3.

Simple Focus
3.1 Simple Focus

basic idea: learn to create 'focuses' (to which thinking techniques can be applied)
('simple focus' refinement = + where other people don't).

e.g: Black and Decker - focus on power tools

Workmate = *where* power tools are applied. Not focused on by people whose
business is making power tools.

Contrast: Hard problems (_ which are known) which require a large quantum of
creativity to solve/break through. Some inventors succeed by tackling really hard
problems and come up with solutions which every one has been seeking.
*unseen* problems = 'focuses' which other people don't look at == light
creativity can lead to spectacular results. Inventors who pick out areas no one
else has noticed and with a slight improvement develop a significant invention.

** Seeking out unusual and unnoticed *focus points* (NOT well known problems) is a
creative technique *** (__ == 'simple focus' technique)

(_ what blurs the distinction between creative pause and simple focus is the nature
of the examples used.

"you are eating you choose to focus on the relationship between cutlery and plate.
There is no problem to be overcome, no difficulty to be solved, nobvious value to
be achieved. <-- this is the intersection between creative pause and simple focus
--|

But you choose to focus on the matter " (_ here the skill is to *choose a focus*
(as one way to do it) by focusing on relationship between two different components
of a system. This does not have to do with what you are doing/being/perceiving
*unlike* with creative pause, where part of the technique is to 'break out of' what
one is doing/beeing/perceiving.

I can apply simple focus to a general area I am *not* involved in in the present -
say ride sharing, and focus on the relationship between two components say the
driver and his car. and try to look for innovative ideas there. E.g: how can we
make the altered depreciation rate of his car be visible to the driver vis a vis
his loan repayments, as compared to a standard car loan, which assumes a
depreciation rate corresponding to family use?)

all examples are picked from 'you are doing X. why not focus on relationship
between Y and Z subcomponents? or how can you make experience of X better in
general? ' etc. this complects the 'presently doing' bit and the 'selecting focus'
bit. the latter is the essence of 'simple focus' with an added ingredient of
'unusual'.

EDB distinguishes creative pause and simple focus thus.

" CP and SF are not the same, but they do overlap.

The creative pause is the *willingness to pause* during some thinking or

discussion, to pay creative attention. (-It is an awareness break out skill)

Simple Focus is a deliberate *effort to pick out a **new** focus point* . (_ two
subcomponents a. pick a focus. so output should be a 'thinkable'. b. focus should
be unusual, not standard. so the metric of *quality* of the focus point generated
by simple focus is the 'non standardness' of the resulting focus. e.g: (context -
ride sharing = relationship between driver apparel and reaction to car/environment)

What is common between the two is the willingness to think about things that do not
(usually) *demand* thinking, and the thinker *choosing* to think about non
demanding things).

How to treat results of simple focus (activity. the results are also called
'focuses' (noun). this is slightly confusing in the text)
1. Simply note the focus for future attention. Putting together a list of focus
points for further thinking is part of serious creative thinking and is dealt with
later.
2. Make a preliminary attempt to generate some alternatives and ideas. This is
a pretest to check if the focus has potential to generate interesting ideas.
3. a serious effort to generate ideas in the defined focus area, using the
techniques of thinking.

(KEY): the exercise of setting out to pick *unusual* focus areas has value
independent of whether its results are used as focuses for creative thinking
techniques. This can become a habit with time (and practice). (KEY) in the
beginning it is better to develop the skill of picking uncommon focus points *as a
skill in itself* *without doing creative thinking to develop ideas in it*.

(KEY) Skilled Focus with a little creative skill is better than poor focus with
great creative skill.

Examples from the book.

1. "concentrated detergents" ---> "concentrated X" --> X = cereals? --> reclose
partially consumed cereal packet?
2. focus = relationship between cutlery and plate.
3. focus between stamp and envelope?
4. focus on rim of glass - different shape? detachable rim?
5. warmth of food (relationship to) plate? hotwired tablecloth?
point = simple focus can 'attach to' any point whatever.
modify something to function better? variable speed wiper.
operations broken down into small ops + focus on improving some of the
substeps.

3.2 Specific Focus

There are two broad types of creative application

- everyday creativity: involves attitudes, habits, motivation. the point is to
make creativity part of the person's thinking skill. A willingness to look for more
alternatives. hats + creative + simple focus
- specific focus: a defined focus. maybe created by a focus generating
exercise, or assigned to the thinker/group. then specific creativity techniques /
lateral thinking techniques are applied to the focus.

EDB notices that some people have strong creative thinking skills, but have weak
fousing/focus definition skills. They expect a problem to be put in front of them
and then apply their strong creativity to this problem.

(KEY) the ability to pick and define a creative focus is an important skill in
creative thinking and is distinct from the creative thinking skills themselves. (_
the basic idea of this chapter seems to be about developing this focus. Are there
distinct exercises to practice/get skilled at?)

