday breakfast, try something completely new. If you always have cereal, have eggs instead. If you cook at home, try to incorporate one new recipe each week. When you are at the grocery store grab one item off the shelf that you have never had before and take it home for a taste-test. If you eat out or order in, branch out and try a new restaurant or order something from the menu that you have never had before. If you never try new things, you'll never know if you are missing out on something that you really like. The new tastes and smells will help form new memories and may even remind you of something long forgotten.
* VISUALIZATION
Visualize 5 things that make you irritated.
Try to get a clear image of each item in your mind. You may have to close your eyes to get a vivid image.
Now visualize 5 things that make you laugh.
The more you practice, the better you will get at visualizing images and recognizing your emotional state.
Have a great day..
Cheers,
Rajat
From India, Pune
Dear all,
Just recently attended a program on Inspiring Creativity in Organizations at Mumbai which was conducted by CII Naoroji Godrej Centre of Excellence at Mumbai on 4-5th April’2006.
The trainer rather facilitator was Sekhar Chandrasekhar ; who really taught us about ourselves a great deal and Creativity in totality.
He is one of the few trainers I have met who have conducted the session by virtue of their dynamic personality without any use of audio-visual aids like laptop or ppt presentations!..indeed it was a great learning sessions for all the participants. He has the unique ability of reaching out to participants and ensuring that they all learn. Sekhar is deeply passionate about understanding and harnessing the potential of people and has the ability to enable the participants to see contextually and clearly and listen deeply …
Learned a great deal about Dialogue & listening which are essentially the keys to creativity..in fact one of the lines he commented which I vividly remember is
“ I do not know what I think till I see what I Say “…a very powerful statement..
Those who are interested in this subject or training session on Creativity from Sekhar, can contact him at his email ID
Have a great day!!
Cheers,
Rajat
From India, Pune
Just recently attended a program on Inspiring Creativity in Organizations at Mumbai which was conducted by CII Naoroji Godrej Centre of Excellence at Mumbai on 4-5th April’2006.
The trainer rather facilitator was Sekhar Chandrasekhar ; who really taught us about ourselves a great deal and Creativity in totality.
He is one of the few trainers I have met who have conducted the session by virtue of their dynamic personality without any use of audio-visual aids like laptop or ppt presentations!..indeed it was a great learning sessions for all the participants. He has the unique ability of reaching out to participants and ensuring that they all learn. Sekhar is deeply passionate about understanding and harnessing the potential of people and has the ability to enable the participants to see contextually and clearly and listen deeply …
Learned a great deal about Dialogue & listening which are essentially the keys to creativity..in fact one of the lines he commented which I vividly remember is
“ I do not know what I think till I see what I Say “…a very powerful statement..
Those who are interested in this subject or training session on Creativity from Sekhar, can contact him at his email ID
Have a great day!!
Cheers,
Rajat
From India, Pune
Dear all,
Here is the sample list of Innovations from Indian Markets..
A consumer attempts to draw money from an ATM but finds that he does not have enough balance. The ATM offers the consumer a loan by the flash of a message if the consumer belongs to a certain privileged segment or has been identified as a valued customer of the bank.
An airline passenger listening to semi-classical music finds his screen flashing a message allowing discount for the music CD he is hearing, if he belongs to the Gold tier of the airline's frequent flier club.
Gillette developed its gel shaving cream and Vector Plus razor to suit the Indian cultural habit of using the brush and the habit of shaving a tough beard (tough due to infrequent shaving).
Dettol advertised its soap as a germ killer and recommended it for consumers who have to go through dusty and polluted roads. Dettol addresses the `dusty and polluted' situation.
Cornflakes like Kellogg's could have perhaps introduced its offerings as a food extender (used with other foods) for adults, used a trendy packing for teens and evolved a game with cereals for kids. All the three consumption situations as well as the segments are different.
ITC's incense sticks used the belief that offerings made to God had to be pure to brand its sticks as pure - creating a brand in the commoditised market.
Titan's gifting situation too is an interesting occasion-based segmentation approach.
Clorets and Bilkul are products which attempt to urbanise a chewing habit prevalent for ages in the Indian context.
Conclusion:-
Creativity need not be pathbreaking; it only calls for incremental value addition most of the times. If situational segmentation can be explored through research, marketers will have several insights which will be useful.
Cheers,
Rajat
From India, Pune
Here is the sample list of Innovations from Indian Markets..
A consumer attempts to draw money from an ATM but finds that he does not have enough balance. The ATM offers the consumer a loan by the flash of a message if the consumer belongs to a certain privileged segment or has been identified as a valued customer of the bank.
An airline passenger listening to semi-classical music finds his screen flashing a message allowing discount for the music CD he is hearing, if he belongs to the Gold tier of the airline's frequent flier club.
Gillette developed its gel shaving cream and Vector Plus razor to suit the Indian cultural habit of using the brush and the habit of shaving a tough beard (tough due to infrequent shaving).
Dettol advertised its soap as a germ killer and recommended it for consumers who have to go through dusty and polluted roads. Dettol addresses the `dusty and polluted' situation.
