What do the screens look like and how can I use them to improve my creative thinking and problem solving?

creative thinking icon Innovation Toolbox lateral thinking icon

You will now be shown some of the screens which are used by Innovation Toolbox to improve your ability to generate new ideas easily and to brainstorm more successfully. Press the Back button of your internet browser to return to the main Innovation Toolbox web page or click here.
There are two programs which come under that heading of Innovation Toolbox: the full version and the Instant version. The full version comes complete with a problem solving structure and numerous creative thinking tools. The Instant version is a purely pro-active creative thinking program.

This page will demonstrate the Full version only and then you should then view the web page which shows you how to use the Instant version. Click here to see the screens of the full version.

In the Full Innovation Toolbox program there are numerous interactive creative thinking techniques and problem solving structure. Each one has its own screen:

Problem Solving techniques:

  1. Problem Definition
  2. Problem Analysis
  3. Generate Solutions
  4. Solutions Analysis
  5. Selection of the best solutions
  6. Next Steps

Creative Techniques in the Solution Generation section:

  1. Random Word
  2. Random Picture
  3. Random Website
  4. SCAMPER
  5. What's the Problem?
  6. False Rule
  7. Search & Reapply
  8. Challenge Facts
  9. Thesaurus
  10. Word and Phrase Manipulator
  11. Brainstorming
  12. Escapism
  13. Analogies
  14. Wishful Thinking

All of the problem solving techniques have their own dedicated screens and these are shown below. The creative thinking techniques have their own sub-screens too and these are explained in more detail in the Innovation Toolbox help manual.

The rest of this page shows example screen shots of the problem solving sections with a very brief description of it. For more details and a real-life demonstration, please download the software and try it for yourself.

The initial welcome screen

This is the first screen you see when innovation toolbox is first run. You can decide to start a new problem solving session or reenter an old one. From here you can also change the problem solving structure which you will use. You can access the help and training manual from here. You can also access your list of of problems, opportunities and good ideas. You can also change the settings used by the program using the "Maintain Groups" button. When you first use each of these screens you will be shown a quick tour of what each section does, it is activated by a pressing the quick tour button.



Probortunity

We have created a new word without the stigma often attached to the word "problem". This special word is "probortunity" and is a mixture between the word problem and opportunity. A problem is a special type of opportunity and an opportunity is a special type of problem. Avoid the sometimes negative mindsets attached to both by using the word "probortunity".

Tips for each button

Each and every button will tell you what it does if you hold the mouse over it. Innovation Toolbox is very user friendly and to make it easier for you there are tips for every button. e.g.:

You can turn these tool tips off on the Session Plan screen, see later.

Opening or creating an Ideabase file

When you choose to start a problem solving session, all your information is stored in a file that we call an idea base. from the welcomes screen you can choose to open or create an idea base file. you are then presented with the following screen which allows you would to open or create the file. Your idea base files can be grouped together depending on what they relate to. you can choose from "Personal", a named group or idea bases relating to your "organisation" as a whole. you can either select an idea base you created before or you can write in the name of the file you want to use. when you create a new file you can choose a range of templates which define the problem solving structure that you will use.


Session Planner

This is the session plan screen where you will see the various parts of the problem solving structure. By pressing each of the buttons in turn you will enter screens dedicated to each section and then work through each section to solve the problem in a structured way. You can highlight the section you are working on so that you can return at a later date and continue where you left off.

If you want to work on a section for only a specific amount of time, enter that time in the box above the button and you will be reminded when your time is up.



Pressing the options button will enable you to flip through various options which will appear in the box to left of it. These include viewing the probortunity to solve, printing the information from the session, moving the current session marker, changing the colours of the screen and other options.

Problem Definition

When you press the problem definition button on the session plan screen you will get to this one. this is where you are prompted to examine the real problem that you're trying to solve. In the top left-hand corner of this screen you are given a selection of helpful questions to ask yourself. In the bottom left-hand corner you enter the problem definition and any extra details about it. pressing the "add the idea" button will add your latest suggestion to the list on the right. When you're finished, select the problem definition you want to use and press the button marked with the save symbol.

On the right-hand side of the screen you will see the several option buttons. These allow you to refresh the list to make sure it is up-to-date, increase the column width of the list, delete an item, print out the list, or get help and training on using this screen.


Problem Analysis

The next part of the problem solving process is to look into the environment and situation you are currently in. Without understanding way you are or how you got to way you are, it is hard to realise the true nature of that problem and to understand the context into which a solution must fit. This screen encourages you to analyse the probortunity from many different directions to ascertain the true nature of the probortunity.