*To simplify the focus procedure(??) EDB narrows down focuses to two types of
specific focus
1. General Area Type Focus
2. Purpose Type Focus

1. general focus
- an extremely important type of focus, but not well known.
- above is *because* 'creative thinking' is seen to be about defined
purpose or objective or 'problem to solve'.
- general focus is so easy and obvious that most people don't 'get it'.
- a general focus == we define an area in which we want ideas.
template = I want some new ideas in the area of _____.
- e.g: I want some ideas in the area of restaurants/telephones/transfer of
funds between banks. (_ exercise == just fill in the blanks)
- the general type of focus does *not* put a purpose on the thinking, and
only about the definition of area in which ideas are to be generated.
- (step) the gat focus may be broad or may be tight.
e.g: "I want some new ideas in the area of running a resort hotel"
e.g: "I want some new ideas (in the area of) on the color of the
bedside table in a resort hotel"
e.g: "I want some new ideas in the area of messages left for guests in
a resort hotel"
- (KEY) the GA T focus does *not* have a purpose attached (_ purpose ==
solve a specific problem, design a way to a predetermined goal etc. The moment
there is a purpose, the type of focus becomes a 'purpose focus'.).

Reasons we need a GA type focus

1. (practice with) GA Type focus allows us to think creatively about
anything at all, *without* the need for a specific problem or opportunity, or
potential benefit.
2. The presence of a purpose, problem or aimed for benefit can preset
the kind of ideas we might have. Contrast
- I want some ideas to reduce the cost of cabin service in planes
(purpose type focus)
- I want some ideas in the area of cabin service in planes.
(general area type focus)
The former limits our thinking to ideas about reducing cost of
cabin service.
the latter may come up with ideas to reduce cost, but also
potentially ideas that increase value, or completely transform the concept of cabin
service and so on, or cabin service as a profit center and so on.

Important: Beware of purpose type focuses disguising themselves as ga

focuses by filling in the ga template.
e.g: "I want some new ideas in the general area of absenteeism"
e.g: "I want some new ideas in the general area of speeding up checkin"
These are really purpose type focuses (in disguise). The word "absenteeism"
defines a problem. "speeding up checkin" defines an 'improvement type focus" (which
is a type of purpose focus, see below)

Important: It is possible to treat "absenteeism" as a *general* area focus *as

long as* it is understood that the purpose of thinking is not (a) to *reduce*
absenteeism or (b) overcome the 'problems' caused by absenteeism. A *general area*
type focus on absenteeism may develop the idea of 'undertime' as contrasted to the
(commonly understood) 'overtime'. 'undertime' could mean for example: a shorter
working week with lower pay when work is slack.

(KEY) If there is no purpose 'embedded in' a general area type focus, then
how do we get useful ideas? (_ Note: the key is *generally* 'useful'. We generate
ideas that have *some* value, even 'purpose values' which is fine but purpose comes
later, see below)
First we turn up whatever ideas come out of thinking with a 'general area
type' focus. Then we look for the value of the idea. We do not *set out* to
generate a value.
Second, even if the ideas that turn up do not have an inbuilt value, we see
if they can be (KEY) *shaped* to be of use for a particular value (_ this 'shaping'
seems to be a distinct skill of its own).

2. purpose focus
is what we are most familiar with. the definition of the focus has an
inbuilt notion of 'purpose'. Why are we doing the thinking? What is the goal,
target or end result.

Types of 'purpose'
1. Improvement
2. overcome a defined problem or difficulty
3. Task ('design'?)
4. Opportunity

2.1 Improvement:
template: We want ideas to ('improve' | synonym for improve) _______

e.g:
1. We want ideas to (speed up) ( supermarket checkout)
2. We want ideas to (reduce the cost of ) (staff training)
3. We want ideas to (simplify) (controls on the VCR)
4. We want ideas to (reduce) (wastage of food in a restaurant).

2.2 Overcome a defined problem/difficulty

template: We want ideas to ('overcome' /synonym for 'overcome) (defined
problem / existent difficulty)
e.g: How can we ( == we need ideas to ) (reduce) (losses due to
shoplifting)?
How can we (prevent) (condensation on bathroom walls)?
We need ideas to (reduce) (noise from the transmission unit)?

Note: some of the synonyms for 'overcome' that we use, e.g 'reduce', can
sound like 'improvement' more than 'overcome problem'. There is genuine overlap
between improvement and problem solving, we may have a definide problem, but we may
not believe that complete elimination of the problem is possible. But there *is* a
main difference between problem solving and improvement. Problem Solving involved a
*defined* problem, wheras improvment is about making progress in a defined
*direction* (cost, time etc).

2.3 Task: (_ seemingly == 'design')

Task == not removing / overcoming a problem, but reaching a desired end
point.
template: We want a ___ .
We need a _____ to achieve/reach etc ____ .
We need a ____ that _____ .
I want to design a ____.