Cornflakes like Kellogg's could have perhaps introduced its offerings as a food extender (used with other foods) for adults, used a trendy packing for teens and evolved a game with cereals for kids. All the three consumption situations as well as the segments are different.
ITC's incense sticks used the belief that offerings made to God had to be pure to brand its sticks as pure - creating a brand in the commoditised market.
Titan's gifting situation too is an interesting occasion-based segmentation approach.
Clorets and Bilkul are products which attempt to urbanise a chewing habit prevalent for ages in the Indian context.
Conclusion:-
Creativity need not be pathbreaking; it only calls for incremental value addition most of the times. If situational segmentation can be explored through research, marketers will have several insights which will be useful.
Cheers,
Rajat
From India, Pune
Dear all,
Saw the program on Innovations in Rural India and here are the excerpts..it gladdens my heart to read all..
Happy reading!!
Cheers,
Rajat
Successes in rural inventions
By Santosh Sinha, BBC News
The motorcycle field cultivator is brilliantly simple
Mansukhbhai Jagani is not your typical inventor.
He dropped out of school at the age of 10 due to financial hardship.
After working at the family farm in India's western state of Gujarat, he moved to Surat to work in the diamond-cutting industry there.
At 18, Mr Jagani returned to his village without much hope for the future.
But in the 22 years since, he has chalked up three inventions - a motorcycle-driven field cultivator, a seed-cum-fertiliser dispenser and a bicycle-mounted sprayer.
The appeal of the products lies in their simplicity.
Grassroots innovations are in response to a problem that the innovators feel themselves or see other people facing
Anil Gupta, Indian Institute of Management
Take the field cultivator. The powerful Enfield Bullet motorcycle - a regular sight in Indian villages - is modified with a cultivating device costing just $450 that replaces the rear wheel.
Compared to a tractor, which costs almost $6,000, Mr Jagani's invention is not just cheaper but can be shared among farmers with smallholdings.
"The striking thing about grassroots innovations is that they are in response to a problem that the innovators feel themselves or see other people facing," says Anil Gupta of the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad.
He points to the pulley designed to allow women to draw water from wells.
"Another rural inventor, Amrutbhai Agrawat, added a lever which stops the bucket from rushing back down the well if the rope slips. Now, women can catch a breath as they know the bucket will stay where it last was," Dr Gupta says.
Mansukbhai is not a farmer. He was visited by one worried about how to cultivate his field with bulls that do not get enough fodder in a drought-affected region.
Mansukhbhai looked at the villager's motorcycle and said "I'll make something to work with this".
Limited
In the late 1980s, Dr Gupta set up the Honey Bee Network, to create a database of grassroots technology innovations and traditional knowledge.
The idea came to me while lying on bed with a fever
Arvindbhai Patel, inventor
Through voluntary efforts, the database now has 51,000 ideas and innovations from different parts of the country.
However, most of the innovations were limited to the communities that created them. The lack of financial and technical resources meant they could not be marketed more widely.
To make this possible, Dr Gupta set up the Grassroots Innovation Augmentation Network (GIAN) in 1997 and followed it up with the National Innovation Fund (NIF) - a venture supported by India's Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.
GIAN identifies promising innovations, does the market research, develops business plans and provides risk capital.
The efforts are paying off. A "natural water cooler" - which uses a copper base to cool water by almost eight degrees - is being manufactured by a private company.
The cooler's inventor - 50-year-old Arvindbhai Patel - received $8,000 for the rights to manufacture and market the product in Gujarat.
"The idea came to me while lying on bed with a fever," he says.
"My wife applied a water-soaked cloth to my forehead which brought down the fever. This became the basis for my initial product. It had a 10-foot copper pipe, wrapped in wet cloth, carrying water to a container. Within a few minutes, the water was chilled."
Another product, the Varsha Rain Gun - developed by 70-year-old Anna Saheb of Karnataka - was licensed to a Madras-based company. The water sprayer cuts down water used in irrigation by up to 50% - extremely useful in areas with water scarcity.
The product attracted India's first ever venture fund - Aavishkar India Micro Venture Capital.
Early days
Aavishkar's chief executive officer, Vineet Rai, says: "People don't expect villagers to create new products. And the reason is not a lack of ideas. It is the lack of funds to support these ideas and develop them into marketable products."
Anna Saheb's rain gun has been licensed to a Madras company
Aavishkar has collected $1.3m over the past four years to support such activity.
"We spend anywhere between $10,000 and $100,000 developing an idea. All we want is that the idea should be rurally relevant, should have a social upside and have a strong commercial model."
Last August, the US Lemelson Foundation joined hands with the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras and the Rural Innovations Network on another collaboration, the L-Ramp project.
Over three years, the foundation will provide close to $2m to create, test and develop new products.
However, these are still early days. While small-scales companies have shown an interest in the products and bought licenses for some, big companies are still staying away.
Paul Basil, of Rural Innovations Network, says only about 5%-10% of the ideas meet the basic criteria of innovation, impact on rural lives and technical and business viability.
