[ Home ] [ Up ] [ brainstorming ] [ colloquia ] [ toolbox ]

back to
srds - Home
srds - Nutshell
ccsd

A Toolbox of thinking skills

Tell it to your granny
Write a script for two people discussing the topic
State the history of the topic
Use Lateral Thinking - De Bono
Draw a Mindmap - Buzan
Check your logic - Ayer
Straighten the crooked thinking - Thouless

Tell it to your Granny

Imagine an old granny on the far side of Lewis who speaks only the Gaelic and has not yet been introduced to electricity. She has heard about 'computers' and asks you to explain what they are.

This exercise tests your understanding of a concept because you cannot use the jargon. You have to explain using 'plain English' (or Gaelic if you have it). In the process of trying to explain in a simple way you invariably come up with new ways of looking at the situation.

Write a script for two people discussing the topic

This is a variation on 'Tell it to your Granny'. The difference is that you are free to choose who the two people are (old/young, male/female, town/country, rich/ poor etc) and you have to imagine yourself inside the heads of both characters so that you can put words in their mouths.

This exercise has the same advantages as the previous one with the addition that you have to be clear about at least two different perspectives on the topic being discussed. The process of trying to write the script can do wonders for your understanding of the topic.

State the History of the Topic

When was the very first OOSCC Club established and how has the idea progressed since then?

This exercise might involve you in doing some research - either in books or through talking to people. Everything has a history which tells how it has changed through time. When did it change? Why did it change? By looking into these issues you come to see that the present is not like the past and you are thus more open to considering a different future.

These three techniques are from the list given in  'A Good Thinker's Toolbox' which is based on Margaret Boden's Book The Creative Mind.

Tell it to your granny
Write a script for two people discussing the topic
State the history of the topic
Use Lateral Thinking - De Bono
Draw a Mindmap - Buzan
Check your logic - Ayer
Straighten the crooked thinking - Thouless

Use Lateral Thinking

Sometimes you have to use creative thinking to come up with new ideas. Edward de Bono's technique called Lateral Thinking helps your mind to escape from its normal ruts and to see new possibilities and directions. There are four main strategies each of which has many techniques.

The two appendices 'Lateral and Vertical Thinking' and 'Techniques of Lateral Thinking' give a more detailed explanation and also give the titles of some of De Bono's books.

Draw a Mindmap

A Mindmap is a drawing which represents what is going on in your mind while you make notes, gather ideas for reports and/or try to be creative. There will be units (for things, ideas or events) joined up by lines which show how the units interact.

A mindmap is thus an interactive mind map but in Tony Buzan's version of the idea greater emphasis is put on keywords and on the use of images and colour to enhance understanding, creativity and memory.

Reference Tony Buzan (1989) Use both sides of your brain; Plume. This book includes an easy to read explanation of right and left brain thinking.

Check your Logic

Much confusion can arise through muddled thinking. Most often the muddle is unintentional but some smooth operators (like double-glazing salesmen?) use it intentionally. Consider the No True Scotsman Move.

Imagine Hamish McDonald, a Scotsman, sitting down with his Press and Journal and seeing an article about how the 'Brighton Sex Maniac Strikes Again'. Hamish is shocked and declares that "No Scotsman would do such a thing". The next day he sits down to read his Press and Journal again and this time finds an article about an Aberdeen man whose brutal actions make the Brighton sex maniac seem almost gentlemanly. This fact shows that Hamish was wrong in his opinion but is he going to admit this? Not likely. This time he says, "No true Scotsman would do such a thing".

This example is taken from Anthony Flew's book Thinking about Thinking - or do I sincerely want to be right?. Mr Flew is a Professor of Philosophy so the book, although quite thin, can be a bit heavy at times. But it is now in its eighth edition - it is worth making the effort as it describes such lovely notions as:

Straighten the Crooked Thinking

Not all muddled thinking is due to faults of logic, some of it is just crooked whether by intention or mistake. Robert Thouless has written a practical book for anyone who has to discuss controversial topics. The jacket blurb notes that:

He believes that psychological factors often dangerously distort correct thinking. He shows, for instance, how the use of emotional words can obscure facts, and how fallacies in argument can often mislead an unwary audience. He lists 38 dishonest tricks commonly used in argument, with methods of overcoming them, and ends with an imaginary discussion between a businessman, a clergyman and a professor which illustrates these pitfalls.

He first wrote the book in 1930 and my copy is of the 11^th edition which came out in 1967. It is an all time classic! Here are the first 7 of his 38 dishonest tricks with their countermeasures.

Robert H Thouless (1953) Straight and Crooked Thinking; Pan

Tell it to your granny
Write a script for two people discussing the topic
State the history of the topic
Use Lateral Thinking - De Bono
Draw a Mindmap - Buzan
Check your logic - Ayer
Straighten the crooked thinking - Thouless