(_ basically the idea == my desired endpoint is ____. I want an X that

helps me reach / moves towards ___)

e.g:
 1. I want to design a flat refrigerator. (the desired end point is a
flat refrigerator. We havo to get from here to there)
2. I want a way of communicating with 5000 trainers.
3. We need to get some highly skilled computer programmers.
4. We need a powerful slogan to get elected.
5. We need a chocolate that does not melt in the desert.

(_ I think that the basic idea is to identify a final state, which has a gap
between that point and now, the beginning point).

There is some overlap with 'problem' here. Where 'problem' is the gap.

2.4 Opportunity
Starting point = a sense of potential and opportunity.
As a purpose type focus the template is "How do we use $opportunity" "
$statement. what are the opportunities?"
As a general type focus, the template is "We need some new ideas in the
opportunity area of .... "

Examples:
1. We need some ideas in this opportunity area of high scenic beauty.
2. How can we use (opp ==) this glue that never dries?
3. People cannot afford to keep large houses anymore? What are the
opportunities here?
4. Satellite Transmission is getting cheaper.
5. There is a glut of grapes in Bulgaria. What are the opportunities here?"

(IMPORTANT) with a purpose type focus, we should *not* be timid about expressing
(the type and) purpose explicitly.
If this feels restrictive, two choices
1. Re express as general type focus.
2. Re express the focus in alternate ways and work with these.

example:
1. I want some ideas to solve the *** problem of *** overbooking on aircraft,
due to no show problems.
2. I want ideas to improve (_ improvement focus) the speed (_ direction ) with
which we handle insurance claims.
3. The ** task ** is to find a partner in Hungary. We need some ideas on how
to do that?
4. This elastic fiber with wonderful stretch qualities should offer interesting
opportunities. What are they?

Including the type of purpose is a good idea.

Focus occasions (== ?? I *think* this is about *when* the focus generating exercise
is undertaken)
1. Defined Need Or Purpose
2. Routine Review
3. Idea Sensitive Point
4. Whim
1. Defined Need Or Purpose
- specific assigned purpose or task. assigned, or self selected.
2. Routine Review
- no specific task or problem
- context = rethink some process or procedure
- basic idea = divide the process of convenient attention areas and focuses.
Creative Thinking is applied to each in turn.
3. Idea Sensitive Point
- 'sensitive point' = an idea at this point has a disproportionate effect.
(
sensitive steering = slight direction change in steering --> large change in
direction
sensitive film = slight impact of light --> large response by film

(KEY) search for idea sensitive point is a *** distinct *** operation by
itself.
distinction of isp vs review : Review of X is just because X 'is there'.
)

4. Whim
- relates to creative pause and simple focus.
- the investment side of creative thinking.
- we want to focus on things 'just because'

Multiple Focuses
- We can choose a broad focus XOR
- break it down into multiple (overlapping, see below) sub focuses.

e.g:
broad focus (expressed as general area focus) = "we need some new ideas in the
area of bus services"
breaking this down, we get the following subfocuses
- equipment, traffic control, scheduling, market, peak (hour?)
problems, configuration of buses, driver training etc
break down can be a *partition* of the focus, where each component does not
overlap with any other.

overlapping focus diagram. No example.

(Creating alternative) definitions of (a) focus:

we can redefine problems to set up alternative definitions
likewise, focuses can be redefined.

example:
we want ideas in the area of hotel management

we want ideas in the area of the relationships between hotel management and
staff

we want ideas in the area of assessing the quality of hotel management

we want ideas to make hotel management less dependent on highly skilled

managers.

we want ideas to set up a foolproof semiautomatic management system

we want ways of involving staff in all management decisions

we want ideas on how we can build up a strong management team that all work
together

all these definitions relate to hotel management, but the emphasis is different in
each.
(KEY) in any situation, there is value in compiling a list of alternative focus
definitions.

Rephrasing the focus: choosing different words to express the same focus.
The idea is that rephrasing the same idea in different words can direct thought
in one direction vs another.
e.g: I want ways of reducing the paperwork (_ this is an improvement focus)
this focus may elicit suggestions of email / other forms of
communication that don't use paper.
if the real intention is to reduce the amount of communications that
need to be stored/read then simply shifting from paper to electronic storage many
not reduce the 'load.

I want ways of reducing executive's reading load.

expresses the intent better.

I want to reduce ways of reducing commmunications between executives.

The Underlying Problem:

(EBD Observation) when given "consider improving the design of an umbrella".
people go one step deep and focus on "protection from rain", which gives raise to
raincoats, arcades in town etc. This may not be of use to an umbrella maker looking
for an improved design.

sometimes this is useful. But it is *also* useful to be able to take the focus
unaltered, and then apply creative thinking to the given focus vs stepping 'down'
into 'the underlying problem'.

beware the amount of information attached to a creative focus, because seeking and
synthesizing information can become a 'game' in itself.