For every successful motorcycle-driven field cultivator, there are many that find no buyers in the mass market.
Both the National Innovation Fund and Rural Innovation Foundation are trying hard to improve the success rate.
"Rural innovations help rural households save on costs, enhance incomes and offer entrepreneurial opportunities that weren't available to rural Indians almost a decade ago," says Mr Basil.
From India, Pune
Saw the program on Innovations in Rural India and here are the excerpts..it gladdens my heart to read all..
Happy reading!!
Cheers,
Rajat
Successes in rural inventions
By Santosh Sinha, BBC News
The motorcycle field cultivator is brilliantly simple
Mansukhbhai Jagani is not your typical inventor.
He dropped out of school at the age of 10 due to financial hardship.
After working at the family farm in India's western state of Gujarat, he moved to Surat to work in the diamond-cutting industry there.
At 18, Mr Jagani returned to his village without much hope for the future.
But in the 22 years since, he has chalked up three inventions - a motorcycle-driven field cultivator, a seed-cum-fertiliser dispenser and a bicycle-mounted sprayer.
The appeal of the products lies in their simplicity.
Grassroots innovations are in response to a problem that the innovators feel themselves or see other people facing
Anil Gupta, Indian Institute of Management
Take the field cultivator. The powerful Enfield Bullet motorcycle - a regular sight in Indian villages - is modified with a cultivating device costing just $450 that replaces the rear wheel.
Compared to a tractor, which costs almost $6,000, Mr Jagani's invention is not just cheaper but can be shared among farmers with smallholdings.
"The striking thing about grassroots innovations is that they are in response to a problem that the innovators feel themselves or see other people facing," says Anil Gupta of the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad.
He points to the pulley designed to allow women to draw water from wells.
"Another rural inventor, Amrutbhai Agrawat, added a lever which stops the bucket from rushing back down the well if the rope slips. Now, women can catch a breath as they know the bucket will stay where it last was," Dr Gupta says.
Mansukbhai is not a farmer. He was visited by one worried about how to cultivate his field with bulls that do not get enough fodder in a drought-affected region.
Mansukhbhai looked at the villager's motorcycle and said "I'll make something to work with this".
Limited
In the late 1980s, Dr Gupta set up the Honey Bee Network, to create a database of grassroots technology innovations and traditional knowledge.
The idea came to me while lying on bed with a fever
Arvindbhai Patel, inventor
Through voluntary efforts, the database now has 51,000 ideas and innovations from different parts of the country.
However, most of the innovations were limited to the communities that created them. The lack of financial and technical resources meant they could not be marketed more widely.
To make this possible, Dr Gupta set up the Grassroots Innovation Augmentation Network (GIAN) in 1997 and followed it up with the National Innovation Fund (NIF) - a venture supported by India's Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.
GIAN identifies promising innovations, does the market research, develops business plans and provides risk capital.
The efforts are paying off. A "natural water cooler" - which uses a copper base to cool water by almost eight degrees - is being manufactured by a private company.
The cooler's inventor - 50-year-old Arvindbhai Patel - received $8,000 for the rights to manufacture and market the product in Gujarat.
"The idea came to me while lying on bed with a fever," he says.
"My wife applied a water-soaked cloth to my forehead which brought down the fever. This became the basis for my initial product. It had a 10-foot copper pipe, wrapped in wet cloth, carrying water to a container. Within a few minutes, the water was chilled."
Another product, the Varsha Rain Gun - developed by 70-year-old Anna Saheb of Karnataka - was licensed to a Madras-based company. The water sprayer cuts down water used in irrigation by up to 50% - extremely useful in areas with water scarcity.
The product attracted India's first ever venture fund - Aavishkar India Micro Venture Capital.
Early days
Aavishkar's chief executive officer, Vineet Rai, says: "People don't expect villagers to create new products. And the reason is not a lack of ideas. It is the lack of funds to support these ideas and develop them into marketable products."
Anna Saheb's rain gun has been licensed to a Madras company
Aavishkar has collected $1.3m over the past four years to support such activity.
"We spend anywhere between $10,000 and $100,000 developing an idea. All we want is that the idea should be rurally relevant, should have a social upside and have a strong commercial model."
Last August, the US Lemelson Foundation joined hands with the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras and the Rural Innovations Network on another collaboration, the L-Ramp project.
Over three years, the foundation will provide close to $2m to create, test and develop new products.
However, these are still early days. While small-scales companies have shown an interest in the products and bought licenses for some, big companies are still staying away.
Paul Basil, of Rural Innovations Network, says only about 5%-10% of the ideas meet the basic criteria of innovation, impact on rural lives and technical and business viability.
For every successful motorcycle-driven field cultivator, there are many that find no buyers in the mass market.
Both the National Innovation Fund and Rural Innovation Foundation are trying hard to improve the success rate.
"Rural innovations help rural households save on costs, enhance incomes and offer entrepreneurial opportunities that weren't available to rural Indians almost a decade ago," says Mr Basil.
From India, Pune
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