In the top left-hand corner of the screen you will see buttons relating to topic headings. By pressing each button in turn you can then add information under each heading and so analyse the situation more clearly and in a more structured way. For example you should list the advantages and disadvantages of the current situation and current solutions. You should also look at the people who are for and against change. Other things to investigate are the criteria under which a solution must fit, the sacred ideas believed to be true (Sacred Cows), and the emotional context surrounding any potential solution.

You will also notice that you can add any ideas in a tree structure, using the "Freeform Ideas" button. By pressing the "Refresh" button with the picture of the tree on it, you will be shown that complete tree of ideas, as shown in the picture below.


Generate solutions

The solution generation screen of innovation toolbox is the core section. This is where we bring numerous creative thinking techniques directly to you at your computer. A host of proactive and reactive techniques are brought to you to spark off new ideas. you can use any or all of the techniques depending on your personal preferences and depending on the type of problem you are trying to solve.

This web page will not go into the details of how to use the techniques but a full training manual is included with innovation toolbox.

By selecting one of the techniques from the top left-hand corner of this screen a special sub-screen will appear and will give you prompts. Use these powerful techniques to generate your new ideas easily. When you have formed a new idea enter it into the boxes at the bottom left-hand corner of the screen and press the "Add the idea" button. Your new idea will be categorised and placed in the list on the right.

You should not judge any of your ideas at this stage. This is the brainstorming stage.



Note that there is only space in the top left to the list nine of the techniques, so the other techniques are listed in the drop down list below them.

Solution Analysis

Now that you have come up with an enormous number of ideas you will need to analyse them and start to judge them. Before you judge them you should spend some time of investigating each one. If you judge each idea before you investigate it then you could throw out a lot of good ideas too early. This screen is designed to help you analyse each one. You work through each of these ideas and add information about that idea.

The ideas you have had are listed on the right. For each idea you should press each button in the top left-hand corner and list relevant information under each heading. This is the only true way to investigate each idea and evaluate it on its true merits.

You can quickly move forwards and backwards through the list by clicking your mouse buttons on the green area on the bottom right of the screen.


Selection of the best solutions

Only on this screen should you ever start evaluating the ideas. Remember not to judge any of ideas too early or you will miss the really creative solutions.

This screen allows you to examine and quickly give a mark to each idea depending on how good it is. You should move slowly through each idea in the list, examine the relevant information and then give a mark to it. There are several marking schemes available: either a 0 to 9 scale or a good/bad/interesting mark.



Don't that if you find their particularly good idea, you can instantly add it to your personal Good Idea list by selecting it and pressing the "Good Idea" button.

Once you have completed scoring the ideas, you will be given the opportunity to list the ideas in order of merit and to disregard ones failing your criteria.

You will end up with an ordered list of fully evaluated ideas. You will know why each idea will work and you will know the context into which each idea will fit. You will also know why other ideas will not fit and so could present a top quality assessment to your managers or to your bank manager.

Next Steps

You will now have a complete list of fully evaluated ideas. It is now time to plan your next steps and to put your new ideas into action. This Next Step section allows you to note down who will do which task and by when.

You just add the Next Step, the name of person to do it, and the start and finish times to the boxes on the screen and add it to the list. When a particular action has been done you can select it and press the "Done" button to mark it as having been done.



This is the end of the problem solving screens. Please read onwards to see the screen for keeping track of your probortunities and your Good Ideas.

Good ideas and probortunity list

Do you ever wonder what happened to those great ideas you had and then forgot about? Do you wish you hadn't lost them? Well now you can store them all in one place. This special part of Innovation Toolbox has been developed for you to store your ideas, add comments and further ideas and generally keep track of your good ideas for future use.

We have also added a special part to Innovation tollbox which helps you manage your problems and opportunities. Most of the time we are too busy to keep track of what needs to be done in the future and whenever we come across an opportunity or problem affecting the whole industry we have not got time to do it right then. Often when we do have time, we have forgetton the exact nature of it and so cannot solve it precisely. This is why you need to have a place to note down the big opportunities to tackle in the long term. Many problems need a long time to solve and if you keep a note of what needs to be solved you can keep it in your mind until it is solved.

Knowing the right problems to be solved is almost as important as getting the right answers.



This is the end of the screen tour. If you download the creativity software then you will be taken through a more detailed tour and have access to the high quality training material.

What does the Instant version look like?

If you want to see what the Instant version of Innovation Toolbox looks like then click here now. If you download the program then both versions are installed for you to use.

Downloading a free trial of Innovation Toolbox

If you want to try out and use Innovation Toolbox for free for 30 days, go to our download page. This has easy to use installation and user instructions.

Click here now to download Innovation Toolbox and increase your creativity
creative thinking resources
At our Innovation House web page you will find a large number of interactive resources.
Click Here for web pages on creative and lateral thinking, problem solving, creativity and brainstorming.